Hanging on the Telephone

Jack Lee wrote it, and the Nerves' own version leads the 1976 EP. A Substack writer describes it as the temptation, infatuation and frustration of young love, which is not the artist's own account. Rock and Roll Globe says Lee had self-published an original single on his Maiden America imprint. Jeffrey Lee Pierce, president of Blondie's West Coast fan club, sent a cassette to Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, and Harry said they played it in a Tokyo taxi. Blondie's version, produced by Mike Chapman, was the second single from Parallel Lines (released September 23, 1978) and reached number five in the UK in November 1978. Lee told Mojo that even people who hated me, and there were plenty, had to admit it was great.

Other recordings include L7 (1995), Sinergy (2000), Something for Kate (2003), Def Leppard on Yeah! (2006), Girls Aloud (2006), Jimmy Somerville (2009) and Blondie's re-record (2014). The Nerves' version appears on the 1993 Rhino compilation DIY: Come Out and Play and was used in Netflix's Outer Banks in 2023. We found no chart history, video or setlist.fm play count for the Nerves' own version.