Don't Call Us, We'll Call You

"Don't Call Us, We'll Call You"
Single by Sugarloaf
from the album Don't Call Us — We'll Call You
B-side "Texas Two-Lane"
Released November 1974
Format Blues rock, pop rock
Length 3:25
Label Claridge Records
Songwriter(s) Jerry Corbetta, John Carter[1][2]
Producer(s) Frank Slay
Sugarloaf singles chronology
"Mother Nature's Wine"
(1971)		 "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You"
(1974)		 "I Got A Song"
(1975)

"Mother Nature's Wine"
(1971)		 "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You"
(1974)		 "I Got A Song"
(1975)

"Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" is a hit song by the psychedelic rock band Sugarloaf. Co-written by lead vocalist Jerry Corbetta, the song was featured as the title track of the band's fourth and final album. It was the band's fourth single. The song was recorded at Applewood Studios in Golden, Colorado. Performing on the song, along with Jerry Corbetta, were session players Paul Humphries (drums), Max Bennett (bass), Ray Payne (guitar), and a group called the "Flying Saucers" (Jason Hickman, Mikkel Saks, and David Queen) on harmony vocals.

The song peaked at number nine on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in the winter of 1974-1975 and number 12 on the Cash Box Top 100. The song is their second greatest hit. It spent 21 weeks on the chart, four weeks longer than their bigger hit, "Green-Eyed Lady."

In Canada, "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" was a bigger hit, where it reached number five for two weeks.[3] "Green-Eyed Lady" had also charted better in Canada (number one versus number three U.S.).

The song uses a guitar melody from the Beatles hit, "I Feel Fine" (which is also alluded to in the lyric, "sounds like John, Paul, and George") as well as a riff of Stevie Wonder's hit, "Superstition." An imitation of Wolfman Jack by disc jockey Ken Griffin also is featured briefly in the song; it states the call sign of a radio station ("Stereo 92" in the nationwide release). Numerous tracks of this line were cut to match local markets.

"Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" was performed on the TV series, Midnight Special, with Wolfman Jack himself (the host and announcer of the program) making a cameo appearance on the "Stereo 92" line.

Lyrical content

The song is a rather cynical view of the music industry, based on the band's real-life experience with CBS Records. It describes the difficulty of breaking into the business and securing a contract from the record company, who claims that the band is good, but too derivative of other popular bands at the time. When the band finally breaks through with a hit ("Green-Eyed Lady") and completes a successful tour, the record company changes course and wants to offer the band their services, only to receive the same line they gave the band before their hit—"don't call us, we'll call you." The references are a practical joke at the expense of CBS Records, which had just turned them down for a recording contract. The song includes the sound of a touch-tone telephone number being dialed near the beginning and ending of the song. Those numbers were an unlisted phone number at CBS Records in Manhattan ("area code 212" stated in the song), and the number of the White House switchboard (in the similar-sounding area code 202).

Chart performance

Cover versions

Van Halen performed a cover of the song, but it is only available as a bootleg live recording.

References

  1. ↑ "45cat - Sugarloaf / Jerry Corbetta - Don't Call Us, We'll Call You". 45cat.com. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  2. ↑ "John Carter Discography at Discogs". discogs.com. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  3. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
  4. ↑ "NZ Top 40 Singles Chart | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. 1975-08-18. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
  7. ↑ "Top 100 Hits of 1975/Top 100 Songs of 1975". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
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