"Hanging on the Telephone" is a song written by Jack Lee and first performed by Lee's short-lived US West Coast power pop trio The Nerves, who placed it as the lead-off track on their 1976 EP, the band's only release. New Wave band Blondie popularised the song when it was released as the second single off Parallel Lines in both the U.S. and the UK, eventually reaching number 5 in the UK in November 1978 as well as inspiring other cover versions. Like Blondie's follow up single, "Sunday Girl", the drumming pattern of "Hanging on the Telephone" employs a double backbeat rhythm.