Modern Love Is Automatic - Misplaced Pages

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.

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.

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. 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."

Track listing

7" Jive 8 (UK)

No.	Title	Length
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.	Title	Length
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.	Title	Length
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.	Title	Length
1.	"Modern Love Is Automatic"	4:00
2.	"Telecommunication"	2:30

Charts

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

References

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

v t e A Flock of Seagulls
Mike Score Pando Kevin Rankin Gord Deppe Frank Maudsley Ali Score Willie Woo Mark Edmondson Paul Reynolds Chris Chryssaphis Gary Steadnin Ed Berner Dave Maerz Kaya Pryor Mike Radcliffe Mike Railton Jonte Wilkins Mike Marquart A.J. Mazzetti Dean Pichette Joe Rodriguez Darryl Sons Rob Wright Michael Brahm
Studio albums	A Flock of Seagulls (1982) Listen (1983) The Story of a Young Heart (1984) Dream Come True (1986) The Light at the End of the World (1995) Ascension (2018) String Theory (2021)
Compilation albums	The Best of A Flock of Seagulls (1987) I Ran: The Best of A Flock of Seagulls (2004)
Extended plays	Modern Love Is Automatic
Singles	"Talking" "Telecommunication" "I Ran (So Far Away)" "Space Age Love Song" "Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)" "The More You Live, the More You Love" "Who's That Girl (She's Got It)" "Heartbeat Like a Drum"
Other songs	"D.N.A." "Modern Love Is Automatic"
Related	Discography
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