Hanging on the Telephone

"Hanging on the Telephone" is a song written by Jack Lee and first performed by Lee's short-lived US West Coast power pop trio The Nerves, who placed it as the lead-off track on their 1976 EP, the band's only release. New Wave band Blondie popularised the song when it was released as the second single off Parallel Lines in both the U.S. and the UK, eventually reaching number 5 in the UK in November 1978 as well as inspiring other cover versions.

Like Blondie's follow up single, "Sunday Girl", the drumming pattern of "Hanging on the Telephone" employs a double backbeat rhythm.^[1]

Release history

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

Chart peaks

Cover versions and appearances in other media

• In 2001 Polish rock band Hey released a cover of the song on their studio album.
• In late 2005, an unreleased version of the song recorded by Cat Power was used for a Cingular commercial.
• 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 and on Yeah!, respectively.
• The song has been covered by Alexi Laiho's Finnish extreme power metal band Sinergy on the album To Hell and Back.
• A studio band named Jack covered the song for inclusion in the 2005 edition of the PC game You Don't Know Jack.
• A cover of this song appeared on punk rock band Rehasher's 2009 album, High Speed Access to My Brain.
• The song appeared on the soundtrack of the 2006 video game True Crime: New York City.
• The master recording of Blondie's version of the song is available as downloadable content for the music video game series Rock Band.
• A cover of this song appears on the 1995 Soundtrack to "The Jerky Boys" by L7.
• Swedish legendary duo Roxette covered the song during their Crash! Boom! Bang! world tour 94-95.
• The Sharp covered the song on their EP Yeah I Want You.

References

External links

• Classic Tracks: Blondie 'Hanging On The Telephone'