Taken from Blondie’s third studio album, Parallel Lines, the lead track “Hanging On The Telephone” was released as a single October 30, 1978. The song wasn't a hit in America but did very well in the UK, where it reached #5 on the singles chart.
Although popularized by Blondie, the song was written by Jack Lee and released in 1976 by his short-lived US West Coast power pop band The Nerves.
Blondie discovered the song after Jeffrey Lee Pierce of the Gun Club sent the band a cassette of the track. Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry explained:
“We were playing it in the back of a taxicab in Tokyo, and the taxicab driver started tapping his hand on the steering wheel. When we came back to the US, we found that the Nerves weren't together anymore and we said, 'Gee, we should record this.'”
It’s one of our favorite Blondie songs and it’s today’s ear X-tacy!
