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Dialing up our favorite telephone songs

 Somehow we got along fine before there were cell phones. You couldn’t call as your plane was taxiing to the gate, couldn’t call for help when the car broke down, and couldn’t call ahead when visiting friends. We were often late, had to ask strangers for help, and dropped in on folks without warning. It was kinda nice, actually.

As long as phones have been around, we’ve been singing about ‘em. The earliest hit song about the telephone, “Hello Ma Baby”, came out in 1899, just a few years after the phone started to become a part of life. The early phones had no buttons or dials, everything was handled by the operator. When we finally got rotary dial phones in the 40’s, there was a bit of a learning curve, as explained in this helpful film, “How to Dial a Rotary Telephone” :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIDw75mUl6c

This has to be one of the all-time great phone songs, beating out “Pennsylvania 6-5000”, “634-5789” and “867-5309”. And there are no numbers to remember. It’s Al Green and “Call Me”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6POd4EzHHVs

We don’t really want you to watch this Lady Gaga video for her song “Telephone”. But we included it just to show you that we are fair and balanced. There’s a reason you don’t hear more Gaga on Public Radio and this is it:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ95z6ywcBY

Carly Rae Jepsen has created a sugary piece of teenybopper bubblegum sweeter than the Big Rock Candy Mountain. This confection “Call Me Maybe”, will likely cause cavities: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWNaR-rxAic&feature=artistob&playnext=1&list=TLQmseLrKU6a0

John has worked as a professional bassist for 20 years, including a 15 year stint as Musical Director of the Mountain Stage radio program. John has been at KNKX since 1999 where he hosts “All Blues”, is producer of the BirdNote radio program, and co-hosts “Record Bin Roulette”. John is also the recording engineer for KNKX “In-Studio Performances”. Not surprisingly, John's main musical interests are jazz and blues, and he is still performing around Seattle.
John Maynard started working in radio in the seventies as a DJ at Seattle’s KJR AM which at the time was the dominant AM station in the Seattle market. After a brief stint as a restaurateur and night club owner, Maynard returned to radio with Robin Erickson, creating the hugely popular “Robin and Maynard Show.” In the more than 20 years under that marquee, Maynard flew with the Blue Angels, piloted the Goodyear Blimp, sang with Donny Osmond and hung out in a Universal Studios bar with Kojak (Telly Savalas).