MUSIC | SONGS ABOUT TELEPHONES | LISTICLE

On the Telephone Line: 12 Classic Songs about Making Calls

A list exploring the surprisingly huge volume of songs about using the telephone

Photo by Wesley Hilario on Unsplash

Since Alexander Graham Bell first invented the telephone, it has become an important part of our lives.

We have come a long way from the two-piece phones of the early days of the invention. We endured shared party lines of yesteryear and heavy, rotary dial landlines that hung on the wall with handsets connected by long, tangled coiled cords. Today, our lightweight smartphones have more computing power than we used to first put a man on the moon.

The invention of the telephone changed the way we communicated, and it is still doing so today. It is not surprising that many hit, classic songs contain references to making phone calls.

Here is a list of twelve iconic songs about making telephone calls. There are quite literally hundreds of songs about this subject. I limited my selections to songs that were at least forty years old and well known.

There are, of course, songs still being made today about people calling people. I tried, instead, to look at classics. I have also attempted to rank them from good to best.

12. “Don’t Call Us We’ll Call You” by Sugarloaf

The line, “Don’t call us, we’ll call you” is a classic way to blow someone off. If someone says that to you, you are probably not going to get a phone call.

Sugarloaf wrote the song as a cynical reaction to record industry executives that had rejected them. The 1974 hit would reach #9 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

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11. “Beechwood 4–5789” by The Marvelettes

“Beechwood 4–5789” was an upbeat 1962 Motown hit for The Marvelettes. The classic reminds us of how much has changed about telephones in the past 60 years, including the way actual phone numbers are listed.

The Carpenters famously released their own version of the classic song in 1981. Here is the original 1962 track.

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10. “Telephone Line” by Electric Light Orchestra

“Telephone Line” by ELO is a ballad about heartbreak and reaching out to a lost love, a theme that seems common among many telephone songs.

At several points in the song, there are ring tones that the English band got by calling a line in America. As the phone rang, they listened and matched the tones to sounds from their synthesizers.

Peaking at #7 on the U.S. Billboard charts, it was one of ELO’s biggest hits.

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9. “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” by Steely Dan

“Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” was a 1974 hit by Steely Dan. It was on their album Pretzel Logic. Reaching #4 in the charts, it was one of Steely Dan’s biggest hits.

The song is about a woman named Rikki who is leaving, and the singer is pleading for her to stay in touch.

“Rikki don’t lose that number It’s the only one you own You might use it if you feel better When you get home.”

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8. “Hello, Again” by Neil Diamond

Neil Diamon’s slow ballad, “Hello Again,” was featured in the 1980 film, The Jazz Singer. It would go to #6 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

Like other telephone ballads, the singer is sitting home alone late at night filled with regret. So, he calls an old lover.

“Hello, my friend, hello Just called to let you know I think about you every night When I’m here alone And you’re there at home.”

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7. “Memphis, Tennessee” by Chuck Berry

Memphis, Tennessee” was an early 1959 rock and roll hit by Chuck Berry.

The song reminds us of a simpler time, when one could call a long distance operator and ask for a number.

“Long distance information, give me Memphis, Tennessee Help me find the party trying to get in touch with me She could not leave her number but I know who placed the call Because my uncle took the message and he wrote it on the wall.”

Like many other songs on this list, a caller is trying to find a lost love and is hoping the telephone operator can help him out.

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6. “Operator” by Jim Croce

“Operator” by Jim Croce is another song about a mournful lover looking for a lost lover so he turns to a telephone operator. The caller is trying to read a faded number from a matchbook, a once-common place to write down phone numbers of people you met.

The operator’s task, however, may be too great, as the caller’s description is pretty vague, “She’s living in L. A. with my best old ex-friend Ray.”

The 1972 folk ballad would peak at #17 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

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5. “Hanging on the Telephone” by Blondie

The punk-rock song, “Hanging on the Telephone,” was originally performed by The Nerves but was popularized by Blondie in 1978.

The song is about woman trying to get a man to answer the phone, and if he doesn’t answer, she is just going to keep calling.

“I’m in the phone booth, it’s the one across the hall If you don’t answer, I’ll just ring it off the wall I know he’s there, but I just had to call.”

Although a song was a top five hit in the U.K. charts, it never made the top 100 in the U.S.

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4. “Call Me” by Blondie

Well, I couldn’t list a Blondie song about telephone calls without also including their biggest hit, “Call Me.”

The 1980 song was the theme song for movie American Gigolo. It hit #1 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for six weeks.

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3. “867-5309 / Jenny” by Tommy Tutone

I don’t know my best friend’s phone number by memory, I have forgotten my childhood phone number, and I sometimes stumble when asked to give my wife’s phone number.

But I can tell you Jenny’s number without even thinking about it, 867–5309.

Consider a one-hit wonder for Tommy Tutone, the 1982 hit “867–5309/Jenny” went to #4 in the U.S. charts. That was good for Tommy Tutone, but bad for anybody who happened to share that number.

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2. “I Just Called to Say I Love You” by Stevie Wonder

“I Just Called to Say I Love You” was written, performed and released by Stevie Wonder in 1984. The romantic ballad was featured in the movie The Woman in Red.

The song topped charts around the world, staying #1 in the U.S. for three weeks. It also won both the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Original Song.

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1. “Wichita Linemen” by Glen Campbell

One of Glen Campbell’s greatest hits was the 1968 song “Wichita Linemen.”

Bordering on eavesdropping, the song is about a lonesome, blue-collar linesman who works on telephone wires. As thousands of calls vibrate through the very lines that he works on every day, he almost, perhaps wishful thinking, hears the calls from a lost lover.

“And I need you more than want you And I want you for all time And the Wichita lineman Is still on the line.”

Written by Jimmy Webb and performed by Glen Campbell, the song is considered a masterpiece and was inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry for being culturally significant work.

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There were twenty other songs on my short list before I narrowed it down to these twelve. Truthfully, I could probably do four more list organizing them by decade.

So, tell me what I left off. There are plenty of good songs about telephone calls not listed above. What would you add? Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments.

As always, thanks for reading!

If you like my listicles, you can find the complete list of them here, organized by subject: The Unabridged List of All of my Listicles

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