Hanging on the Telephone



"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 song was the lead-off track on The Nerves's 1976 EP, the group's only release. It was later popularized by new wave band Blondie when they released a cover of the song as the second single from their 1978 album Parallel Lines in both the US and UK. It eventually reached number 5 in the UK in November 1978.

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".

Track listing

 * UK 7" (CHS 2266)
 * 1) "Hanging on the Telephone" (Jack Lee) – 2:17
 * 2) "Will Anything Happen" (Lee) – 2:55


 * US 7" (CHS 2271)
 * 1) "Hanging on the Telephone" (Lee) – 2:17
 * 2) "Fade Away and Radiate" (Chris Stein) – 3:57

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 album [sic!].
 * 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.
 * 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.