He's on the Phone

"He's on the Phone" is a song by British pop group Saint Etienne in collaboration with French singer-songwriter Étienne Daho. A fast-paced dance track, it is one of Saint Etienne's biggest hits, reaching number 11 on the UK Singles Chart, number 31 in Iceland, number 41 in Sweden and number 33 on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. The lyrics tell of an "academia girl" trying to escape from a relationship with a married man: "He's on the phone / And she wants to go home, / Shoes in hand, / Don't make a sound, / It's time to go." At the centre of the track is a spoken-word section by Daho.

"He's on the Phone"
Single by Saint Etienne
from the album Too Young to Die
B-side
  • "Groveley Road"
  • "Is It True"
  • "The Process"
  • "How I Learned to Love the Bomb"
Released6 November 1995
Format
Recorded1995
GenreHandbag house[1]
Length5:10
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Saint Etienne singles chronology
"Hug My Soul"
(1994)		 "He's on the Phone"
(1995)		 "Sylvie"
(1997)
Music video
"He's on the Phone" on YouTube

The song is a remix by Motiv8 of "Accident", which appeared on the Saint Etienne/Étienne Daho Reserection EP, released a few months previously in June 1995. "Accident" itself is a rewritten version of Daho's 1984 French-language hit single "Weekend à Rome", with original English lyrics. Daho's spoken-word vocals are from the Reserection opening track, "Reserection".

The single was credited to "Saint Etienne featuring Étienne Daho". Daho also appears in the song's music video and joined the band in their performance of the song on Top of the Pops. Daho would also go on to perform the original "Weekend à Rome" lyrics with the instrumentation from "He's on the Phone" in a performance on the French edition of Star Academy.

Production

According to producer Steve Rodway, the band had never intended to use "Accident" as single material, but had given it to him for remixing as it was "the only new track they had" at the time of the release of Too Young to Die. Rodway retained an edited-down portion of Daho's vocals, and otherwise only kept the opening piano riff from the original instrumentation (both at the band's request).[2]

Sound on Sound magazine describes "He's on the Phone" as characteristic of most of Rodway's "trademark" sounds:

...the bass is a sampled Minimoog, and the driving arpeggios are taken from Steve's Juno 106. The rhythm is again composed of TR909 samples, overlaid with a programmed conga pattern, and the snare only performs fill duties... The high string line is once again from the U220, and pads are supplied by the faithful Wavestation and JD800.[2]

A hard disk recorder was used to create backing vocals echoing the original through time stretching and pitch shifting.[2]

Reception
Sarah Cracknell by the phone in the music video of "He's on the Phone".

Christopher Burns from Associated Press called the song "truly plastic, shameless Eurodisco with plenty of strings and horns. "The hotel life, forget your wife, you're on your own", they sing in "He's on the Phone". It's a contrast from the more experimental stuff Saint Etienne has done in the past."[3] Larry Flick from Billboard described it as a "twirlin' U.K. club smash" and noted further that with "its deliciously sweet pop hook and adorable girl-group vocals, "He's On The Phone" is ripe for pop radio picking." He added that Motiv8 "kicks a snappy hi-NRG beat on its jiggly remix".[4] Expressen complimented the "lovely" disco mix by Motiv 8.[5] In 1999, Tom Ewing of Freaky Trigger ranked the single at number 29 in his list of the "Top 100 Singles of the 90s".[1] John Hamilton from Idolator noted that remixer Motiv8 "painstaking rearranged Sarah’s vocals into a more melodic chorus and injected the track with what can only be described as a high dose of poppers: a galloping bass line, bright keyboards and a relentless nu-disco beat, with Daho’s spoken-word passage figuring powerfully in the breakdown."[6]

Track listings

All tracks were written and composed by Cracknell, Stanley, Wiggs, Daho; except where indicated.

MC: Heavenly / HVN 50CS (UK)

  1. "He's On The Phone" - 4:09
  2. "He's On The Phone" (Motiv8 Mix) - 6:25

CD: Heavenly / HVN 50CD (UK)

  1. "He's On The Phone" - 4:09
  2. "Groveley Road" (Stanley, Wiggs) - 3:39
  3. "Is It True" (Marc Bolan) - 2:49
  4. "The Process" (Stanley, Wiggs) - 3:11

CD: Heavenly / HVN 50CDR (UK)

  1. "He's On The Phone" (Motiv8 Mix) - 6:25
  2. "Cool Kids Of Death" (Underworld Remix) (Stanley, Wiggs) - 14:31
  3. "How I Learned To Love The Bomb" (Treacy) - 3:05

CD: MCA / MCADM-55268 (US)

  1. "He's On The Phone" (Radio Edit) - 4:08
  2. "He's On The Phone" (Motiv8 Mix) - 6:26
  3. "He's On The Phone" (Primax Bungee Dub Mix) - 6:03
  4. "He's On The Phone" (Primax Bungee Vocal Mix) - 5:05

12": Heavenly / HVN 50-12Pi (UK)

  1. "He's On The Phone" (Motiv 8 Extended Mix) - 6:25
  2. "He's On The Phone" (Motiv 8 Dub)

12": Heavenly / HVN 50-12Pii (UK)

  1. "Cool Kids Of Death" (underworld mix) (Stanley, Wiggs) - 14:31
  2. "Like A Motorway" (david holmes mix) (Stanley, Wiggs) - 13:01

12": Heavenly / HVN 50-12Piii (UK)

  1. "He's On The Phone" (Bungee Vocal Mix)
  2. "He's On The Phone" (Naked Bungee Dub)

12": MCA / MCA12-55268 (US)

  1. "He's On The Phone" (Motiv8 Mix) - 6:26
  2. "He's On The Phone" (Primax Bungee Dub Mix) - 6:03
  3. "He's On The Phone" (Primax Bungee Vocal Mix) - 5:05

Charts
Chart (1995–1997) Peak
position
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[7] 44
Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[8] 31
Israel (Israel Top-30)[9] 3
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[10] 9
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[11] 41
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[12] 11
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[13] 33

Covers

Spanish pop singer Princessa covered the song on her 1996 album Calling You.

References
  1. Ewing, Tom (12 November 1999). "29. SAINT ETIENNE – "He's On The Phone"". Freaky Trigger. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  2. Bell, Matt (June 1996), "Motivating the Mix", Sound on Sound, 11 (8), pp. 72–76, ISSN 0951-6816
  3. "Saint Etienne's only prayer is listener's desire to disco". Daily News. 28 July 1996. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  4. "Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. 9 November 1996. p. 68. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  5. Expressen. 11 December 1995.
  6. Hamilton, John (9 December 2015). "The 50 Best Pop Singles Of 1995 (Featuring New Interviews With Alanis Morissette, Garbage, Kylie Minogue, Monica, Ace Of Base & More!)". Idolator. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  7. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. 25 November 1995. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  8. "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (25.11.1995 - 01.12.1995)" (PDF). Dagblaðið Vísir - Tónlist. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  9. Israel Top-30 02.01.1996
  10. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  11. "Swedishcharts.com – Saint Etienne – He's on the Phone". Singles Top 100.
  12. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  13. "Saint Etienne Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard.
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