"Drop the Pilot" is a song written and performed by English singer-songwriter

Joan Armatrading Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading (, born 9 December 1950) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. Her first major commercial success came with her third and fourth albums, '' Joan Armatrading'' (1976) and '' Show Some Emotion'' (1977), a ...

. It was the first single to be released from Armatrading's 1983 album, '' The Key'', and was her third and final UK top 40 hit as of . It reached number 11 in the UK Singles Chart, and spent a total of ten weeks in the Top 40. The song was a hit in Australia and New Zealand, peaking at number six on both national charts, and in South Africa, where it reached number one. The single was Armatrading's only appearance on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, where it spent six weeks, peaking at number 78 on 25 June 1983.

B-side

The original song "Business is Business" is featured as its B-side, a track that remains unreleased on any album.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Mandy Moore version

"Drop the Pilot" was covered by American singer

Mandy Moore Amanda Leigh "Mandy" Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She rose to fame with her 1999 debut single "Candy (Mandy Moore song), Candy", which peaked at number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot ...

for her third studio album, ''Coverage'' (2003). Moore's version was released as the second single from her third album on 28 October 2003 through

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

. The song was produced by John Fields.

Music video

A video was produced as a demo for

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

's Vision2 500T series

motion picture film Film stock is an analog device, analog medium that is used for recording film, motion pictures or animation. It is recorded on by a movie camera, film developing, developed, film editing, edited, and projected onto a screen using a movie proj ...

. It is included on the demo DVD for the Vision2 line of stocks and used as a product example projected from a print at Kodak product screenings. The video was directed by Nick DiBella.

References

External links

"Drop the Pilot" lyrics from Joan Armatrading's official website
{{Authority control 1983 singles 1983 songs 2003 singles A&M Records singles Epic Records singles Joan Armatrading songs Mandy Moore songs Number-one singles in South Africa Songs written by Joan Armatrading