"Telephone Line" is a song by Electric Light Orchestra

Electric Light Orchestra

Electric Light Orchestra were a British rock group from Birmingham who released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001. ELO were formed to accommodate Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones...

.

The song is track two on their 1976 album A New World Record

A New World Record

A New World Record is the sixth studio album by Electric Light Orchestra, released in 1976.-Overview:The second album to be recorded at Musicland Studios in Munich, the LP proved to be the band's long awaited breakthrough in the UK: after seeing their previous three studio recordings fail to chart...

and was the final single to be released from the band's LP until September 2006 when Surrender

Surrender (Electric Light Orchestra song)

"Surrender" is a song by the Electric Light Orchestra, and was released as a bonus track on the 2006 remastered version of their 1976 studio album A New World Record....

 was released from the expanded reissue.

The song charted in the Top Ten in both the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, peaking at #8 in the UK and #7 in the US. In 1977, the song would reach #1 in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. The US version of the single was released in green vinyl---as was the norm, many ELO singles were issued in different colors---but it was the only single that was green. It became the band's first single to achieve Gold sales figures.

"Telephone Line" is the theme song of the 1977 film Joyride

Joyride (1977 film)

Joyride is a 1977 film directed by Joseph Ruben. The screenplay was written by Ruben and Peter Rainer.-Taglines:"It was fun... while it lasted!""They're Burning Up The Blacktop!""Did You Ever Want to Just Shove It and Leave It All Behind?"-Plot:...

starring Desi Arnaz, Jr.

Desi Arnaz, Jr.

Desi Arnaz, Jr. , is an American actor and musician and the son of entertainers Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.-Early life:...

, Robert Carradine

Robert Carradine

Robert Reed Carradine is an American actor. The youngest of the Carradine family of actors, he made his first appearances on television western series such as Bonanza and his older brother David's Kung Fu. Carradine's first film role was in the 1972 film The Cowboys opposite Roscoe Lee Browne and...

, Melanie Griffith

Melanie Griffith

Melanie Richards Griffith is an American actress. She is an Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner for her performance in the 1988 film Working Girl...

, and Anne Lockhart, directed by Joseph Ruben

Joseph Ruben

Joseph Paul Ruben is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer.-Movie career:Most of his earlier films are B movies, of which some, such as The Stepfather have become cult classics...

. The song is featured in the movie Billy Madison

Billy Madison

Billy Madison is a 1995 American comedy film directed by Tamra Davis and starring Adam Sandler, in the title role, Bradley Whitford, Bridgette Wilson, Norm Macdonald and Darren McGavin. The film was written by Sandler and Tim Herlihy, and produced by Universal Studios. It made over $25.5 million...

when Billy phones a former high school classmate, played by Steve Buscemi

Steve Buscemi

Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...

, to apologize for picking on him.

It was also used on HBO's Big Love

Big Love

Big Love is an American television drama that aired on HBO between March 2006 and March 2011. The show is about a fictional fundamentalist Mormon family in Utah that practices polygamy...

in the season 2 episode "Vision Thing".

The song has been covered by Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 band Aslan

Aslan (rock band)

Aslan are an Irish rock band from Dublin who formed in 1982. Comprising Christy Dignam, Joe Jewell, Billy McGuinness, Alan Downey and Rodney O'Brien, the band has released five studio albums - Feel No Shame , Goodbye Charlie Moonhead , Here Comes Lucy Jones , Waiting For This Madness To End and...

.

Chart positions

Chart (1977)	Peak Position	Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales thresholds)
Australian ARIA ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... Singles Chart	10
Canadian RPM RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...  Top Singles	9
French SNEP Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... Singles Chart	10
German Media Control Singles Chart	32
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart	1
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	8
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	7	RIAA Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... : Gold
U.S. Cash Box Top 100 Singles	4
U.S. Record World Record World Record World magazine was one of the three main music industry trade publications in the United States, along with Billboard and Cash Box magazines. It was founded in 1946 under the name Music Vendor, but since 1964 changed it to Record World, under the ownership of Sid Parnes and Bob Austin, both... Singles	7