Telephone Line ELO: How Jeff Lynne Made the Ring Tone
Telephone Line ELO is the 1977 single in which a man waits for a girl to answer a ringing phone.
Jeff Lynne wrote and produced it, and it comes from the album A New World Record.
It reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 in Canada and New Zealand.
This page covers the ring tone, the recording, the charts, the reviews and the covers.
Electric Light Orchestra in a Jet Records trade advertisement, Billboard, November 19, 1977.
Image credit: Jet Records, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Telephone Line ELO: The Song Behind the Ring Tone
Jeff Lynne wrote Telephone Line for the 1976 album A New World Record.
Wikipedia calls it a ballad.
A Ring Tone Made for America
Electric Light Orchestra had found success in America.
Lynne wanted an American ring tone for the song.
The band phoned a US number they expected nobody to answer.
They then recreated the ringing on a Moog.
They tuned the oscillators to the same notes they had heard on the line.
What the Lyrics Describe
A man listens to a telephone ringing.
He hopes a girl will answer.
While he waits, he imagines what he would say to her.
The whole song hangs on one phone and one long wait.
Five Genre Tags, One Ballad
Wikipedia files the Telephone Line ELO single under five labels at once.
- Symphonic rock.
- Orchestral pop.
- Progressive pop.
- Soft rock.
- Electronic rock.
If the soft end of the decade is your lane, our 70s soft rock page has more of it.
Recording and Release
Wikipedia dates the A New World Record sessions to July 1976 at Musicland Studios in Munich, West Germany.
String and choral overdubs were added at De Lane Lea Studios in Wembley.
Wikipedia gives no separate session dates for the Telephone Line ELO track.
The album reached US shops on October 15, 1976, and UK shops on November 19, 1976.
The Single at a Glance
| Detail | Fact |
|---|---|
| Artist | Electric Light Orchestra |
| Writer and producer | Jeff Lynne |
| Parent album | A New World Record (1976), side one, track two |
| Single release | May 1977 (fourth single from the album) |
| Labels | Jet Records and United Artists Records |
| Studio | Musicland Studios, Munich, West Germany |
| US single edit | 3:56, with an early fade |
| B-sides | Poor Boy (The Greenwood) and King of the Universe |
Source: Wikipedia articles on the song and the album, checked October 21, 2026.
If this kind of lovelorn pop suits your mood, the Mood Song Matcher can line up more of it.
Hear the 1977 Single
Press play and listen for the ringing before the first line of Telephone Line ELO.
You can also find Telephone Line on the Listen Now jukebox.
On the Charts: A Top Ten Hit in the US
The Telephone Line ELO single reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Wikipedia says it spent 23 weeks on that chart.
That is about a month longer than any other ELO song managed there.
It is not among the Hot 100 number ones in this site's weekly data.
Peaks Around the World
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| Canada Top Singles (RPM) | No. 1 |
| New Zealand | No. 1 |
| US Cash Box Top 100 | No. 4 |
| US Radio & Records | No. 4 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | No. 7 |
| UK Singles (Official Charts) | No. 8 |
| Australia (Kent Music Report) | No. 10 |
| Belgium (Flanders) | No. 23 |
| West Germany (GfK) | No. 32 |
| Belgium (Wallonia) | No. 48 |
| Canada Adult Contemporary | No. 50 |
Source: Wikipedia article on the song, weekly charts section, checked October 21, 2026.
Ten of the song's 1977 chart peaks, drawn from the Wikipedia figures in the table above.
Year-End Standing
This site's Year-End Hot 100 data puts the song at No. 15 for 1977.
Wikipedia lists other year-end finishes as well.
- New Zealand: No. 8.
- US Billboard Year-End Hot 100: No. 15.
- Canada (RPM): No. 21.
- US Cash Box: No. 29.
- Australia (Kent Music Report): No. 68.
To see where it sits among the year's biggest records, check our top songs of 1977 post.
Certifications
Wikipedia reports it was ELO's first gold-certified single in the US.
The certification table lists three awards.
- United States (RIAA): Platinum.
- Canada (Music Canada): Gold.
- New Zealand (RMNZ): Gold.
Source: Wikipedia article on the song, certifications section.
To hear what else the decade threw up, let the Random 70s Song Generator pick one.
Reception, Rankings and Screen Appearances
Critics have been kind to Telephone Line ELO ever since.
For the wider story of the band's decade, start at Music of the 70s and follow the rock tags.
What Critics Said
- Donald Guarisco of AllMusic called the arrangement a "miniature symphony."
- Bruce Eder of AllMusic said it "might be the best Lennon-McCartney collaboration that never was."
- Billboard said the telephone effects and the "doo-wah chorus" gave it a "50s feel."
- Cash Box praised Lynne's vocal and the "unearthy strings."
- Record World called it a "rock ballad of lost love."
Later Rankings
- Ryan Reed of Stereogum ranked it ELO's best song.
- Michael Gallucci of Ultimate Classic Rock ranked it the fourth-best ELO song.
- Brian Kachejian of Classic Rock History ranked it third.
- Jeff Lynne listed it among his nine favourite ELO songs in 2022.
Source: Wikipedia article on the song, reception section.
Electric Light Orchestra live at Ekeberghallen, Oslo, April 27, 1978.
Image credit: Photo by Helge Øverås, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The Song on Screen
- Billy Madison: it plays when Adam Sandler's character phones Steve Buscemi's character to apologize.
- Big Love: season two, in the episode Vision Thing.
- Malcolm in the Middle: season four, in the episode Malcolm Holds His Tongue, where it plays in a car.
The Band's Other Big Record
ELO followed this single with the double album Out of the Blue in October 1977.
Read how Mr. Blue Sky was written after two weeks of gloom.
Covers and Later Versions
Lynne has revisited Telephone Line ELO himself, and other artists have recorded it too.
Two Lynne Versions in 2012
- An acoustic version, performed with Richard Tandy for the home-studio concert Live from Bungalow Palace.
- A re-recording released under the ELO name on Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra.
Covers by Other Artists
- Jeffrey Foskett, on the tribute album Lynne Me Your Ears.
- Aslan.
- Jack and White, featuring Brooke White, with guest vocals from Fitz, on the EP Undercover.
- Claude François, as Sacrée chanson.
- Grupo Yndio, as Línea Telefónica.
A phone call nobody answered became one of the most replayed ballads of 1977.
For the full run of the band's decade, see our list of Electric Light Orchestra songs.
Source: Wikipedia article on the song, versions and covers sections.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who wrote Telephone Line by ELO?
Jeff Lynne wrote and produced Telephone Line for Electric Light Orchestra.
It appears on the 1976 album A New World Record.
The single followed in May 1977 on Jet Records and United Artists Records.
The album was recorded at Musicland Studios in Munich, West Germany.
What is Telephone Line by ELO about?
Telephone Line is about a man who listens to a telephone ringing and hopes a girl will answer.
While he waits, he imagines what he would say to her.
Wikipedia calls the song a ballad.
Billboard heard a 1950s feel in its telephone effects and doo-wah chorus.
How did ELO make the phone ring sound in Telephone Line?
Jeff Lynne wanted an American ring tone because ELO had found success in the US.
The band phoned a US number they expected nobody to answer.
They then recreated the ringing on a Moog by tuning its oscillators to the same notes.
Did Telephone Line reach number one?
Telephone Line reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent 23 weeks on that chart.
It reached number one in Canada on the RPM chart and in New Zealand.
In the UK it peaked at No. 8.
It was not a Hot 100 number one.
What album is Telephone Line on?
Telephone Line is track two on side one of A New World Record, the 1976 Electric Light Orchestra album.
Jeff Lynne produced the album.
Lynne also re-recorded the song in 2012 for the compilation Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra, released under the ELO name.
Sources
- Telephone Line (song), Wikipedia, for the ring tone story, the lyrics, the single release, chart peaks, year-end ranks, certifications, reception, screen appearances and covers.
- A New World Record, Wikipedia, for the album release dates, the July 1976 recording at Musicland and the album's singles.
- Electric Light Orchestra, Wikipedia, for the band's origin and Jeff Lynne's role.
- The Year-End rank of No. 15 comes from this site's own Billboard Year-End Hot 100 data, and the weekly Hot 100 data was checked for number one weeks.
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