Communication 101

It’s always interesting to see how changes in technology are reflected in popular music. That’s why we’ll examine songs with forms of communication in their title this week. First up is a classic Eurovision song from Germany. “Telegram” is in English, so I feel no need to summarize the lyrical content for you. It is interesting to note that telegraphy was still a commonly used form of long-distance communication in the mid-20th century. You might not know that Western Union discontinued its telegram service only 3 years ago. In fact, 20,000 telegrams were sent in 2005.

1977
Telegram
Silver Convention
Germany



In case you thought the group’s name looked familiar, yes, they are in fact the Silver Convention that won a Grammy and had a number one hit in the US with “Fly, Robin, Fly” in 1975.