Pointer Sisters - Automatic (1983) Vinyl 12" Single • Remix, Break Out

Catalog Number: YD-13721

Record Grading: Near Mint (NM or M-), Sleeve Grading: Excellent (EX)

Condition Details:

Vinyl plays nicely; a few light hairlines (play-graded). 12" Single. Generic RCA cover has a few creases near edges; light-scuffing (front/back); slight discoloration on back and around edges on front. Inner-sleeve is original (generic white). Spine has no text and shows very mild-wear. Little shelf-wear along top, heavier across bottom-edge; minor wear to corners. Opening is crisp with signs of some use and divots. (Not a cut-out.)

Tracks:

• Automatic
• Automatic (Special Remix)

About The Record:

Automatic is a song recorded by The Pointer Sisters as the second single their album Break Out (1983). Automatic reached position No. 5 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and became one of their signature songs. Billboard named the song No. 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. According to Ruth Pointer, Automatic was the final song chosen for Breakout: "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 No. 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 No. 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 No. 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 No. 2 on the UK chart in May 1984 while stuck behind The Reflex by Duran Duran when it also reached No. 1 in Ireland. Automatic also afforded the Pointer Sisters Top-Ten success in Belgium (No. 5 on the Flemish chart), the Netherlands (No. 9), and New Zealand (No. 8). In Australia, Automatic reached a chart peak of No. 15.