Call Me (Blondie song)

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"Call Me"

Single by Blondie
from the album American Gigolo Soundtrack
Released	February 1980
Format	Vinyl
Recorded	August 1979
Genre	Power pop/ New Wave
Length	3:32 (radio version) 8:04 (12"/American Gigolo film version; also on 2001 reissue of Autoamerican)
Label	Chrysalis Records
Writer(s)	Debbie Harry, Giorgio Moroder
Producer(s)	Giorgio Moroder
Chart positions
1 (US) 1 (UK)
Blondie singles chronology
"The Hardest Part" (1980)	Call Me (1980)	"Atomic" (1980)

"Call Me" is a song performed by Blondie, released in February of 1980. "Call Me" topped the singles charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom; it would become the band's biggest-selling single in the U.S., and the top seller for the entire year.

1 Beginnings
2 Popularity
3 Music video
4 Acclaim
5 Covers
6 Releases
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] Beginnings

The song was the main theme of the film American Gigolo, starring Richard Gere. European disco producer Giorgio Moroder originally asked Stevie Nicks to help compose and perform a song for the soundtrack, but she refused. It was at this time that Moroder turned to Debbie Harry. Moroder presented Harry with a rough instrumental track called "Man Machine". Harry was asked to write the lyrics and melody, a process that Harry states took only a few hours. The completed song was then recorded by the band, with Moroder producing.

Blondie also released the song in Mexico and other South American countries as "Llámame", complete with translated Spanish lyrics.

When asked how she felt the song fit into the film, she said, "I think it was very apropos."^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Popularity

The single was released in the United States in early 1980 to promote the film and quickly sold enough copies to be certified as the top-selling single for the year. It was released weeks later in Britain to a similar volume of sales. "Call Me" was only the third song from a soundtrack to top the singles charts for a given year. "To Sir, with Love" by Lulu in 1967 and "The Way We Were" by Barbara Streisand in 1974 were the first two, both from movies of the same name. "Call Me" was later used in television commercials.

[edit] Music video

There were two videos made:

One was compiled clips and video footage in New York and Manhattan of Deborah Harry. The video can be found on the 1991 U.K. video compilation, The Complete Picture: The Very Best of Deborah Harry And Blondie.

The other, which came out in 1980 was non-representational, not featuring any of the band. It depicted a New York taxi driver (who had in fact appeared in numerous other Blondie music videos) driving his Checker through Manhattan traffic.

[edit] Acclaim

Twenty-five years after its original release, the acclaim surrounding "Call Me" led to its ranking at #283 on the list of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

[edit] Covers

The song has been relentlessly covered, by a varied array of musical acts.

"Call Me"

Single by The Chipmunks
from the album Chipmunk Punk
Released	August 1980
Format	Vinyl
Recorded	September 1979
Length	3:11 (LP/radio version) 3:49 (12" version)
Label	Excelsior Records
Writer(s)	Debbie Harry Giorgio Moroder
The Chipmunks singles chronology
"My Sharona" (1980)	Call Me (1980)	"On The Road Again" (1981)

KMET DJ Chuck Taylor played the 12" version of this single at double speed and announced, in jest, that it was The Chipmunks' latest single. So many requests came for this "new" Chipmunks release, that Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. and his collaborator Steve Vining rushed to record what would be the Chipmunks' "comeback album," Chipmunk Punk.
Metal band The Union Underground released a cover of the song in the early 2000s.
Artist Nikka Costa did a cover for the Zoolander soundtrack.
Pop diva Regine Velasquez covered the single on her album Covers 2, and it became one of her signature songs.
Finnish rockabilly band Francine did a cover for their album Level 8.
Korean rock artist Eve has covered "Call Me."
Ashlee Simpson covered this song live on her 2005 Autobiography tour.

[edit] Releases

The long version (8:04) of the song appears on the 1980 soundtrack American Gigolo.
An edited single version (3:32) was released by Chrysalis the same year. This is the version that topped the singles chart that year.
In 1981, the single version appeared on Blondie's The Best Of Blondie album.
Blondie's 2001 reissue of the 1980 album Autoamerican contains the long version of the song as a bonus track.
The band's latest compilation, Greatest Hits - Sight + Sound (2005) contains the single version.
The song was also released on the album for the game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?. It refers to the "Phone-A-Friend" lifeline, wherein the contestant calls a friend for help in solving a question.

Preceded by "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)" by Pink Floyd	Billboard Hot 100 number one single April 19, 1980	Succeeded by "Funkytown" by Lipps Inc
Preceded by "Working My Way Back To You " by The Detroit Spinners	UK number one single April 20, 1980	Succeeded by "Geno" by Dexys Midnight Runners