![]() ![]() ![]() Of course, we won’t presume to dive into an aesthetic morass by claiming Blondie’s version is the definitive one ( though it is) but the song has also had a busy afterlife, being covered a surprisingly diverse cast of would-be successors. And, as noted earlier, the album itself went on to huge international success, being certified platinum in the US in 2008. Blondie’s “Hanging on the Telephone” 7” release failed to dent the US charts, but went to #5 in the UK. Presumably, Lee’s financial woes were soon a thing of the past. Eventually, another Lee composition – “Will Anything Happen?” -would become Track 2, Side 2 of Parallel Lines. Ironically, on the very day his electricity and telephone service were due to be cut off, he received a call from Blondie’s Deborah Harry – an acquaintance since the two bands shared a stage during one of the New York band’s first West Coast tours – asking if the band could record a cover of “Hanging on the Telephone.” He said yes. Bassist Peter Case would go on to success with the Plimsouls (of “A Million Miles Away” fame), while drummer Paul Collins went on to found the Beat (not to be confused with the English Beat).Īccording to a 2007 interview in Mojo Magazine, around this time guitarist Jack Lee was nearly destitute. ![]() In 1978, after four grueling and commercially unrewarding years, the band disintegrated. and Canada, and giving many first-wave L.A. The band’s only release during their lifetime was a single four-song EP in 1976, which included “Hanging on the Telephone.” But if their recorded legacy is slim, the band was nothing if not industrious, opening for the Ramones during a tour of the U.S. If you’ve never heard of the Nerves, join the club. That honor goes to Jack Lee, of short-lived LA power-pop band the Nerves (not to be confused with either the ‘90s-vintage Chicago band or more recent Minneapolis group of the same name). But even diehard fans are often unaware of one little detail about this most rocking of Blondie’s songs: They didn’t actually write it. It helped send the third album to #6 in the US, #2 in Australia and straight to #1 in the UK. If it doesn’t quite represent their commercial peak, the band’s 1978 album Parallel Lines is without much doubt their finest work, crashing out of the gate with “Hanging on the Telephone,” a near-perfect snapshot of illicit romance and sexual frustration, come and gone in 2 minutes 17 seconds.įor those who were still on the fence after Blondie’s hit-or-miss second album, Plastic Letters, “Hanging on the Telephone” sealed the deal. Refracting modern rock through multiple lenses – ’50s pop, ’60s girl groups and ’70s punk, to name a few – the band sucked you in with clever, poppy melodies while maintaining a distance sharpened by dark, ironic humor. If you’re a fan of power pop – roughly speaking, the place where early rock n’ roll, ‘60s bubblegum, and the British Invasion converge – then Blondie probably ranks high on your list of faves. ![]()
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