A song whose basic technology you'd have to explain to youngs now. ("Operator? Number? Wut?") #AT40 - ThreadSky

radiofreetom.bsky.social • 123 days ago

A song whose basic technology you'd have to explain to youngs now. ("Operator? Number? Wut?")
#AT40

"Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)" by Jim Croce is #20 - produced by Terry Cashman and Tommy West. #AT40

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operato...
youtu.be/khYxP7TiFSA?...

Comments

cali-lib.bsky.social•123 days ago

But "my best old ex-friend Ray" still rings true

coridauber.bsky.social•123 days ago

I asked my students recently (18-20 roughly) they had no idea the first 3 numbers of a phone number correspond to a geographic space

mmckay7.bsky.social•123 days ago

I remember staying home waiting for a phone call to come. For hours. Another concept that young women today can’t imagine. It sure did slow down the dating process.

cinnamongirl9.bsky.social•123 days ago

The big breakthrough was when the kids got their own “teen line”! 😆

kaceec.bsky.social•123 days ago

True! 😜

heavymetalmike.bsky.social•123 days ago

“You can keep the dime..”

wwalkersd.bsky.social•123 days ago

Same for "Sylvia's Mother" by Doctor Hook, also from '72. "And the operator says 40 cents more for the next three minutes"

moldyteeth.bsky.social•123 days ago

Now you can only find pay phones on display in museums.

builderthinker.bsky.social•123 days ago

Dime??

lauriann.bsky.social•123 days ago

I am so glad to see and hear your AT40 is such positive spot again.

blupotluv.bsky.social•123 days ago

Only those of us are a certain age will understand! 🤣🤣

eclamb.bsky.social•123 days ago

I always think about this when I hear ELO’s “Telephone Line.”

paul-m-anderson.bsky.social•123 days ago

I had this very conversation with my 10-year-olds last week! It was fun to talk about.

tonycava.bsky.social•123 days ago

Grandpa, what’s a dime?

mjteacher.bsky.social•123 days ago

You can keep the dime.

jneen.bsky.social•123 days ago

"You can keep the dime" would definitely have them wondering ...

brockmeyer.bsky.social•123 days ago

Dime?

sunnysaundra.bsky.social•123 days ago

I both love and hate Croce. 😥

dawn826.bsky.social•123 days ago

What a nice blast from the past. Part of the soundtrack track of my childhood.

wahwahbass.bsky.social•123 days ago

Reminds me of Please Mr Postman
Nobody sends or waits for a letter from their boyfriend or girlfriend at the mailbox anymore
Lol

https://youtu.be/425GpjTSlS4?si=GMTMEnDXom2K1Pds

dogmom24.bsky.social•123 days ago

“You can keep the dime.”

rutgers80.bsky.social•123 days ago

X—“Your phone’s off the hook, but you’re not “. I have no doubt the youngs wouldn’t understand’off the hook’

nulliusnverba.bsky.social•123 days ago

Walkman? Was it a fitness app?

nulliusnverba.bsky.social•123 days ago

Honorable Mention goes to:

jenscharlevoix.bsky.social•123 days ago

I didn’t realize I missed your expert take on all things top 40 more than I missed Carla. But here we are.

hillsidehippie.bsky.social•123 days ago

Cried when he died and felt cheated

kycat19.bsky.social•123 days ago

But I still love this song.

lodiagain.bsky.social•123 days ago

ccwex.bsky.social•123 days ago

“Put a dime in the jukebox, play a song about New Orleans. “. Scenes from an Italian restaurant, Billy Joel.

alexcartaz.bsky.social•123 days ago

Good song!

paddy50.bsky.social•123 days ago

Yesterday I had an MRI. The tech offered music I picked the 70s. Mercifully as I entered the tube Into the Mystic played. After that, Mandy, Operator, and a slew of best forgotten tunes failed to distract me from the clanging MRI machine.

rorysmom.bsky.social•123 days ago

I always need to take something to relax me as I am claustrophobic. And I have to have one every year. 😱

7pillarwisdom.bsky.social•123 days ago

Or this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1paHu-cfuWI

grumpygreybeard.bsky.social•123 days ago

A song with “technology” that you would have to explain to a younger person? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centerfold_(song)

paulruschmann.bsky.social•123 days ago

“You can keep the dime” will really flummox them”.

maggieburt.bsky.social•123 days ago

"Matchbook"? "Dime"?

grambecky.bsky.social•123 days ago

https://youtu.be/lsa7iao6RnA?si=K6QdboqoG5ny8N2s

peterglover.com•123 days ago

Sugarloaf’s “Don't Call Us, We'll Call You” comes to mind too.

kerryskye.bsky.social•123 days ago

"Sylvia's Mother" by Dr. Hook also. 'And the operator says, 40 cents more for the next 3 minutes...'

dadoalex.bsky.social•123 days ago

Don't forget matchbook

thelifeofdog.bsky.social•123 days ago

I had to explain the "live radio shot" from the infamous "WKRP in Cincinnati" Turkey Drop episode to a younger last week.

Never felt so old in my life.

bobrarian.bsky.social•123 days ago

Great Rick Beato take on this song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yan-qTEG4lI

maread.bsky.social•123 days ago

He was gone way too soon.

wildweatherdan.bsky.social•123 days ago

I was in 7th grade when he died. Operator is still on my main playlist along with Ventura highway and Albert Hammond.

themightykenbo.bsky.social•123 days ago

Yes. I was in 7th grade too ... 😔

lauramathews.bsky.social•123 days ago

My dad’s favorite folk rocker… I love him too

jimtabor.bsky.social•122 days ago

I have missed this weekend distraction...

antimagaamerican.bsky.social•123 days ago

The world has changed so much

shenloop.bsky.social•123 days ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcCSTs9UHhY

dcweber.bsky.social•123 days ago

Terry Cashman? As in “Talkin’ Baseball” Terry Cashman?

rlongman1.bsky.social•123 days ago

The only people with a right to gripe about this are those who can do a better song with modern tech. 😛

(Hint: I can’t….)

chichi60.bsky.social•123 days ago

Syvaia's mother by Dr. Hook and the medicine show. " The operator says 40 cents more for the next 3 minutes" 😁

jacobin1792.bsky.social•123 days ago

“My Baby Just Wrote Me a Letter”

meesh503.bsky.social•123 days ago

Wait a Minute Mr. Postman…

jacobin1792.bsky.social•123 days ago

Spin the Black Circle

psgarak.bsky.social•123 days ago

I'm sure they'd also ask why he didn't simply text.

ilvestoomas.bsky.social•123 days ago

Too bad there are no songs about the library. That would really flummox ’em.

upspatrick.bsky.social•123 days ago

🎶Oh microfiche lady....🎶

hersheykiss.com•123 days ago

“Here’s a quarter call someone who cares.”

mutherbear.bsky.social•123 days ago

'Photographs & Memories' they'd totally get, though...

nancyk432.bsky.social•123 days ago

Does anyone dial 0 anymore? Wonder what happens if you do now?

huwigs.bsky.social•123 days ago

If you have any sort of interest in nerdy songwriting discussion:

https://youtu.be/Yan-qTEG4lI?si=CFbmJRCEKtL6Ld-Y

themightykenbo.bsky.social•123 days ago

I remember where I was (middle school, graphic arts class) and the look on the face of the kid who asked me if I'd heard Jim Croce had died ... 😔

haemaker.hae.com•123 days ago

You can keep the dime.

sercaneerg.bsky.social•123 days ago

But isn't that the way they say it goes?

ronaldpetracca1956.bsky.social•123 days ago

Today, je'd have to write about talming to AI

thedarkmoose.bsky.social•123 days ago

This and other fantastic hits like:

"Mr. Modem I need a better baud rate"

"I heard your voice on my answering machine"

"Hey Taxi Driver, put the key in the ignition"

"Play that 8-Track One More Time, Mister"

and who could forget

"50 ways to Fax your Lover"...

mdliny.bsky.social•123 days ago

“You can keep the dime?”

meesh503.bsky.social•123 days ago

“… you can keep the dime.” Millennial dude’s head just exploded 🤣🤣🤣

cmint728.bsky.social•123 days ago

Such a great song

ri.oldfolkshome.org•123 days ago

Ahhhhh - the days of using coded names when making collect calls (especially from a payphone) in order to communicate a message without either end having to pay for it.

johnckane.bsky.social•123 days ago

It's the commercial where the son calls his parents collect and the operator says "You have a collect call from 'Wehadababyitsaboy.' Do you accept?" 🤣

westhomasanderson.bsky.social•123 days ago

There’s even one of these from this millennium (from 2000, so barely). It has the added bonus of referencing *pay* phones and tangible newspapers.

https://youtu.be/39NqfWklaAQ?si=b_DlkBmCYX_-YI-d