There have been a number of songs about telephones throughout history ranging from the themes of love to escape, but they all revolve around the telephone’s central purpose: To get a hold of someone.

Here are 10 popular (and some terrible) songs about telephones:

1. Telephone Line (1976)

Starting out with phone noises at the beginning, Telephone Line is one of Electric Light Orchestra’s top songs. It was the theme song of the 1977 Film Joy Ride. A slow-moving and “romantic” song, it talks about a man trying to reach his girlfriend so he can hear her voice….Kind of creepy if you ask me!

This song was used in Adam Sandler’s 1995 hit Billy Madison at the part where Billy calls an old classmate to apologize for making fun of him in high school ten years earlier.

2. Back of my Hand (I’ve got your number) (1979)

“Back of my Hand” was written by the Jags, a British band and was #17 on the UK charts. Written in a time when payphones (what is a payphone?!) were used to make phone calls, the main line is “I’ve got your number written on the back of my hand.” Good thing we can now store numbers right into our cell phones!

3. Call Me (1980)

Sung by Debbie Harry, or more commonly known Blondie, Call Me was a hit 80’s song that was the main theme of the film American Gigolo. Known as someone a little ahead for her time, Blondie longs for her lover to come to her in this chart topper.

4. 867-5309/Jenny (1982)

Songwriters Alex Call and Jim Keller’s song, performed by rock band Tommy Tutone made the number more famous than the actual song! People dialed 867-5309 asking for Jenny after the song came out, even though there really was no Jenny.

Interpretations have said that the reason they choose that number is the numbers form straight diagonal lines from lower left to upper right on a touch screen phone. The number has even been listed on eBay for sale in several area codes!

5. Telefone-Long Distance Love Affair (1983)

“I call you on the telephone, but you’re never home…”

Remember the days when we were stuck if we were trying to reach someone who wasn’t home? Sheena Easton’s top US, European and Canadian hit is from her fourth album Best Kept Secret.

6. I Just Called to Say I Love You (1984)

A sweet, romantic song by Stevie Wonder, “I just called to say I Love You” was number one on the singles charts all around the world. It was featured in the 1984 comedy The Women in Red. But hey, simply calling someone to say you love them can really make their day!

The singer also sang the song at a public event two days after Michael Jackson’s funeral, changing the words to “Michael knows I’m here, I love you.”

7. Operator (1984)

Midnight Star’s top song Operator video starts out with a picture of a telephone and shows a phone operating room. The band uses “operator” as a double meaning in this song saying “Operate that body, operate on me.” The fun, dancing disco song topped charts for five weeks in late 1984.

8. Don’t lose My Number (1985)

There have been many interpretations of Phil Collins’ hit song. It is addressed to someone named “Billy” the singer is hoping to find; some think it’s about a young boy being kidnapped, some think it’s about the reaction of a small town to a gay boy. In the video, Collins parodys several other music videos of the time, including ones by Michael Jackson and Elton John.

9. Dial My Number (1985)

Romano Bais’ hit is a fun dance and disco song. The video shows different kinds of phones from corded to the rotary dial phones. The chorus line “I’m loving you on the telephone… Please operator, don’t drop the line” shows that two people can have a love connection over the telephone.

10. Telephone (2010)

Finally, a telephone song in the modern day and age! Lady Gaga and Beyonce’s 2010 chart topper Telephone appears to be a fun dance song but it has been analyzed deeper. Some say it is about the CIA brain tapping techniques, and by “ignoring” the phone calls, Lady Gaga is disassociating herself from reality. The video involves her escaping from prison.

Download the MP3 (right click on link)

Something very cool happened recently, and I wanted to share it will all of you.

In May of 2009 we created a video that inspired and motivated entrepreneurs across the globe to follow their passion. Our video is nearing 350,000 views, and has been translated into over 4 different languages. A very interesting (and fun) reaction to this video was the blitz of phone calls and inquiries we received. Being the employee whose phone number is posted on the website, you can imagine I took the brunt of these calls. I heard everything from “Can I use this at our conference?” to “Can we use your video and just put our logo at the end?” (shame on the person who asked that).

Months later in December of last year I got a call from an IP lawyer over at Nestle (yes the people who make Nesquik, Butterfinger, and KitKat!). Apparently they loved our video and music so much they wanted to use it for an internal video. We weren’t super open to people using our music, and just changing the words around a little as we didn’t want what started as, a jolt of inspiration for entrepreneurs, to be tainted.

However, they brought an interesting offer to the table…they were willing to give us money in exchange for our cooperation.

When I mentioned this to our co-founder, he laughed and said no thank you. It wasn’t about the money for us. Before I could even get back to my desk, he stopped me and said “Wait, how about a donation?” I brought the idea to Nestle, and what started as a proposal of a few thousand dollars quickly turned into 5…10…and finally a $20,000 offer!! Anyone who read our case study knows that between Music Production ($10,000), Design/Development ($5,208), and Copywriting ($2,750) our video only cost $17,958 to make.

We were actually able to make MORE money for charity and social entrepreneurship than our video even cost to make. How freaking cool is that?? I love it.

We decided we wanted to donate the money to Ashoka (http://www.ashoka.org). Ashoka Youth Venture aims to help an entire generation of young people develop as leaders that will improve their communities now and throughout their lives by inspiring and supporting them to launch and lead their own civic-minded organizations and businesses. Ashoka believes that the greatest contribution we can make to the world is to increase dramatically the number of change makers today and in every future generation. (Check out their blog to see more about how they do this on a day-to-day basis http://blog.youthventure.org/)

We here at Grasshopper really believe in what Ashoka is doing. We hope they can continue to make strides toward creating a world where each individual has the freedom, confidence, and societal support to address any social problem and drive change.

If you had $20,000 what charity/ non-profit would you support??

Just because you make an online video doesn’t mean anyone’s going to watch it. And it certainly won’t go viral just because you call it a “viral video.”

That’s because a video isn’t a marketing strategy in and of itself.

In May 2009, the video that I wrote and produced for the Grasshopper 5000 campaign, “Entrepreneurs Can Change the World,” generated lots of buzz. It was an inspiring video and touched a lot of people, but was the success of the campaign—and the company’s re-branding effort—due to the video alone? Quite frankly, no.

As of today, “Entrepreneurs Can Change the World,” has garnered over 250,000 views on YouTube. Despite the authenticity of the message (which I’m very proud of), the campaign’s success wasn’t due solely to the video.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6MhAwQ64c0]

Despite this, I get tons of requests from individuals and organizations interested in making their own “Grasshopper video” without coming up with any supporting strategic efforts (no direct mail or serious social media components, for example). They’re convinced that if they just put together a video, and post it on YouTube, it will immediately cause their desired demographic to buy whatever they’re selling.

But that’s simply not enough these days. People need to feel like the message being conveyed relates to what you do as a company, who you serve, and what you believe in. Otherwise, it’s false, and people see right through it.

What made the Grasshopper campaign a success?

Four elements:

• A fun direct mail component (sending chocolate covered grasshoppers to 5,000 influential technology junkies and pop culture figures)
• Solid research (to discover who those 5,000 influential people were)
• A well-executed and inspirational creative component (the video)
• An authentic message (you are capable of making your dreams happen).

The elements I outlined above are pretty similar to what Edward Boches, Chief Creative Officer at Mullen, an ad agency in Boston, says are part of a successful viral marketing campaign. In a great post on his blog in June 2009, Boches stated that making a video successful means doing three things:

• Making the video as funny and entertaining as possible
• Having a distribution plan
• Building in a meme, or “a way by which the consumer can add to, customize, or incorporate him or herself into a modified version of the original concept and pass it on.”

I agree with his points, especially about the meme, though I think an inspirational message can be just as inclusive and participatory as a customization component because it captivates the viewer emotionally.

These are some pretty solid guidelines to start out with, but how else can you determine if a video is right for your organization?

More in my next post.

Sonja Jacob is the Founder and Chief Cultivator at The Cultivated Word LLC, a copywriting and creative strategy firm located in Boston. www.thecultivatedword.com. Follow her on Twitter: @tcwsonja.