Mr. Telephone Man

"Mr. Telephone Man"
Single by New Edition
from the album New Edition
Released	November 28, 1984
Format	Cassette single, CD single, Vinyl single
Recorded	1984
Genre	R&B/Pop
Length	3.58
Label	MCA
Writer(s)	Ray Parker Jr.
Producer	Ray Parker Jr.
New Edition singles chronology
"Cool It Now" (1984) "Mr. Telephone Man" (1984) "Lost in Love" (1985)

"Mr. Telephone Man" is a 1984 song by R&B/pop group, New Edition, and the second single from their eponymous second album, New Edition.

Overview

"Mr. Telephone Man" included lead vocals from Ralph Tresvant, Ricky Bell and Bobby Brown with a rap by Michael Bivins and was written for the group by smooth R&B singer-songwriter Ray Parker, Jr.

The song discusses how the narrator tries reaching for his girlfriend by phone but no one answers or "I get a click every time" and tries in vain to ask the telephone operator to help him out "Please operator, see what you can do, I dialed the right number, but I still couldn't get through, could you check the line one more time if you can, I'm pretty sure her phone won't be answered by no man!" The single reached number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart,. and was the group's third number-one single on the R&B charts. Mixes included the instrumental and the "Extended Version".

Aftermath

Brown returned to perform this song with the group in a reunion of the original group on the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards and again rejoining the group at the BET 25th anniversary in 2005.

German singer Adams Hambüger-Hatt released a German version of the song titled, Herr Telefonmann, in 1989.

The song was covered by the girl group Dream for their 2001 debut album, It Was All a Dream.

Charts

Chart (1984)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	12
U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles	1
U.K. Singles Chart	19

Preceded by "Gotta Get You Home Tonight" by Eugene Wilde

Billboard Hot Black Singles number-one single February 2–16, 1985

Succeeded by "Missing You" by Diana Ross