VOL. XIII, NO. 10
MARCH 24, 1972

'Phony Tunes' New Music Fad Hits Telephones
Pushbuttons are the latest innovations that have been added to Alexander Graham Bell's amazing instrument - the telephone. The pushbuttons facilitate speedier completion of calls than the old dial phones. Many Americans have found a new use for the phone, or as Time magazine puts it, "Ma Bell did not anticipate that the pushbutton telephone would become America's newest musical instrument."

You probably already have noticed that when each of the buttons are pushed, they produce a unique musical tone. Now all you have to do to play a song is to determine the proper pattern of buttons. For example, 33363213 gives the recognizable beginning of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" while 1199009 calls forth "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."
 Phone music has one drawback, however. You cannot push out a tune immediately upon picking up the receiver. If the first note was 0, for example, you would automatically be connected with the operator. Even more annoying and expensive, your tune might complete a call to Paris or London.

A safer idea would be to first call a friend and then tap out new tunes to each other. This new fad is not limited to popular and rock tunes; classical buffs will be pleased to "note" that 0005 8883 is the first few bars of Beethoven's "Fifth Symphony."