Speaking of obscene calls…
Prince’s - Let’s Go Crazy includes the lyrics:
“Call my old lady, for friendly word
Picked up the phone, dropped it on the floor
Ahhh, ahhh is all I heard”
Some oddball phone-related recommendations:
Maj Britt and the Suggestions - Sorry Caller, no one home
Assagai - Telephone Girl
The Troggs - 66-54321
Terry Durham - Crystal Telephone
“Since your call came through there ain’t nothin’ new
but the radio and the headlights
And the the news at the top of the hour
that no one really believes…”
‘Lover’
Michael Stanley Band
1980
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap has the following:
“Pick up the phone
I’m always home
Call me any time
Just ring
36 24 36 hey
I lead a life of crime”
I always chuckle at the choice of phone number.
Kevin Bloody Wilson - Dick Ta’phone (NSFW)
Great song?
A guy is singing about how he’s gonna fall in love with a girl whose number he picked up in a bathroom stall? “For a good time call Jenny, 867-5309”???
It’s one of the most insanely insipid songs around. It did, however, have a really catchy refrain.
“Little Red Light” is a terrific song by Fountains of Wayne, about a guy waiting for a call that never comes.
It’s not right
It’s not fair
I’m still a mess
And you still don’t care
I go to work
I come back home
But you’re still gone
And I’m still alone
And the little red light’s not blinking
No, no the little red light’s not blinking
No, no the little red light’s not blinking
On my big black plastic Japanese cordless phone
Oh no
After seeing someone mention “Telephone Man” by Meri Wilson I figured that had to be the worst phone-oriented song ever recorded, but then another poster brought up Vikki Carr’s “It Must Be Him”, a strong candidate for Most Cringeworthy in the category.
I’m the first to mention Air Supply’s I’m All Out of Love
I’m lying alone with my head on the phone
Thinking of you till it hurts
I know you hurt too but what else can we do
Tormented and torn apart
I wish I could carry your smile and my heart
For times when my life seems so low
It would make me believe what tomorrow could bring
When today doesn’t really know, doesn’t really know
“Telephone Blues”, Eric Clapton, John Mayall, and the Bluesbreakers
It makes me laugh my ass off since I read Dave Barry’s Book of Bad Songs.
“It must be him
Or else I will stick my head in the oven again”
Don’t think I saw this one posted:
Early 60s’ phone madness- I’ve always loved this song!
Robin was only 11 when she recorded this!:
Robin Clark - Daddy, Daddy (Gotta Get A Phone In My Room) (1961)
The "phone" bells sounds more like in-school bell ringing.Love the way she pronounces “ruined”(!) What is that accent???
Here’s the original by “Betsy Brye” (1959) that has it’s charms:
Sounds like it could have been a song in BYE BY BIRDIE. (Makes me think of "Going Steady/Telephone Hour") *_*_* Found another song by ROBIN CLARK (1st song above) "For Your Sake" (1961) Boy, she was a talent!:
“Bells Are Ringing” from the musical of the same name.
All around, there’s the sound of the midsummer night,
Bells in the air are ringing ev’rywhere.
I rush to answer in hopes that it’s he,
But no, the call’s not for me.
Here alone I can only imagine the sight.
Me on the town, in some bewitching gown.
But I just wait at the end ot the line,
Bells are ringing
The bells keep ringing,
Oh why,
Oh why can’t the next call be mine?
- Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Another by Robert Cray: Smoking Gun
“I get a constant busy signal when I call you on the phone. I get a strong uneasy feeling you’re not sitting there alone…”
In the rather niche genre of country songs about struggling rodeo riders calling their partners -
Chris LeDoux - Silence On The Line
George Strait - I Can Still Make Cheyenne
Laura and Tommy were lovers
He wanted to give her everything
Flowers, presents and most of all, a wedding ring
He saw a sign for a stock car race
A thousand dollar prize it read
He couldn’t get Laura on the phone
So to her mother Tommy said
Tell Laura I love her, tell Laura I need her
Tell Laura I may be late
I’ve something to do, that cannot wait
More country, less rodeo -
Jim Reeves - He’ll have to go
And The Quireboys cover of it.
Garth Brooks “Calling Baton Rouge”
Operator won’t you put me on through
Gotta send my love down to Baton Rouge
For those with access to BBC streaming services and a penchant for these songs (or at least the more upbeat ones), a BBC Radio Solent show called Bubblegum and Cheesejust did a three-hour show of telephone songs, which can be heard for the next 28 days. Song list at the link.
Is this a joke? Cuz Smooth Operator is *not *about a telephone operator…