Songoftheday 6/23/13 - Look what you're doin' to me I'm utterly at your whim all of my defenses down...

The Pointer Sisters - "Automatic"
from the album Break Out (1983)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #5 (one week)
Weeks in the top-40: 14

Today's song of the day is by the soul siblings the Pointer Sisters, who released their tenth studio album Break Out at the end of 1983. The first single released from the set, the midtempo seductive R&B of "I Need You", failed to reach the top-40 (though it was a big R&B/dance hit). Their follow-up single was much more upbeat, and spotlighted sister Ruth's low-end vocals on "Automatic". Written by Mark Goldenberg and Brock Walsh, "Automatic"'s almost Chic-like guitar riffs and bubbly synth work typified Richard Perry's pop/soul production...

Pointer Sister - Automatic (original clip) HD by papafonk ..

."Automatic" returned the trio to the top of the pop charts, becoming their fourth top-10 pop in the US in April of 1984. It also claimed the runner-up spot on both the dance and R&B charts, while scraping the adult-contemporary chart at #36. Internationally, the single went top-10 in Britain (at #2, their biggest hit), Belgium, Holland, and Ireland, where it topped the charts. It also served to "jump start" the Sisters' career, and be the first of four top-10 hits from the Break Out album...

The song would also reward the Pointer Sisters with a Grammy Award for Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices in 1985...

(Click below to see the rest of the post)


In 2007, dance singer Ultra Nate' covered "Automatic" and went to #1 on the club chart with the track, no doubt helped with this extra-sexy video (NSFW)...

...and here are the Pointers on Soul Train...

...and actually live supporting the album...

Up tomorrow: British new wavers govern with the beat.