Modern Love Is Automatic

Modern Love Is Automatic
EP by
A Flock of Seagulls
ReleasedNovember 1981 [1]
StudioBattery, London
Genre
LabelJive
ProducerMike Howlett
A Flock of Seagulls chronology
Telecommunication
(1981) 		Modern Love Is Automatic
(1981) 		I Ran (So Far Away)
(1982)
Music video
"Modern Love Is Automatic" on YouTube

Modern Love Is Automatic is a 1981 EP by the British new wave band A Flock of Seagulls, written by Mike Score, Ali Score, Frank Maudsley and Paul Reynolds. The song of the same name was also showcased on their self-titled album the following year. The song peaked at #19 on the US Dance Club Play chart as a double A-side with Telecommunication.[3]

Phil Spector expressed admiration for the song – as with many other tracks on the album – and at one point planned on producing the band's next album. However, this never happened due to a conflict with Jive Records and his increasingly reclusive lifestyle.[4]

Lyrics

As with many of the group's lyrics, harmonies and videos, there is a suggestion of cosmic energy and other-world imagery in the song.[5] According to John Gentile of Punknews.org, lead singer Mike Score "sings in a restrained, robotic voice, lamenting that in the modern ('80s) age, emotions are as much driven by marketing and corporate interests as they are true affection." He also compared Score's vocal delivery to Bauhaus vocalist Peter Murphy, arguing that like Murphy, "Score laments the loss of a love and vows to hold true for all time, giving the slightest of nods towards vampirism."[6]

Track listing

7" Jive 8 (UK)
No.TitleLength
1."Modern Love Is Automatic"4:00
2."D.N.A."2:30
3."Windows"3:28
4."You Can Run"4:28
12" Jive T12 (UK)
No.TitleLength
1."Modern Love Is Automatic" 
2."Telecommunication" 
3."D.N.A." 
4."Windows" 
5."You Can Run" 

A^ Telecommunication produced by Bill Nelson

12" Arista VK22001 (US)
No.TitleLength
1."Telecommunication"2:33
2."Tanglimara"4:37
3."You Can Run"4:26
4."Modern Love Is Automatic"3:44
5."D.N.A."2:31

B^ Tanglimara produced by Steve Lovell

7" Jive 12 (UK)
No.TitleLength
1."Modern Love Is Automatic"4:00
2."Telecommunication"2:30

Charts

Chart (1981) Peak
position
UK Bubbling Under Singles (Record Business)[7] 105
US Dance Club Play[3] 19

References

  1. ^ "A Flock of Seagulls singles".
  2. ^ Gentile, John (19 March 2013). "A Flock of Seagulls". Punknews.org. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  3. ^ a b "A Flock of Seagulls Chart History". billboard. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  4. ^ Wall of pain: the biography of Phil Spector David Thompson – 2003 – Sanctuary Pub Ltd
  5. ^ The music video guide. J Chu, E Cafritz - 1986 - McGraw-Hill Companies
  6. ^ Gentile, John (19 March 2013). "A Flock of Seagulls". Punknews.org. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Top 100 Singles - Bubbling Under Singles". Record Business. Vol. 4, no. 38. 7 December 1981. p. 7. ISSN 0144-0691.
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