Meri Wilson

Singer of the novelty hit 'Telephone Man'

Meri Wilson, singer: born 1949; married; died Americus, Georgia 28 December 2002.

Meri Wilson, like many performers, discovered that having a hit record could be a two-edged sword. In 1977, she received a gold disc for "Telephone Man", but in the years that followed, the public was reluctant to buy anything else from her.

The two-minute song was packed with innuendo. The engineer says, "Hey baby, I'm your telephone man, / Show me where you want it and I'll put it where I can", and Wilson, to an an infectious "do lolly, lolly, chicka-do, chicka-do" rhythm, concludes, "My fingers did the walking on the telephone man." Like most novelties, it was loved and detested in equal measure, but it has remained a popular oldie and frequently appears on compilation albums.

Wilson was born in 1949 to a US Air Force officer serving in Japan, but she spent her childhood in Marietta, Georgia. Her father played the trumpet and her mother the piano, and Wilson herself learnt the piano, cello and flute. She graduated in music from Indiana University.

In the early Seventies, she fronted a trio at cabaret clubs in Dallas, working in the daytime as a model and recording jingles and commercials. She would conclude her act with a novelty song, "Telephone Man", about an engineer who had come to her apartment. The producer Owen Castleman, who had seen one of her nightclub performances, loved both her voice and the song, and in 1977 Wilson recorded "Telephone Man" and another original, "Itinerary", for Castleman's record label BNA.

The first take, complete with Wilson's giggles, was considered the best. It quickly became a national hit in the United States and then made No 6 in the UK. Wilson followed "Telephone Man" with another novelty song, "Rub-A-Dub-Dub", this time about taking a bath with a friend ("It may sound strange and it may sound dopey, / But it sure feels good when we both get soapy").

Then came "Peter the Meter Reader" ("I'd like to see your kilowatts, / Could you take me to your box?"), "Santa's Comin'" and a paean to cross-dressing, "My Valentine's Funny". "Telephone Man" had become an albatross, but Wilson's album, First Take (1978), displayed her talent for straight pop ballads such as "Midnight in Memphis" and "Every Time I Sing a Love Song".

Wilson obtained a Master's degree at Georgia State University and then directed high school choirs, still performing from time to time. In 2002, she released a new album, Meri Wilson, The World's Funniest Telephone Man's Lady.

Spencer Leigh