Telephone Man - Meri Wilson, 1977

 
 
I went to my apartment on a Monday at one
A-singin' do lolly, lolly shicky bum, shicky bum
Started movin' in it on a Tuesday at two
A-singin' do lolly, lolly shicky do, shicky do
Wednesday at three I called the phone company, singin'
Hey baby, put a phone in for me
Thursday at four he came a-knockin' at my door, singin'

Hey, baby, I'm your telephone man
You just show me where you want it and I'll put it where I can
I can put it in the bedroom, I can put it in the hall
I can put it in the bathroom, I can hang it on the wall
You can have it with a buzz, you can have it with a ring
And if you really want it you can have a ding-a-ling
Because-a hey baby, I'm your telephone man

Can you believe that? And then he says

Now when other fellas call ya tell 'em how it all began

Well...can you imagine?

My heart began a-thumpin' and my mind began to fly
And I knew I wasn't dealin' with no ordinary guy
So while he was a-talking I was thinkin' up my plan
Then my fingers did the walkin' on the telephone man

Singin' hey lolly, lolly
Hey lolly, lolly
Hey lolly, lolly
Get it any way you can
Right? Ha ha ha, so...

I got it in the bedroom, and I got it in the hall
And I got it in the bathroom, and he hung it on the wall
I got it with a buzz, and I got it with a ring
And when he told me what my number was I got a ding-a-ling

A-singin' hey lolly, lolly
Hey lolly, lolly
Hey lolly, lolly
Just-a doin' my thing

Ha, ha...I've never done anything like this before!
 
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Meri Wilson was born in Japan on a US military base, but moved to Georgia where she got a Master's degree in musical education. From Georgia, she moved to Dallas, Texas to try her hand at acting and modeling. Her brush with fame eventually came in the summer of 1977, when she recorded the novelty song Telephone Man. It was a hit, climbing as high as #18 on the US Billboard charts.

Meri followed this up with two more suggestive novelty songs, Dick The D. J. and Peter The Meter Reader. These didn't fare as well. However, some 20 years later, a radio DJ named Dr. Demento picked up on Telephone Man, and made it part of his permanent play-list.

In the late 1990s, she updated her big hit, and released it as Internet Man. It didn't do as well, and unfortunately, in 2002, Meri Wilson died in a car accident at the age of 52.