Yesterday Once More

1 Nov 2016

Telephone Songs

Hi Listeners,

The evolution of the telephone is one of the great stories of our time. The humble telephone has been transformed into a multi- functional communications phenomenon. Its use has changed too. Young people today no longer make phone calls and seem reluctant to even answer phone calls. Text messaging and social media are the much preferred milieu of our youth. But, there was a time when the telephone was the major means of communication. It played a significant role in the making and breaking of relationships. The songs from the fifties to the seventies highlight the importance of phones in people’s lives.

Waiting for a phone call was an agonizing experience as Vikki Carr dramatically sang in ‘It Must Be Him’. Other songs were a plea to contact a loved one such as Blondie’s ‘Call Me’ and Leo Sayer’s poignant ‘Orchard Road’. Other songs depicted the agony of not having phone calls answered such as The Rolling Stones ‘Off The Hook’ and The Beatles ‘No Reply’. Aussie glam rock group Skyhooks also had telephone issues in ‘Balwyn Calling’.

An indirect phone call to a sweetheart’s mother was the theme of ‘Sylvia’s Mother’ by Dr Hook while Jim Reeves pleads to is girlfriend to ditch the man she is with in ‘He’ll Have To Go’. A couple of unusual uses of the telephone are Aboriginal singer, Jimmy Little’s religious song ‘Royal Telephone’ and Dave Berry’s attempts to contact his small daughter in ‘Memphis Tennessee’.

Playlist

* Call Me – Blondie
* It Must Be Him – Vikki Carr
* I Just Called To Say I Love You – Stevie Wonder
* Sylvia’s Mother – Dr Hook
* Ring Ring – ABBA
* Orchard Road – Leo Sayer
* Off The Hook – Rolling Stones
* Balwyn Calling – Skyhooks
* Royal Telephone – Jimmy Little
* Memphis Tennessee – Dave Berry
* No Reply – Beatles
* He’ll Have To Go – Jim Reeves