"Love on the Line" was a 1984 single for pop singer

Lydia Murdock Lydia Murdock is an American singer who had at least two dance hits. Her best known one was "Superstar" which was a hit in the UK and Canada. She also charted in the UK with " Love on the Line". Background Lydia Murdock is an American pop singer ...

. It was chart hit for her on the UK disco charts. It was also a radio hit in Montreal, Canada.

Background

"Love on the Line" is a telephone song". It is a plea from a woman to the operator to put her though to her man. She has been unsuccessful in her attempt to reach him on the phone as it is busy. She says that this is an emergency and asks the operator to check the line. She also wonders who her man is talking to.

recorded the single "Love on the Line" which was released in 12" format in the US on Team TRS3006. It was written by Michael Burton and produced by Burton, Gerry Gabinelli,

Bobby Eli Bobby Eli (born Eli Tatarsky; March 2, 1946 – August 17, 2023) was an American musician, arranger, composer and record producer from Philadelphia. He was a founding member and lead guitarist of Philadelphia studio band MFSB. Overview Bobby ...

, and

Tony Bongiovi Anthony Carmine Bongiovi Jr. (born September 7, 1947) is an American record producer and recording engineer. He is the cousin of musician Jon Bon Jovi. Early life Anthony Carmine Bongiovi Jr. was born on September 7, 1947, in Raritan, New Jerse ...

. It was released in the UK on

WEA The Wea were a Miami–Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as being either closely related to the Miami tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami. Today, the descendants of th ...

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Reception

It was noted in the 30 July issue of ''Euro Tip Sheet'' that a German correspondent had reported Lydia Murdock's single "Love on the Line" had been released on 28 July. The song was reviewed by

James Hamilton James Hamilton may refer to: Dukes *James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton (1606–1649), heir to the throne of Scotland *James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton (1658–1712), Scottish nobleman *James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Hamilton (1703–1743), Sco ...

on the week of 25 August 1984. He confirmed that it was selling well in the UK. However, Hamilton said her lamenting about her man's phone line being busy was a bit nagging. It was also reviewed that same week by Jerry Smith in ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

''. He said that it was a strong dance single and noted the catchy vocal harmonies and sweeping strings. And even though he said that it was another song about telephones, he said that the chorus was memorable, and it should do well. And on that same week, Murdock's song lyrics for "Love on the Line" and her photo was featured in the 25 August 1984 issue of ''Number One'' magazine. It was mentioned in the "Another Next News Corner" section in the 3 September issue of ''Euro Tip Sheet'' that Lydia Murdock had released her new single "Love on the Line". "Love on the Line" was a recommended single in the 13 October issue of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''.

Airplay

For the week of 18 August, "Love on the Line" was the highest record in the ''Music Week'' Airplay Action Bubbling chart. It was also a climber on the Radio London play list. For the week of 8 September, ''Music Week'' reported that "Love on the Line" had dropped down from sixteen playlists to fifteen. It was on the B list of seven radio stations in the South West, East and Midlands areas. It was also on the A list of one Midlands station. Radio Viking in the North had it as a hit pick. It was on the B list of two stations in the North, the A list of one station in Scotland, the B list of one station in Wales, and the A list of one station in Northern Ireland. According to the 10 September issue of ''Euro Tip Sheet'', "Love on the Line" was one of the three records of the week on Radio WDR in

Koln KOLN (channel 10) and KGIN (channel 11) are television stations licensed respectively to Lincoln and Grand Island, Nebraska, United States, serving as the CBS affiliates for southeastern and central Nebraska. Owned by Gray Media and jointly b ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In Montreal, Canada, "Love on the Line" debuted at no. 40 on the Radio CKGM 98 chart on the week of 1 February, 1985. On the week of 12 February, it was at no. 33. It was still in the chart at 32 on the following week. According to the 2 March 1985 issue of ''RPM Weekly'', "Love on the Line" was at 32-33 on CKGM. The following week it wasn't on the play list.

Chart performance

For the week of 25 August, the single debuted on the ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...

'' UK Disco Top 85 chart at number 55. The following week it had dropped down to no. 72. It was reported by ''Music Week'' in the magazine's 8 September issue that "Love on the Line" had debuted at no. 49 on the ''Music Week'' Top Disco & Dance Singles chart. The following week, it peaked at no. 48.''Music Week'', September 15, 1984
Page 43 Music Week Disco ''and dance'' Top Singles, This Week 48, Last Week 49, Weeks on chart 2
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Chart summary

References

{{reflist

External links

* Discogs
Lydia Murdock – Love On The Line
* UnidiscMusic channel, Aug 20, 2021
Lydia Murdock - Love On the Line (Radio Mix)
* UnidiscMusic channel, Aug 20, 2021
Lydia Murdock - Love On the Line (Club Mix)
1984 singles American disco songs Song recordings produced by Tony Bongiovi Songs written by Bobby Eli Songs written by Michael Burton Song recordings produced by Michael Burton Songs about telephones Polydor Records singles WEA Records singles