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I heard this song a little bit when I was growing up, but back then, I had no idea it was about a phone number.
City Boy was a band from Birmingham, England - the same city as ELO. In fact, some online commenters say they thought "5.7.0.5." was by ELO. Evidently, British phone numbers have more than 4 digits, so I don't know how this was about a phone number. Perhaps Birmingham had Cincinnati Bell, which is such a primitive company that maybe it still couldn't handle 7 digits. But the song has no reference to Cincinnati Bell's slogans: "We're sorry, all circuits are busy" and "Error 6." Nor does it mention Cincinnati Bell wiretapping Gerald Ford because they thought he was a communist.
The "5.7.0.5." saga gets weirder! The song was originally titled "Turn On To Jesus." All the music on the record was the same, but the lyrics were completely different. "Turn On To Jesus" was about a religious strip club in Kansas the band visited when they were on tour with Hall & Oates...
After "5.7.0.5.", City Boy's next single was "What A Night", which did not chart in the U.S., yet somehow I remember hearing it.
The City Boy legend continued even after the band broke up in 1982. Apparently, there was a different act called City Boy, which created confusion with the City Boy we know and love. In 1988, this other City Boy (unless it was the same City Boy) recorded a song titled "Michael Dukakis" as a tribute to the Democratic nominee for President of the United States at the time...
Needless to say, I never heard that tune on Cincinnati radio.
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