The Call (band)
Encyclopedia
The Call was an American
rock
band from Santa Cruz
, California
active from 1980 to 2000.
in 1980 by vocalist/guitarist Michael Been
, Scott Musick, and Tom Ferrier. Been and Musick were originally from Oklahoma
. Been was previously a member of Chicago band Aorta
, and then, between 1969 and 1971, of Lovecraft, the successor band to the psychedelic rock
group H.P. Lovecraft.
Beginning with their self-titled debut in 1982, the Call went on to produce a total of 10 albums by 2000. The eponymous premiere album was recorded in England, and Been later recalled that the band was in an exploratory phase at this point. Been noted in a 1988 interview, "The Call was a compassionate album, but it probably came out as anger." Peter Gabriel
liked the band so much that he asked them to open for him during his 1982 "Shock the Monkey
" tour.
The next album, Modern Romans, was notable for its political content. Been later stated, "There was a great deal happening politically - Grenada
, Lebanon
, or the government saying the Russians are evil and the Russian government probably saying the same about us. That kind of thinking inspired me to write the last lines of 'Walls Came Down'."
This was followed by Scene Beyond Dreams. Been referred to it as The Call's "metaphysical" album. With a strong poetic sense to the lyrics and a change in instrumentation, the change in sound is notable. Garth Hudson
of The Band
played keyboards on these first three records.
Reconciled was recorded during the summer of 1985. At this point, the band had not had a recording contract for two years, due to what Been described as "legal bickering" between The Call's former record label and their management company. However, once the deal was signed with Elektra Records
, the band resumed playing and produced their most commercially successful album to date. Peter Gabriel, Simple Minds
' Jim Kerr
, and Hudson and former Band mate Robbie Robertson
all guested the album which was released in 1986. Several tracks from the album became hits on the Mainstream Rock Chart, and one of these tracks, "I Still Believe" "I Still Believe" was covered by Tim Capello
and Russ Taff
, and appears on the soundtrack of the 1986 film The Whoopee Boys
. The following year, "I Still Believe" was re-recorded by singer/multi-instrumentalist
and long-time Tina Turner
sideman Tim Cappello for the 1987 movie The Lost Boys
, and Russ Taff
also recorded a version that appears on his 1987
self-titled album.
Next came the band's 1987 release Into The Woods, which Been referred to as his favorite album.
In 1989 they released Let the Day Begin, whose title track reached No. 1 on the US Mainstream Rock chart. Red Moon, which included background vocals by U2
's Bono
, was released in 1990.
In 1996, Warner Bros. Records
. released The Best of The Call
, which featured a selection of old favorites and few new songs. Two of the songs, Us and To Feel This Way, were different versions of tracks later to be seen on Been's solo album, and in the case of "To Feel This Way", the "Light Sleeper" soundtrack as well.
In 1997 To Heaven and Back, was released by Fingerprint Records
, followed by a live album, Live Under the Red Moon, in 2000.
The band is not currently touring. The band had a fan club called "Notified" and the information contained in their newsletters is in the file section of the Yahoo! groups list.
Al Gore
used "Let The Day Begin" as his campaign song in the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election and Tom Vilsack
used it as his song during his brief 2008 U.S. Presidential Election campaign.
A 2009 temporary exhibition at the Oklahoma History Center
about rock music in the state was called ""Another Hot Oklahoma Night: A Rock & Roll Exhibit". The name of the exhibition was taken from a line in The Call's song "Oklahoma", which was also one of the ten finalists in a 2009 vote for Oklahoma's official state rock song.
Michael Been died on August 19, 2010 after suffering a heart attack backstage at the Pukkelpop
music festival in Hasselt
, Belgium
, where he was working as sound engineer for his son's
band
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band from Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
active from 1980 to 2000.
Biography
The Call formed in Santa CruzSanta Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
in 1980 by vocalist/guitarist Michael Been
Michael Been
Michael Been was an American rock musician who achieved critical attention and rotation play on MTV in the 1980s with his band The Call. He later released an album of his solo work and toured with his son's band Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. His song "Let the Day Begin" was the official campaign...
, Scott Musick, and Tom Ferrier. Been and Musick were originally from Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. Been was previously a member of Chicago band Aorta
Aorta (band)
Aorta were an American psychedelic rock band from Chicago who recorded two albums in the late 1960s and early 1970s.-History:The band developed from a soul, pop and rock'n'roll group who had originally formed in Rockford, Illinois in 1962 as Kal David and the Exceptions. Its members were Kal David...
, and then, between 1969 and 1971, of Lovecraft, the successor band to the psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
group H.P. Lovecraft.
Beginning with their self-titled debut in 1982, the Call went on to produce a total of 10 albums by 2000. The eponymous premiere album was recorded in England, and Been later recalled that the band was in an exploratory phase at this point. Been noted in a 1988 interview, "The Call was a compassionate album, but it probably came out as anger." Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
liked the band so much that he asked them to open for him during his 1982 "Shock the Monkey
Shock the Monkey
"Shock the Monkey" is a 1982 song by Peter Gabriel. It was released as a single and peaked at number 29 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 1 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart. The song was Gabriel's first Top 40 hit in the US. In the UK, the song charted at number 58. It was included on...
" tour.
The next album, Modern Romans, was notable for its political content. Been later stated, "There was a great deal happening politically - Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, or the government saying the Russians are evil and the Russian government probably saying the same about us. That kind of thinking inspired me to write the last lines of 'Walls Came Down'."
This was followed by Scene Beyond Dreams. Been referred to it as The Call's "metaphysical" album. With a strong poetic sense to the lyrics and a change in instrumentation, the change in sound is notable. Garth Hudson
Garth Hudson
Eric Garth Hudson is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist. As the organist, keyboardist and saxophonist for Canadian-American rock group The Band, he was a principal architect of the group's unique sound...
of The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
played keyboards on these first three records.
Reconciled was recorded during the summer of 1985. At this point, the band had not had a recording contract for two years, due to what Been described as "legal bickering" between The Call's former record label and their management company. However, once the deal was signed with Elektra Records
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
, the band resumed playing and produced their most commercially successful album to date. Peter Gabriel, Simple Minds
Simple Minds
Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band who achieved worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The band produced a handful of critically acclaimed albums in the early 1980s and best known for their #1 US, Canada and Netherlands hit single "Don't You ", from the soundtrack of the...
' Jim Kerr
Jim Kerr
James "Jim" Kerr is a Scottish musician and singer-songwriter, best known for his work with the band Simple Minds who achieved five UK #1 albums and a #1 single "Ballad of the Streets EP". He released his first solo album, Lostboy! AKA Jim Kerr, on the 27 May 2010.- Simple Minds :Kerr attended...
, and Hudson and former Band mate Robbie Robertson
Robbie Robertson
Robbie Robertson, OC; is a Canadian singer-songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known for his membership as the guitarist and primary songwriter within The Band. He was ranked 59th in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time...
all guested the album which was released in 1986. Several tracks from the album became hits on the Mainstream Rock Chart, and one of these tracks, "I Still Believe" "I Still Believe" was covered by Tim Capello
Tim Capello
Tim Cappello is an American musician, known primarily as a saxophonist, whose work can be heard on the Tina Turner tracks "We Don't Need Another Hero" and "One of the Living" from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, and his cover of The Call's song "I Still Believe" from The Lost Boys.Cappello was born in...
and Russ Taff
Russ Taff
Russell Taff is an American gospel singer who is originally from Farmersville, California. Taff later then moved to Arkansas where he graduated from Cutter-Morning Star High School in Hot Springs, Arkansas....
, and appears on the soundtrack of the 1986 film The Whoopee Boys
The Whoopee Boys
The Whoopee Boys is a 1986 comedy film starring Michael O'Keefe and Paul Rodriguez.-Cast:*Michael O'Keefe as Jake Bateman*Paul Rodriguez as Barney Benar*Denholm Elliott as Col. Phelps*Eddie Deezen as Eddie Lipschitz...
. The following year, "I Still Believe" was re-recorded by singer/multi-instrumentalist
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
and long-time Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
sideman Tim Cappello for the 1987 movie The Lost Boys
The Lost Boys
The Lost Boys is a 1987 American teen comedy horror film directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Kiefer Sutherland, Jami Gertz, Corey Feldman, Dianne Wiest, Edward Herrmann, Alex Winter, Jamison Newlander, and Barnard Hughes....
, and Russ Taff
Russ Taff
Russell Taff is an American gospel singer who is originally from Farmersville, California. Taff later then moved to Arkansas where he graduated from Cutter-Morning Star High School in Hot Springs, Arkansas....
also recorded a version that appears on his 1987
1987 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1987.See also:Record labels established in 1987-January-February:*January 3 – Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
self-titled album.
Next came the band's 1987 release Into The Woods, which Been referred to as his favorite album.
In 1989 they released Let the Day Begin, whose title track reached No. 1 on the US Mainstream Rock chart. Red Moon, which included background vocals by U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
's Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
, was released in 1990.
In 1996, Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
. released The Best of The Call
The Best of The Call
The Best of The Call is a compilation album released by American rock band The Call. The album was released in the United States on July 8, 1997 by Warner-Elektra-Atlantic , the music arm of Warner Bros...
, which featured a selection of old favorites and few new songs. Two of the songs, Us and To Feel This Way, were different versions of tracks later to be seen on Been's solo album, and in the case of "To Feel This Way", the "Light Sleeper" soundtrack as well.
In 1997 To Heaven and Back, was released by Fingerprint Records
Fingerprint Records
Fingerprint Records is an independent record label formed in 1990 by Mark Heard and Dan Russell.The label went on to release not only Heard's albums, but also albums by The Call, The Vigilantes of Love, Ramona Silver, bob., as well as two tribute albums to Heard after his death in 1992.Heard also...
, followed by a live album, Live Under the Red Moon, in 2000.
The band is not currently touring. The band had a fan club called "Notified" and the information contained in their newsletters is in the file section of the Yahoo! groups list.
Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
used "Let The Day Begin" as his campaign song in the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election and Tom Vilsack
Tom Vilsack
Thomas James "Tom" Vilsack is an American politician, a member of the Democratic Party, and presently the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. He served as the 40th Governor of the state of Iowa. He was first elected in 1998 and re-elected to a second four-year term in 2002...
used it as his song during his brief 2008 U.S. Presidential Election campaign.
A 2009 temporary exhibition at the Oklahoma History Center
Oklahoma History Center
The Oklahoma History Center is the history museum of the State of Oklahoma. Located across the street from the Governor's mansion at 2401 N. Laird Avenue in Oklahoma City, the museum opened in 2005 and is operated by the Oklahoma Historical Society...
about rock music in the state was called ""Another Hot Oklahoma Night: A Rock & Roll Exhibit". The name of the exhibition was taken from a line in The Call's song "Oklahoma", which was also one of the ten finalists in a 2009 vote for Oklahoma's official state rock song.
Michael Been died on August 19, 2010 after suffering a heart attack backstage at the Pukkelpop
Pukkelpop
Pukkelpop is an annual music festival which takes place near the city of Hasselt, Belgium in mid-to-late August. It is held within a large enclosure of fields and woodland—between a dual carriageway called Kempische Steenweg—in the village of Kiewit, approximately 7 km north of Hasselt...
music festival in Hasselt
Hasselt
Hasselt is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital of the Flemish province of Limburg...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, where he was working as sound engineer for his son's
Robert Levon Been
Robert Levon Been is an American indie rock bass guitarist, guitarist, and singer. He is currently a member of Los Angeles-based band Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and was, for a time, a bass player in The Beggars. He is the son of the late Michael Been of The Call...
band
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, now based in Los Angeles. BRMC is known for their garage rock, blues, folk revival, neo-psychedelia sound. They are influenced by bands such as: The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Verve, The Rolling Stones, Oasis, T...
.
Discography
- The Call, 1982
- Modern Romans, 1983 US No. 84
- Scene Beyond Dreams, 1984 US No. 204
- Reconciled, 1986 US No. 82
- Into the Woods, 1987 US No. 123
- Let the Day Begin, 1989 US No. 64
- Red MoonRed Moon (The Call album)Red Moon is the seventh studio album by the American rock band The Call. It was released in 1990.-Track listing:# "What's Happened to You" – 4:18# "Red Moon" – 3:46# "You Were There" – 4:04# "Floating Back" – 3:25# "A Swim in the Ocean" – 3:51...
, 1990 - The Walls Came Down: The Best of the Mercury Years, 1991
- The Best of The CallThe Best of The CallThe Best of The Call is a compilation album released by American rock band The Call. The album was released in the United States on July 8, 1997 by Warner-Elektra-Atlantic , the music arm of Warner Bros...
, 1997 - To Heaven and Back, 1997
- Live Under the Red Moon, 2000
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US Mod | US Main | UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
||||||
| 1983 | "The Walls Came Down" | 74 | — | 17 | — | Modern Romans | |||
| 1986 | "Everywhere I Go" | — | — | 38 | — | Reconciled | |||
| "I Still Believe (Great Design)" | — | — | 17 | — | |||||
| 1987 | "I Don't Wanna" | — | — | — | — | Into the Woods | |||
| 1989 | "Let the Day Begin" | 51 | 5 | 1 | 42 | Let the Day Begin | |||
| "You Run" | — | — | 29 | 78 | |||||
| 1990 | "What's Happened to You" | — | 25 | 39 | — | Red Moon | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||