Baby, when you call me...

February 20, 2007 10:26 AM

Looking for snappy songs about telephones.

I have to give a slide show for a policy class. Weirdly enough, I cannot talk during the slide show, so I am planning to use a soundtrack.

The slide show is about Vonage's regulatory troubles as it tries to get a foothold in the telecom market, and I thought that a nice song might help to liven things up a little bit. I tried Googling this with limited results; the only good thing I could find was here: http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?p=1334 .

So, Oh Hive Mind, can you help me in my darkest hour? I'd love some old soul/R&B.

posted by rachelpapers to media & arts (69 comments total)

Banana Phone
posted by iphog at 10:33 AM on February 20, 2007

ring ring ring ring banana phone
posted by brinkzilla at 10:34 AM on February 20, 2007

There's that great ZZ Hill sample used to great effect by Madvillain:

"I hear you in the background
Whenever I phone
Telling your brother
To say you're gone."

I'll post more if I think of them, but that's the first thing that comes to mind.
posted by rocketman at 10:36 AM on February 20, 2007

How about that "Helloooooooo Baby" song by the Big Bopper. It's called Chantilly Lace.
posted by spakto at 10:36 AM on February 20, 2007

Kraftwerk's The Telephone Call.
posted by jaimev at 10:37 AM on February 20, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

867-5309
posted by mattbucher at 10:38 AM on February 20, 2007

Cake - No Phone
It's about not wanting to pick up the phone. The starts with some old school phone rings, and the first lines are "No phone, no phone, I just want to be alone today."
posted by easternblot at 10:39 AM on February 20, 2007

Maybe try "Computer Games", by Yellow Magic Orchestra. It's not about telephones (there aren't lyrics), but it uses a lot of digital sounding effects, especially in the intro, that bring telephony to mind.
posted by rocketman at 10:39 AM on February 20, 2007

If it's not too old school, try Pennsylvania 6-5000
posted by stefanie at 10:39 AM on February 20, 2007

There's always Stevie Wonder's I Just Called to Say I Love You.
posted by cerebus19 at 10:41 AM on February 20, 2007

There's a song called "Telephone" by David Mead, but it's not about telephones per say.
posted by sjuhawk31 at 10:46 AM on February 20, 2007

Call Me - Blondie
Operator - Jim Croce
Telephone Line - ELO
posted by doctor_negative at 10:48 AM on February 20, 2007

Maybe some cuts off of Ill Communication would fit your theme?
posted by quadog at 10:48 AM on February 20, 2007

Hanging on the Telephone, Blondie. (YouTube).
posted by cushie at 10:49 AM on February 20, 2007

BEechwood 4-5789

Memphis

You Didn't Try to Call Me
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:49 AM on February 20, 2007

pink floyd has a phone sequence, (collect call for mrs. floyd from mr. floyd) and "is there anybody out there?" would be a good clip. here's a link to an article about phone songs
posted by sadie01221975 at 10:50 AM on February 20, 2007

Stevie Ray Vaughan and his brother Jimmie- Telephone Song. From the Family Style album.
posted by Steve3 at 10:52 AM on February 20, 2007

Had to Phone Ya by the Beach Boys
Off the Hook by the Rolling Stones
I Can Hear You by They Might Be Giants
Hanging on the Telephone by Blondie
posted by cerebus19 at 10:52 AM on February 20, 2007

Wilson Pickett - 634-5789
The Fall - Telephone Thing
Astrud Gilberto - The Telephone Song
Anita Ward - Ring My Bell (or try the Blood Sisters for the reggae version)
posted by hydrophonic at 10:52 AM on February 20, 2007

also No Doubt's Spiderweb - "i screen my phone calls"
posted by sadie01221975 at 10:53 AM on February 20, 2007

Oh, and Love on the Telephone by Foreigner.
posted by cerebus19 at 10:54 AM on February 20, 2007

Switchboard Susan -- by Nick Lowe (or by the Searchers)
posted by wryly at 10:59 AM on February 20, 2007

Car Phone on Back From Rio by Roger McGuinn (1990)


I stole a million fake Nintendo chips
But never let it cross your lips
That I told you on the car phone
Or they'll write it on my gravestone


Oh wait, you said snappy, not crappy.
posted by mikepop at 11:02 AM on February 20, 2007

"Telephone" by the Januaries, though I'm starting to think the song is a figment of my imagination, since I can never track it down to link to it. Good song, though.
posted by occhiblu at 11:02 AM on February 20, 2007

For snappy I would go with Telephone Rock
posted by mikepop at 11:05 AM on February 20, 2007

Telegram Sam - T Rex
posted by Lanark at 11:07 AM on February 20, 2007

I've loved to hate on this guy in the past, and I still think he's overrated, but it's hard to dislike anything of his from before 1981 or so.

I don't wanna kiss you, I don't wanna touch
I don't wanna call you 'cuz I don't miss you that much
I'm not a telephone junkie
Already told that we were just good friends
But when I hold you like I hold that bakelite in my hands...

there's NO ACTION
Every time I phone you, I just wanna put you down...

I'm not a telephone junkie
If I'm inserting my coin I'm doing just fine
'Til the things in my head start hurtin' my mind
And I think about the way things used to be
knowing you're with him is just driving me crazy
Sometimes I phone you when I know you're not lonely
but I always disconnect it in time...

-Declan McManus, aka 'Elvis Costello,' "No Action"

Then there is the certified classic "He'll Have To Go" (warning: hokey vintage video) by the venerable Jim Reeves:

"Put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone
We can pretend that we're together, all alone
I'll tell the man to turn the jukebox way down low
And you can tell your friend there with you he'll have to go..."

I could very easily go on all day. You can always mine Bob Dylan's always-insightful "Theme Time Radio Hour," as there's an episode on this very subject.
posted by koeselitz at 11:07 AM on February 20, 2007

Telephone Operator by Pete Shelley.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:08 AM on February 20, 2007

"You Don't Wanna Call" by The Donnas. Or, more brooding than snappy, "Pick up the Phone" by The Notwist.
posted by bassjump at 11:13 AM on February 20, 2007

Prix - Hello Operator.

I can't find info on it with a preliminary search, although there it is, on my iPod. I got it on a cd of 350 mp3s of indie, small lable and garage bands from Mp3.com, during one of there legal periods.

It's fairly enjoyable, in a bizarre 1920's style.

Hello operator,
can you spare me a dime,
so I can place a call,
to that gal of mine, a real honey pie...
posted by JeremiahBritt at 11:16 AM on February 20, 2007

Lots of suggestions here:

TheAge
Phones and Culture
Songs about or referencing telephones - wiki
posted by Kololo at 11:19 AM on February 20, 2007

On the Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, he has that part where he talks about calling up the operator at Time just to hear a voice of some kind (maybe Talking WWIII Blues or something?). And not about telephones exactly but "Telephone Road" by Steve Earle. And "Hello Operator" by The White Stripes off De Stijl.
posted by frances1972 at 11:20 AM on February 20, 2007

B-52s: 606-0842
Ladytron: Flicking Your Switch
posted by jet_silver at 11:21 AM on February 20, 2007

"Girl on the Phone" - The Jam
posted by scody at 11:25 AM on February 20, 2007

There is a really stupid and suggestive song from the 70s called "Telephone Man." Google says Meri Wilson.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 11:25 AM on February 20, 2007

Cake–Never There ("On the phone, long, long distance/always through such strong resistance...")
posted by oaf at 11:25 AM on February 20, 2007

Loud Reed's "New York Telephone Conversation"
posted by roll truck roll at 11:32 AM on February 20, 2007

Er, he also sometimes goes by "Lou Reed."
posted by roll truck roll at 11:32 AM on February 20, 2007

Ian Pooley - What's your Number
posted by Muu at 11:34 AM on February 20, 2007

Busy Line by Rose Murphy.
posted by Grangousier at 11:42 AM on February 20, 2007

Penguin Cafe Orchestra, "Telephone and Rubber Band."
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:49 AM on February 20, 2007

Dragostea din tei aka the Numa Numa song features a cell phone prominiently.
Here is a translation of the lyrics.
posted by frecklefaerie at 11:52 AM on February 20, 2007

Suprised no one has mentioned Kraftwerk yet...
Der Telefon Anruf, off the 'Electric Cafe' album.
May have also been released as a single 'The Telephone Call'
posted by yohko at 12:02 PM on February 20, 2007

Telephone Thing by the Fall.
posted by rongorongo at 12:12 PM on February 20, 2007

Fontmate by Throat Culture. (obscure but wonderful).
posted by devbrain at 12:13 PM on February 20, 2007

Sylvia's Mother by Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, also written by Shel Silverstein.
posted by rocketman at 12:26 PM on February 20, 2007

Eric Prydz - Call on Me
Kinks - Long Distance
posted by deern the headlice at 1:30 PM on February 20, 2007

And I can't dial the phone just now
Even though I know your number
Can't bring my broken heart to be untrue
Like you did today
You'll say goodbye the same old way
Ever since you hung up on me
I'm hung up on you
posted by grateful at 1:31 PM on February 20, 2007

Mr. Telephone Man - New Edition
Memphis - Chuck Berry
Off the Hook - Rolling Stones
Ring Ring - De La Soul
Skypager - A Tribe Called Quest
posted by box at 1:32 PM on February 20, 2007

Believe it or not, Hello Ma Baby (you might know it from that warner brothers cartoon where the guy discovers the singing frog) is a real live tune, written in 1899 about that new-fangled device, the telephone!

Hello, ma baby, hello, ma honey
Hello, ma ragtime gal
Send me a kiss by wire
Baby, my heart's on fire
If you refuse me, honey you'll lose me
Then you'll be left along
So, baby, telephone
And tell me I'm your own!

posted by Aquaman at 1:35 PM on February 20, 2007

crap, last word, third to last line should be "alone".

stupid fingers.
posted by Aquaman at 1:35 PM on February 20, 2007

Cake - Never There (references phones a lot, has phone tone at start, pretty peppy and well known)
ELO - Telephone Line (not particularly upbeat but could strike the right mood, has lots of telephonesque tones at the start and ringing)
posted by wackybrit at 1:42 PM on February 20, 2007

Georgie and Her Rival - Elvis Costello. However, it might not be so good for a class presentation.
posted by dilettante at 1:46 PM on February 20, 2007

Long Distance Call -- Muddy Waters
I'm In a Phone Booth Baby -- Robert Cray
Loan Me a Dime -- Fenton Robinson/Boz Scaggs
Jesus On the Mainline -- Various
posted by timeistight at 1:55 PM on February 20, 2007

There's always the telephones as well.
posted by jourman2 at 2:24 PM on February 20, 2007

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Travis Tritt–Here's a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)
posted by oaf at 2:41 PM on February 20, 2007

Concrete Blonde, "Cold Part of Town." The entire song is a call left on an answering machine. It's on their first album.
posted by adipocere at 3:10 PM on February 20, 2007

The Replacements, "Answering Machine."

(Snappy? Not really. Still awesome.)
posted by macrone at 3:58 PM on February 20, 2007

Michel'le's No More Lies features a telephone ringing and she answering "Hello?" throughout the song. It's an R&B song from 1990.
posted by daninnj at 4:10 PM on February 20, 2007

oh and here's the song on YouTube.
posted by daninnj at 4:13 PM on February 20, 2007

Rockmaster Scott & The Dynamic Three - Request Line

Frank Zappa - You Didn't Try to Call Me

The Allstonians - Answering Machine

Chingy f/ Snoop Dogg & Ludacris - Holidae Inn has an excellent cellphone ring in it, though the song isn't about a telephone call.

On Zappa's We're Only In It for the Money, there's a track "Telephone Conversation" that's more of a skit in between songs.
posted by rxrfrx at 6:06 PM on February 20, 2007

867-5309/Jenny by Tommy Tutone
posted by naoko at 6:12 PM on February 20, 2007

"Hand to Phone" by Adult.
posted by ubersturm at 7:11 PM on February 20, 2007

REM - The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite
posted by ALongDecember at 8:43 PM on February 20, 2007

You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It) - The Undertones
853-5937 - Squeeze
posted by SisterHavana at 10:36 PM on February 20, 2007

Yaz - Bad Connection (a little more pop-y than maybe you're looking for, but lots of fun)
posted by marginaliana at 7:51 AM on February 21, 2007

NOT Ciara's "Pick up the Phone"
posted by troubadour at 10:47 AM on February 21, 2007

634-5789 - Wilson Pickett
posted by box at 10:49 AM on February 21, 2007

Fun Boy Three : The Telephone Always Rings
posted by Dr.Pill at 12:18 PM on February 21, 2007