"Switchboard Susan" is a song written by

Mickey Jupp Michael Graham "Mickey" Jupp (born 6 March 1944, in Worthing, Sussex, England) is an English musician and songwriter, mainly associated with the Southend music scene. Career Jupp played in several Southend bands after leaving art college in 196 ...

and recorded by

Nick Lowe Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and new wave,Labour of Lust ''Labour of Lust'' is an album by British singer-songwriter Nick Lowe. Also produced by Lowe, it was released in 1979 by Radar Records in the UK and Columbia Records in the US. It was recorded and released at the same time as Dave Edmunds' ''Rep ...

''. The song was produced by Lowe. Jupp originally wrote the song for his album ''Juppanese'', which Lowe was producing. Jupp disliked the backing track that Lowe's band

Rockpile Rockpile was a British rock and roll band of the late 1970s and early 1980s, noted for their strong pub rock, rockabilly and power pop influences, and as a foundational influence on new wave. The band consisted of Dave Edmunds (vocals, gui ...

produced for the song, calling it "shit from top to bottom" according to Lowe. Lowe received Jupp's permission to take the song for himself. He recalled: "Switchboard Susan" was released as a single in North America only. The follow-up to Lowe's biggest chart hit "Cruel to Be Kind", the single reached number 81

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and number 107 on the US pop chart.

Cover versions

Gary Brooker Gary Brooker (29 May 1945 – 19 February 2022) was an English singer and pianist, and the founder and lead singer of the rock band Procol Harum. Early life Born in Hackney Hospital, East London, on 29 May 1945, Brooker grew up in Hackney ...

released a version of the song on his 1979 album, ''No More Fear of Flying''. *

The Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas-Native American wars, and stars John Wa ...

released a version of the song on their 1979 album, ''

''. *

Per Gessle Per Håkan Gessle (; born 12 January 1959) is a Swedish singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the male half and primary songwriter of the Swedish pop rock duo Roxette, which he formed with Marie Fredriksson in 1986 and which was d ...

and

Niklas Strömstedt Bo Anders Niklas Strömstedt (born 25 July 1958) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, musician, record producer and actor. Early life Niklas Strömstedt was born on 25 July 1958 in Lund as the first child of Margareta (née Henriksson) and Bo St ...

re-wrote the lyrics in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

and in 1980 the song was recorded by Rockfile. It was given the title "Marie i växeln", referring to an

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

employee. *Jupp released his own version of the song as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

to his 1980 single, "Rooms in Your Roof". *

released a version of the song on their 1980 live album, ''Live at Montreux 1980''. *

The Hamsters The Hamsters were a British band from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. They performed their first live show at the Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea, on 1 April 1987, and their last at The Half Moon, Putney on 1 April 2012, exactly 25 years l ...

released a version of the song on their 2004 album, ''

Open All Hours ''Open All Hours'' is a British television sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke for the BBC. It ran for 26 episodes in four series, which aired in 1976, 1981, 1982 and 1985. The programme developed from a television pilot broadcast in Ronni ...

''.

References

1979 songs 1979 singles Songs written by Mickey Jupp Nick Lowe songs The Searchers (band) songs Gyllene Tider songs Song recordings produced by Nick Lowe Songs about telephone calls {{1970s-rock-song-stub