Hanging on the Telephone
"Hanging on the Telephone" | |||||||||||||
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Single by Blondie | |||||||||||||
from the album Parallel Lines | |||||||||||||
B-side |
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Released | October 30, 1978 | ||||||||||||
Format | 7" vinyl | ||||||||||||
Recorded | 1978 | ||||||||||||
Genre | |||||||||||||
Length | 2:17 | ||||||||||||
Label | Chrysalis | ||||||||||||
Writer(s) | Jack Lee | ||||||||||||
Producer(s) | Mike Chapman | ||||||||||||
Certification | Silver (BPI)[3] | ||||||||||||
Blondie singles chronology | |||||||||||||
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"Hanging on the Telephone" is a song written by Jack Lee. It was first performed by his short-lived US West Coast power pop trio The Nerves.
Background
The tune was the lead-off track on The Nerves's 1976 EP, the group's only release. New wave band Blondie later popularised "Hanging on the Telephone", when it released a cover of the song as the second single off Parallel Lines in both the US and UK. The tune eventually reached number 5 in the UK in November 1978, as well as inspired other cover versions.
Like one of Blondie's subsequent singles, "Sunday Girl", "Hanging on the Telephone" employs a double backbeat rhythm in its drumming pattern. This percussion style also appeared on other power pop singles from the period, like The Romantics' 1978 release "Tell It to Carrie".[4]
Track listing
- UK 7" (CHS 2266)
- "Hanging on the Telephone" (Jack Lee) – 2:17
- "Will Anything Happen" (Lee) – 2:55
- US 7" (CHS 2271)
- "Hanging on the Telephone" (Lee) – 2:17
- "Fade Away and Radiate" (Chris Stein) – 3:57
Charts
Chart (1978) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report)[5] | 39 |
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[6] | 19 |
Ireland (IRMA)[7] | 16 |
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[8] | 21 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[9] | 20 |
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[10] | 43 |
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[11] | 5 |
Cover versions and appearances in other media
- The Sharp covered the song on their 1993 EP Yeah I Want You.
- Swedish duo Roxette covered the song during their Crash! Boom! Bang! world tour 94-95.
- In 1995 a cover version by American grunge band L7 was released on The Jerky Boys Soundtrack.
- The song has been covered by Finnish metal band Sinergy on the album To Hell and Back, released in 2000.
- In 2001, Polish rock band Hey released a cover of the song on their studio album.
- In 2006, both UK girl band Girls Aloud and Def Leppard released covers of the song, on a limited edition bonus disc to The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits and on Yeah!, respectively.
- The song appeared on the soundtrack of the 2006 video game True Crime: New York City.
- A cover of this song appeared on punk rock band Rehasher's 2009 album, High Speed Access to My Brain.
- In 2009 Jimmy Somerville covered the song on his acoustic album Suddenly Last Summer.[12]
- In 2011, it was covered by the Gamits on a split with Red City Radio.
- A version by Flowers Forever is played in the 2012 movie Electrick Children, in which a young girl believes she has become pregnant through listening to the song on her cassette recorder.
- Blondie re-recorded the song for their 2014 compilation album Greatest Hits Deluxe Redux. The compilation was part of a 2-disc set called Blondie 4(0) Ever which included their 10th studio album Ghosts of Download and marked the 40th anniversary of the forming of the band.
References
- Cateforis, Theo (2011). Are We Not New Wave? : Modern Pop at the Turn of the 1980s. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-03470-7.
- ↑ Cateforis 2011, p. 139.
- ↑ "The goddess still rocks". The Advocate. No. 780. March 2, 1999. p. 57. ISSN 0001-8996.
- ↑ "Certified Awards". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
- ↑ Cateforis 2011, pp. 140–41.
- ↑ "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – CHART POSITIONS PRE 1989". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 28, 2013.
- ↑ "Ultratop.be – Blondie – Hanging On The Telephone" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved July 28, 2013.
- ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Hangin' on the Telephone". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved July 28, 2013.
- ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Blondie - Hanging On The Telephone search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved July 28, 2013.
- ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Blondie – Hanging On The Telephone" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved July 28, 2013.
- ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Blondie – Hanging On The Telephone". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved July 28, 2013.
- ↑ "Archive Chart: 1978-12-02" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved July 28, 2013.
- ↑ O'Brien, Jon. "Jimmy Somerville Suddenly – Last Summer". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved July 28, 2013.