I know, Telephone Line is my fave. Actually, I love telephone songs for the most part. Not all of them, but a lot of them.
Operator - Jim Croce Memphis, Tennessee - Chuck Berry (Johnny Rivers, too) Hanging on the Telephone - Blondie Call Me - also Blondie Wichita Lineman - Glen Campbell Jenny - Tommy Tutone Mr Telephone Man - New Edition The thing is, I don't like telephones very much.
I also like ELO's Sweet Talking Woman and Don't Bring Me Down. MR Blue Sky I didn't really know until they used it in that car commercial or in the Jim Carrey movie or something and then I was like, "Hey, how come I don't already know this song?"
No Action by Elvis Costello mentions a telephone and so does Donna Summer's Hot Stuff. One GREAT song and one pretty fun song. You decide which is which.
I can't remember Mr. Blue Sky at all. I vaguely remember Turn to Stone.
When you were listing telephone songs I had one come instantly to mind but haven't been able to put a name to it. I think it has to do with getting dumped over the phone.
I was going to put the lyrics to the whole song up there because it is just awesome. Whenever anybody mentions ELO I think of that song (which for the record is The Story of a Rock n Roll Band by Randy Newman)(I may be slightly off on the title).
See, I thought you were actually giving love to ELO. Now I see that it was lyrics from Randy Newman and when he says he likes something he is playing a character that he actually thinks is an idiot and therefore he doesn't actually like and so I feel tricked into admitting my, not love, but a serious crush on ELO to Randy and now he's just laughing at me. Or maybe I'm blowing this a little out of proportion since I don't really think Randy Newman is reading this, but maybe he has a Google Alert thing going on or he had an assistant set it up for him and now he does in fact see my comments about ELO and I should just stop writing while i still have my dignity. Wait, that's not mine. Where did I put that?
I don't know if I see it as an anti-ELO song per se. But have to admit that it's hard to tell with him sometimes. Because I do believe that he loves LA but am not sure how he feels about short people -- though he doesn't seem terribly tall himself.
Me, I'm OK with ELO, not so fond of LA (but am willing to be shown otherwise) and like short people in the same proportion that I like people in general.
See, I always thought he was making fun of people who hated people for no reason other than something totally superficial and beyond their control, like short people. And I also always thought I Love LA was making fun of people who like things so much that they ignore anything bad about it. They just blissfully drift along in a haze of sun, redheads, and smiles. No man, Randy can't be serious except for Disney and even then I think it's just for the money. Acerbic, that's a word, right?
I was sort of kidding about the short people thing and agree that he likes to take the asshole point of view in his stuff. I had a big Randy Newman crush for awhile, but the negativity gets too much even for me after awhile. But he certainly does dry/mean/funny better than most.
He has stayed in LA long enough though for me to think he must love it some at least.
I know, Telephone Line is my fave. Actually, I love telephone songs for the most part. Not all of them, but a lot of them.
ReplyDeleteOperator - Jim Croce
Memphis, Tennessee - Chuck Berry (Johnny Rivers, too)
Hanging on the Telephone - Blondie
Call Me - also Blondie
Wichita Lineman - Glen Campbell
Jenny - Tommy Tutone
Mr Telephone Man - New Edition
The thing is, I don't like telephones very much.
I also like ELO's Sweet Talking Woman and Don't Bring Me Down. MR Blue Sky I didn't really know until they used it in that car commercial or in the Jim Carrey movie or something and then I was like, "Hey, how come I don't already know this song?"
No Action by Elvis Costello mentions a telephone and so does Donna Summer's Hot Stuff. One GREAT song and one pretty fun song. You decide which is which.
ReplyDeleteOh, Telephone Call from Istanbul - Tom Waits.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember Mr. Blue Sky at all. I vaguely remember Turn to Stone.
ReplyDeleteWhen you were listing telephone songs I had one come instantly to mind but haven't been able to put a name to it. I think it has to do with getting dumped over the phone.
I was going to put the lyrics to the whole song up there because it is just awesome. Whenever anybody mentions ELO I think of that song (which for the record is The Story of a Rock n Roll Band by Randy Newman)(I may be slightly off on the title).
See, I thought you were actually giving love to ELO. Now I see that it was lyrics from Randy Newman and when he says he likes something he is playing a character that he actually thinks is an idiot and therefore he doesn't actually like and so I feel tricked into admitting my, not love, but a serious crush on ELO to Randy and now he's just laughing at me. Or maybe I'm blowing this a little out of proportion since I don't really think Randy Newman is reading this, but maybe he has a Google Alert thing going on or he had an assistant set it up for him and now he does in fact see my comments about ELO and I should just stop writing while i still have my dignity. Wait, that's not mine. Where did I put that?
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I see it as an anti-ELO song per se. But have to admit that it's hard to tell with him sometimes. Because I do believe that he loves LA but am not sure how he feels about short people -- though he doesn't seem terribly tall himself.
ReplyDeleteMe, I'm OK with ELO, not so fond of LA (but am willing to be shown otherwise) and like short people in the same proportion that I like people in general.
See, I always thought he was making fun of people who hated people for no reason other than something totally superficial and beyond their control, like short people. And I also always thought I Love LA was making fun of people who like things so much that they ignore anything bad about it. They just blissfully drift along in a haze of sun, redheads, and smiles. No man, Randy can't be serious except for Disney and even then I think it's just for the money. Acerbic, that's a word, right?
ReplyDeleteI was sort of kidding about the short people thing and agree that he likes to take the asshole point of view in his stuff. I had a big Randy Newman crush for awhile, but the negativity gets too much even for me after awhile. But he certainly does dry/mean/funny better than most.
ReplyDeleteHe has stayed in LA long enough though for me to think he must love it some at least.
He is a smart and clever guy.
ReplyDeleteAnd he looks pretty good in the KISS makeup. Not everybody can make it look so classy.
E-evil woman, e-evil woman, e-evil woman, evil woman.
ReplyDelete