Nominations for: best song about telephones

[meserach.livejournal.com]

Okay so, apropos of not much at all other than Lady Gaga and because I like the idea: nominations please for the best song about telephones!

This will later become AN POLL and then may if successful and enjoyed by peoples become AN REGULAR FEATURE whereby we do nominations for songs on a partcular theme and then pick the best.

Youtube links etc much appreciated esp if your song is even at all obscure.

I'll get some obvious(-ish) ones out of the way. Mostly beginning with B for some reason??:

Lady Gaga ft. Beyonce - Telephone
Blondie - Hanging on the Telephone
Blondie - Call Me
Backstreet Boys - The Call
Blackout Crew - Dialled
Blazin' Squad - Love On The Line

Okay, ball rolling. GO GO GO

EDIT: Playlist for Spotify users here: http://open.spotify.com/user/meserach/playlist/6QA3dDIIHCtrunS0Sth5tR

Comments

[brak55.livejournal.com]

Pick Up the Phone - Dragonette
Telephone Line - ELO
Telephone Man - Meri Wilson
Just Seven Numbers - Four Tops

...and, of course, all the phone numbers:

867-5309/Jenny - Tommy Tutone
634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.) - Wilson Pickett
Beachwood 4-5890 - Marvellettes

[redcommieapples.livejournal.com]

Village People - Sex Over The Phone

I think we can close the poll and declare a winner once the youtube of that goes up.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Billie Piper - Party on the Phone (which stuck in my mind after I'd heard it due to deprecated-tech related hilarity)

Saint Etienne - He's on the Phone (...which is not really about phones)

The Notwist - Pick up the Phone

[edgeofwhatever.livejournal.com]

Look, the clear winner here is Raffi's "Bananaphone," I don't know why we;re even bothering to have a contest.

[edgeofwhatever.livejournal.com]

Also: Britney Spears, "Phonography."

[koganbot]

X - "Your Phone's Off The Hook But You're Not"

Is she big, is she small, is she a she at all?

[koganbot]

The Kinks "Party Line"
M2M "Payphone"

The M2M track is straight-up pretty and emotional, the Kinks track is raucous punchy funniness that also attains beauty if you listen to it enough.

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

Madd Anju - Cellular Minutes!

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Excellent idea for a poll! And an excellent excuse to use this amazing photo:



(I'm sure I've done this particular theme for song requests before somewhere a few years ago though - it might have been on my own journal but I can't find it)

[martinv.livejournal.com]

Hmm. An indie selection...

The Fall - Telephone Thing
Super Furries - Wherever I Lay My Phone...
Love - The Red Telephone
Micachu & the Shapes - Golden Phone

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Pulp - Ansaphone
Fun Boy Three - The Telephone Always Rings
Rialto - Monday Morning 5:19

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

Request Line - Black Eyed Peas ft. Macy Gray
Ring Ring - Abba

[graciousviv.livejournal.com]

Nino Ferrer - le telephone

[strange-powers.livejournal.com]

Spagna - Call Me - super good
ELO - Sweet Talkin Woman, Calling America as well as the aforementioned Telephone Line and probably a few others
The RAH Band - Clouds Across the Moon - it turns out to be a SPACE PHONECALL
REM - Star 69 - quite crap
Steely Dan - Rikki Don't Lose That Number - awesome, obviously

OOOH

[strange-powers.livejournal.com]

Destiny's Child - Say My Name

De La Soul!

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

Absolutely NOT The Scary Bitches' "Cold Caller", which is probably the worst telephone song I've ever heard.

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

De La Soul - 'Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)'

Dr Hook - 'Sylvia's Mother'

Carol Douglas - 'Doctor's Orders'. (Not about phones as such, but this starts with a ringing tone and Carol delivers the lyric to her SO over the phone.)

All Saints (?) - 'Booty Call'

So here I am, quite by chance, near the phone

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

Stupid browser crashed while I was trying to post this! Guh. Let's try again.

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

Also! I totally forgot about Hole's "Phonebill Song", which is quite possibly my favourite tracks of theirs ever, so thanks, sucky memory.

[martinskidmore.livejournal.com]

Atomic Telephone - Spirit of Memphis Quartet
Gonna Buy Me A Telephone - Helen Humes
New York Telephone Conversation - Lou Reed
The Telephone Game - Claudine Clark
What's A Telephone Bill? - Bootsy's Rubber Band

[mcarratala.livejournal.com]

He'll Have To Go (the one that goes "Put your sweet lips a little a closer to the phone") – a song that has been performed by both Elvis P and Elvis C. The most famous version is the Jim Reeve* one, but in this case it's the song, not the singer, wherein the greatness lies.

(*He's singing it a phone booth here – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztHcGoSS_vA&feature=fvw)

(I'll second Telephone Thing and third the De La Soul).

Wow!

[meserach.livejournal.com]

Gosh wow guys, that's lots of nominations! (I count 55 so far) Thanks for a great response.

It'll probably a few days before I have time to do much with this list, so in the meantime you may as well keep them coming:

NOMINEES SO FAR
Lady Gaga ft. Beyonce - Telephone
Blondie - Hanging on the Telephone
Blondie - Call Me
Backstreet Boys - The Call
Blackout Crew - Dialled
Blazin' Squad - Love On The Line
Pick Up the Phone - Dragonette
Telephone Line - ELO
Telephone Man - Meri Wilson
Just Seven Numbers - Four Tops
867-5309/Jenny - Tommy Tutone
634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.) - Wilson Pickett
Beachwood 4-5890 - Marvellettes
Village People - Sex Over The Phone
Billie Piper - Party on the Phone (which stuck in my mind after I'd heard it due to deprecated-tech related hilarity)
Saint Etienne - He's on the Phone (...which is not really about phones)
The Notwist - Pick up the Phone
Raffi - Banaphone
Britney Spears - Phonography
X - Your Phone's Off The Hook But You're Not
The Kinks - Party Line
M2M- Payphone
Madd Anju - Cellular Minutes
The Fall - Telephone Thing
Super Furries - Wherever I Lay My Phone...
Love - The Red Telephone
Micachu & the Shapes - Golden Phone
Pulp - Ansaphone
Fun Boy Three - The Telephone Always Rings
Rialto - Monday Morning 5:19
Request Line - Black Eyed Peas ft. Macy Gray
Ring Ring - Abba
Nino Ferrer - le telephone
Spagna - Call Me - super good
ELO - Sweet Talkin Woman, Calling America as well as the aforementioned Telephone Line and probably a few others
The RAH Band - Clouds Across the Moon - it turns out to be a SPACE PHONECALL
REM - Star 69 - quite crap
Steely Dan - Rikki Don't Lose That Number - awesome, obviously
Destiny's Child - Say My Name
Destiny's Child - Bills Bills Bills
De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring
The Scary Bitches - Cold Caller
Curiosity Killed the Cat - Name and Number
Dr Hook - 'Sylvia's Mother'
Carol Douglas - 'Doctor's Orders'. (Not about phones as such, but this starts with a ringing tone and Carol delivers the lyric to her SO over the phone.)
All Saints (?) - 'Booty Call'
Gary Numan - Stormtrooper in the Drag
Hole - Phonebill Song
Atomic Telephone - Spirit of Memphis Quartet
Gonna Buy Me A Telephone - Helen Humes
New York Telephone Conversation - Lou Reed
The Telephone Game - Claudine Clark
What's A Telephone Bill? - Bootsy's Rubber Band
He'll Have To Go

[koganbot]

Johnny Rivers "Memphis"

Written and originally recorded by Chuck Berry, but I can't find a good stream of his original version, and I'm left with subpar live performances. So I went with Johnny Rivers' live version, which is great anyway, and was the hit. This is the most apropos phone song ever. For the entire conversation the narrator is on the phone talking to a long-distance operator. It starts "Long distance information, give me Memphis, Tennessee/Help me find a party that tried to get in touch with me/She could not leave her number, but I know who placed the call/'Cause my uncle took the message and he wrote it on the wall." If you haven't heard it, please listen: it's a brilliant tearjerker song, with a twist ending.

OK, and another one:

Lexxus "Ring Mi Cellie"

[elnigma.livejournal.com]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA5oz8b3UJM Pete Shelly Telephone Operator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nftLExpxE0 White Stripes Hello Operator