Automatic (Pointer Sisters song)

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1984 song by the Pointer Sisters

title: "Automatic (Pointer Sisters song)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1984-singles", "2007-singles", "the-pointer-sisters-songs", "ultra-naté-songs", "irish-singles-chart-number-one-singles", "song-recordings-produced-by-richard-perry", "planet-records-singles", "rca-records-singles", "tommy-boy-records-singles", "grammy-award-for-best-vocal-arrangement-for-two-or-more-voices", "1984-songs", "songs-written-by-mark-goldenberg"] description: "1984 song by the Pointer Sisters" topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_(Pointer_Sisters_song)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1984 song by the Pointer Sisters ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox song"]

FieldValue
nameAutomatic
coverAutomatic45.jpg
typesingle
artistThe Pointer Sisters
albumBreak Out
B-sideNightline
releasedJanuary 13, 1984
recorded1983
(Los Angeles, California)
genre{{flat list
* Funk<ref name"Matos 2020"
* new wave<ref name"Matos 2020"/
* synth-pop<ref name"Ingalls & Wilhelm 2023"
* electronic rock<ref name"Molanphy 2023"
length4:48
label{{flat list
writer{{flat list
producerRichard Perry
chronologyThe Pointer Sisters
prev_titleI Need You
prev_year1983
next_titleJump (For My Love)
next_year1984
misc
::

| name = Automatic | cover = Automatic45.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = The Pointer Sisters | album = Break Out | B-side = Nightline | released = January 13, 1984 | recorded = 1983 (Los Angeles, California) | studio = | venue = | genre = {{flat list|

"Automatic" reached number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 and became one of their signature songs. Eventually, three other singles from Break Out reached the top-ten on the Hot 100 consecutively. Billboard named the song number 94 on their list of "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs Of All Time".

"Automatic" was the group's first Top 40 hit to feature Ruth Pointer's distinctive contralto on lead.

Background

According to Ruth Pointer, "Automatic" was the final song chosen for Break Out: "We were taking a break from recording in the office of Jim Tract, who was Richard Perry's right-hand man, and Jim mentioned that he had a stash of tapes we might want to listen to [while on] a breather...We all sat up straight when we first heard ['Automatic'] and told Richard we wanted to include it on the album. 'Okay,' he said 'But who would sing the low part?' 'Are you kidding me?' I said, 'I'll do the low part!'"

Although Break Out largely comprised dance tracks, its lead single was the ballad "I Need You", chosen by producer Richard Perry in hopes of reinforcing the Pointer Sisters presence at R&B radio: the dance track "Jump (for My Love)" was intended as the second single but the heavy airplay afforded "Automatic" as an album cut by both dance clubs and radio stations caused the substitution of "Automatic" for "Jump..." as the second single release from Break Out, although "Jump..." would become the most successful US single off Break Out when it became the album's third single. The first Top 40 hit to feature Ruth Pointer's distinctive contralto on lead, "Automatic" reached #5 on the Hot 100 in Billboard in April 1984, also charting on the magazine's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Dance Club Play rankings, its #2 R&B chart peak making "Automatic" the highest charting R&B hit by the Pointer Sisters as a trio (in their original four-woman format the Pointer Sisters did score an R&B #1 hit with "How Long (Betcha' Got a Chick on the Side)"). Holding "Automatic" out of the top position of the R&B chart (for three weeks) was "Somebody's Watching Me" by Rockwell.

In the United Kingdom, "Automatic" would afford the Pointer Sisters their all-time biggest hit, spending two weeks at #2 on the UK chart in May 1984 while stuck behind The Reflex by Duran Duran when it also reached #1 in Ireland. "Automatic" also afforded the Pointer Sisters Top-Ten success in Belgium (#5 on the Flemish chart), the Netherlands (#9), and New Zealand (#8). In Australia, "Automatic" reached a chart peak of #15. The B-side of "Automatic" was "Nightline" featuring June Pointer on lead. "Nightline" was also originally featured on Break Out but was dropped from later pressings of the album to allow for the inclusion of the remix of "I'm So Excited".

Personnel

The Pointer Sisters

Musicians

Charts

Weekly charts

::data[format=table] | Chart (1984) | Peak position | |---|---| | Australia (Kent Music Report) | 15 | | Belgium (VRT Top 30 Flanders) | 6 | | US Adult Contemporary (Billboard) | 36 | | US Dance Club Songs (Billboard) as LP Cuts: I Need You/Automatic/Jump (For My Love) | 2 | | US Hot Black Singles (Billboard) | 2 | | US Cash Box Top 100 | 8 | ::

Year-end charts

::data[format=table]

Chart (1984)Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)72
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)67
Netherlands (Single Top 100)74
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)50
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)34
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)38
date=22 December 1984title= Volume 96 No. 51, DECEMBER 22. 1984
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)
as LP Cuts: I Need You/Automatic/Jump (For My Love)1
US Hot Black Singles (Billboard)28
US Cash Box50
::

Ultra Naté cover

| name = Automatic | cover = Ultra Naté Automatic cover.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = Ultra Naté | album = Grime, Silk, & Thunder | released = 2007 | recorded = | studio = | venue = | genre = | length = 4:58 | label = Tommy Boy Entertainment | writer = Brock Walsh, Mark Goldenberg | producer = | chronology = Ultra Naté | prev_title = Love's the Only Drug | prev_year = 2006 | next_title = Give It All You Got | next_year = 2007 | misc =

Ultra Naté covered "Automatic" and released it as the third single from her album Grime, Silk, & Thunder. Her version topped the US dance chart, hitting number one in the issue dated April 28, 2007. This version appeared briefly in a nightclub scene of Looking: The Movie in 2016.

Music video

The music video for "Automatic" was directed by Karl Giant. Eric Henderson from Slant Magazine commented of the music video's beginning: "For the first two or three minutes, it's nothing if not a stalwart representation of your standard gay-bar video-jukebox fixture." Ultra Naté is later shown wearing a rhinestone-studded liquid Lycra while two men, apparently nude, watch her on their computers. Then Naté appears in a blow-up doll costume, which Henderson believed "sends the entire video into legitimately weird territory, as though David Meyers were asked to direct a video for Nine Inch Nails."

Track listing

  • Belgian CD maxi-single
  1. "Automatic" (Original Radio Mix) – 3:13
  2. "Automatic" (Morgan Page vs. Peace Bisquit Radio Mix) – 3:03
  3. "Automatic" (Original Extended) – 6:12
  4. "Automatic" (Daz & Diddy Mix) – 7:17
  • US CD maxi-single
  1. "Automatic" (Original Extended) – 6:16
  2. "Automatic" (Digital Dog Mix) – 6:31
  3. "Automatic" (Paul Jackson Version Excursion Mix) – 6:19
  4. "Automatic" (Spen & Thommy Sugar Vocal Mix) – 8:42
  5. "Automatic" (Daz & Diddy Mix) – 7:18
  6. "Automatic" (Funky Junction & NK Club Mix) – 6:29
  7. "Automatic" (Funky Junction & Splashfunk Mix) – 6:53
  8. "Automatic" (Monkey Brothers Ultra Bad Remix) – 8:40
  9. "Automatic" (Dave Pezza Electro Dub Mix) – 9:30
  10. "Automatic" (Shawn Q's Soltribe Vocal Mix) – 8:47
  11. "Automatic" (Morgan Page vs. Peace Bisquit Radio Mix) – 3:04

Charts

::data[format=table] | Chart (2007–2009) | Peak Position | |---|---| | Belgium (Ultratip Flanders) | 5 | | Netherlands (Single Top 100) | 86 | | Spain (PROMUSICAE) | 5 | | US Hot Dance Airplay (Billboard) | 18 | | US Hot Dance Club Songs (Billboard) | 1 | ::

Other version

In 2006, Belgian singer Afi covered "Automatic". Her version became a minor hit in Belgium, where it reached top twenty on the Flanders Ultratip chart.

In 2022 the song got covered by American group Lake Street Dive.

References

References

  1. Matos, Michaelangelo. (8 December 2020). "Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year". [[Hachette Books]].
  2. Molanphy, Chris. (June 16, 2023). "Yes We Can Edition". [[Slate (magazine).
  3. (19 June 2025). "20 of the Best New Wave Albums by Rock/Pop Artists".
  4. "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time: Critics' Picks".
  5. (2016). "Still So Excited!: my life as a Pointer Sister". Triumph Books.
  6. ''Billboard'' vol 96 No. 46 (17 November 1984) p. 78
  7. Kent, David. (1993). "Australian Chart Book 1970–1992". Australian Chart Book.
  8. "Radio 2 Top 30".
  9. (14 April 1984). "Billboard April 14, 1984".
  10. (21 January 1984). "Billboard Jan. 21, 1984".
  11. "The Pointer Sisters Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)".
  12. "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending MARCH 31, 1984".
  13. "Kent Music Report No 548 – 31 December 1984 > National Top 100 Singles for 1984". [[Kent Music Report]].
  14. "Ultratop Jaaroverzichten 1984".
  15. "Dutch Charts Jaaroverzichten Single 1984".
  16. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1984".
  17. "Official New Zealand Music Chart – End of Year Charts 1984".
  18. [[1984 in British music#Best-selling singles]]
  19. (22 December 1984). "Volume 96 No. 51, DECEMBER 22. 1984".
  20. "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1984".
  21. Slompwicz, DJ Ron. (25 May 2007). "Ultra Naté – Grime, Silk & Thunder Interview". [[The New York Times Company]].
  22. Henderson, Eric. (7 May 2007). "Ultra Naté: Grime Silk Thunder".
  23. "Ultra Naté – Automatic (CD) at Discogs". Zinc Media, Inc.
  24. "Ultra Naté – Automatic (CD) at Discogs". Zinc Media, Inc.
  25. "Spanishcharts.com – Ultra Naté – Automatic". Hung Medien.
  26. "Club Music, Hot Dance Songs, Club Songs, Dance Club Music Charts". [[Rovi Corporation]].
  27. "Afi (4) – Automatic (CD) at Discogs". Zinc Media, Inc.
  28. "Ultratop.be – Afi (BE) – Automatic". ULTRATOP & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1984-singles2007-singlesthe-pointer-sisters-songsultra-naté-songsirish-singles-chart-number-one-singlessong-recordings-produced-by-richard-perryplanet-records-singlesrca-records-singlestommy-boy-records-singlesgrammy-award-for-best-vocal-arrangement-for-two-or-more-voices1984-songssongs-written-by-mark-goldenberg