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Hanging on the Telephone
"Hanging on the Telephone" is a song written by Jack Lee. The song was released in 1976 by his short-lived US West Coast power pop band the Nerves; in 1978, it was recorded and released as a single by American new wave band Blondie.
Blondie had discovered the song on a cassette tape compilation given to the band by Jeffrey Lee Pierce. Beginning with a phone sound-effect courtesy of producer Mike Chapman, Blondie's version of the song was released on the band's breakthrough third album, Parallel Lines. The single was a top five hit on the UK singles chart and has since seen critical acclaim as one of the band's best songs.
"Hanging on the Telephone" was originally written by Jack Lee for his band, the Nerves. The song appeared as the lead-off track on the Nerves's 1976 EP; however, the release was a commercial failure and became the group's only release. Long after the song's eventual commercial success, Lee reflected "Even people who hated me – and there were plenty – had to admit it was great."
The song was later popularized by new wave band Blondie, who covered the track on their 1978 album, Parallel Lines. The band discovered the song after Jeffrey Lee Pierce of the Gun Club sent the band a cassette of the track. Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry explained:
We were playing it in the back of a taxicab in Tokyo, and the taxicab driver started tapping his hand on the steering wheel. When we came back to the US, we found that the Nerves weren't together anymore and we said, 'Gee, we should record this.'
Lee had been financially struggling at the time; he recalled the moment the band called him to ask permission to cover the song. "I remember the day vividly. It was a Friday. They were going to cut off our electricity at six o'clock, the phone too." The band also performed a version of the Lee-penned track, "Will Anything Happen", on Parallel Lines.
Blondie's version of the song begins with a sound effect of a telephone system ringing tone. The idea was proposed by producer Mike Chapman; he recalled "The Blondies all thought that was stupid and too gimmicky, but I said, 'C'mon, guys! Gimmicky? This is Blondie. Let's give it a try!'". The single was recorded in New York, but the telephone sound effect that opens the track is not the US version, but the two-ring signal used in the United Kingdom - Chapman asked recording engineer Peter Coleman to phone anyone he knew in the UK, and they recorded the outgoing phone line. Like one of Blondie's subsequent singles, "Sunday Girl", "Hanging on the Telephone" employs a double backbeat rhythm in its drumming pattern, meaning the "off" beats alternate between a quarter note and two eighth notes. This percussion style also appeared on other power pop singles from the period, like the Romantics' 1978 release "Tell It to Carrie".
Blondie released their cover of "Hanging on the Telephone" the second single from their 1978 album Parallel Lines in both the US and UK. The single failed to chart in the US, but it eventually reached number five in the UK in November 1978.
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Hanging on the Telephone
"Hanging on the Telephone" is a song written by Jack Lee. The song was released in 1976 by his short-lived US West Coast power pop band the Nerves; in 1978, it was recorded and released as a single by American new wave band Blondie.
Blondie had discovered the song on a cassette tape compilation given to the band by Jeffrey Lee Pierce. Beginning with a phone sound-effect courtesy of producer Mike Chapman, Blondie's version of the song was released on the band's breakthrough third album, Parallel Lines. The single was a top five hit on the UK singles chart and has since seen critical acclaim as one of the band's best songs.
"Hanging on the Telephone" was originally written by Jack Lee for his band, the Nerves. The song appeared as the lead-off track on the Nerves's 1976 EP; however, the release was a commercial failure and became the group's only release. Long after the song's eventual commercial success, Lee reflected "Even people who hated me – and there were plenty – had to admit it was great."
The song was later popularized by new wave band Blondie, who covered the track on their 1978 album, Parallel Lines. The band discovered the song after Jeffrey Lee Pierce of the Gun Club sent the band a cassette of the track. Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry explained:
We were playing it in the back of a taxicab in Tokyo, and the taxicab driver started tapping his hand on the steering wheel. When we came back to the US, we found that the Nerves weren't together anymore and we said, 'Gee, we should record this.'
Lee had been financially struggling at the time; he recalled the moment the band called him to ask permission to cover the song. "I remember the day vividly. It was a Friday. They were going to cut off our electricity at six o'clock, the phone too." The band also performed a version of the Lee-penned track, "Will Anything Happen", on Parallel Lines.
Blondie's version of the song begins with a sound effect of a telephone system ringing tone. The idea was proposed by producer Mike Chapman; he recalled "The Blondies all thought that was stupid and too gimmicky, but I said, 'C'mon, guys! Gimmicky? This is Blondie. Let's give it a try!'". The single was recorded in New York, but the telephone sound effect that opens the track is not the US version, but the two-ring signal used in the United Kingdom - Chapman asked recording engineer Peter Coleman to phone anyone he knew in the UK, and they recorded the outgoing phone line. Like one of Blondie's subsequent singles, "Sunday Girl", "Hanging on the Telephone" employs a double backbeat rhythm in its drumming pattern, meaning the "off" beats alternate between a quarter note and two eighth notes. This percussion style also appeared on other power pop singles from the period, like the Romantics' 1978 release "Tell It to Carrie".
Blondie released their cover of "Hanging on the Telephone" the second single from their 1978 album Parallel Lines in both the US and UK. The single failed to chart in the US, but it eventually reached number five in the UK in November 1978.