“Telephone Line,” released in 1976 on the album A New World Record, is one of the Electric Light Orchestra’s (ELO) most enduring ballads. Written and produced by Jeff Lynne, the song is a poignant exploration of loneliness and unrequited love.

The first verse features a “muted, mono” effect to simulate the sound of listening through a telephone receiver. This was a late addition; Lynne had the idea while traveling from England to Los Angeles and instructed engineers at Cherokee Studios to manually apply the effect to the finished stereo master.