This was a great article Steve! "Hanging on the Telephone" is one of my favorite Blondie songs. I did know that it was a cover from The Nerves, but I only found that out a couple of years ago! I enjoyed listening to the Nerves version again just now. The original has a very specific charm to it. Debbie and Chris were very smart to realize so quickly they could have a hit with that song. I have to say I was not aware there were so many subsequent covers. I just listened to the one by Kurt Baker that you mentioned ( I was not familiar with him before) and I loved it! Very cute video he made for it too. Also kudos to him, even 14 years ago for finding a few public phone booths to use in his video, they were probably getting scarce even then and I'm not sure where you could find one today, at least in New York. Thanks again for this great article to start my day with!
I still remember seeing them in Bomp Magazine but did nothing about it at the time, possibly because it was much harder in that era to get your hands on records singled out by critics. It wasn't all that long ago I bought the compilation on sale but only got around to it in the past year. It's a brilliant track and if asked on different days, I might prefer Blondie's or The Nerves.
I feel like The Nerves version has more cool cachet, but most of us heard Blondie first so that has the nostalgia appeal. I dig them both, and like a lot of the other covers included here.
Dang. I didn't realize the song had been covered so many times since Blondie popularized it.
Blondie is one of my all-time favorite bands, and I go back & forth with myself about which song is my favorite from them: "Hanging on the Telephone" or "Call Me" maybe "Atomic" 😀
Cool write up. Would have loved to cover this - if it weren’t already so covered. Lol awesome song though.
I surprised at just how many versions there are!
This was a great article Steve! "Hanging on the Telephone" is one of my favorite Blondie songs. I did know that it was a cover from The Nerves, but I only found that out a couple of years ago! I enjoyed listening to the Nerves version again just now. The original has a very specific charm to it. Debbie and Chris were very smart to realize so quickly they could have a hit with that song. I have to say I was not aware there were so many subsequent covers. I just listened to the one by Kurt Baker that you mentioned ( I was not familiar with him before) and I loved it! Very cute video he made for it too. Also kudos to him, even 14 years ago for finding a few public phone booths to use in his video, they were probably getting scarce even then and I'm not sure where you could find one today, at least in New York. Thanks again for this great article to start my day with!
Thanks, Sue! There is a lot of great Kurt Baker music for you to explore.
I only found out about The Nerves recently thanks to a Tune Tag with Brad Kyle now they appear on my timeline again. Time to dig a little deeper.
https://open.substack.com/pub/bradkyle/p/tune-tag-92-with-david-ross-of-a?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=293r7s
Awesome. Never too late to enjoy The Nerves.
I still remember seeing them in Bomp Magazine but did nothing about it at the time, possibly because it was much harder in that era to get your hands on records singled out by critics. It wasn't all that long ago I bought the compilation on sale but only got around to it in the past year. It's a brilliant track and if asked on different days, I might prefer Blondie's or The Nerves.
I feel like The Nerves version has more cool cachet, but most of us heard Blondie first so that has the nostalgia appeal. I dig them both, and like a lot of the other covers included here.
The Girls are a fantastic band!
Yes! They deserve a lot more attention.
Dang. I didn't realize the song had been covered so many times since Blondie popularized it.
Blondie is one of my all-time favorite bands, and I go back & forth with myself about which song is my favorite from them: "Hanging on the Telephone" or "Call Me" maybe "Atomic" 😀
Blondie is fantastic. Impossible to choose between the songs you mentioned…although, I’m a drummer who loves Clem Burke, so it’s “Dreaming” for me…
Yep. RIP Clem
Love Blondie's version. It's always been one of my favorite tracks on "Parallel Lines." I didn't know until a few years ago that it was a cover!
It’s an amazing version!
Wow, fascinating backstory. I loved it! Thanks, Steve.
Awesome!