So far this week we’ve featured songs titled “Call Me” by Petula Clark/Chris Montez, Aretha Franklin, and Al Green. Today’s classic song of the day is our final “Call Me” of the week, this one by Blondie. This “Call Me” was featured in the film American Gigolo and, when released as a single in February of 1980, went all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. In fact, it was a huge hit all around the world, hitting the top ten charts in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada (#1), Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK (#1).
Blondie’s “Call Me” was written by Debbie Harry and Giorgio Moroder, and produced by Mr. Moroder. Georgio did the music and Debbie did the lyrics, after watching a rough cut of the film. “When I was writing it, I pictured the opening scene, driving on the coast of California,” she said.
Moroder originally wanted Stevie Nicks to perform a song for the American Gigolo soundtrack, but contract complications kept her from doing so. Moroder then turned to Debbie Harry. He presented her with an instrumental track then called “Man Machine” and asked her to write the lyrics, which she did. Her group Blondie then joined the party to record the track for the movie.
The recording of “Call Me” took place in three separate sessions in three different studios. The first session was at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, where Moroder and his musicians laid down an instrumental version of the song, synched to the film itself. Moroder then took that tape to New York, where Blondie recorded their parts, with Debbie Harry singing. When that was done, Moroder did one more session in L.A., with his own crew added some final bits (including a keyboard solo by Harold Faltermeyer), some of which replaced tracks Blondie recorded in New York.
Which leads us to today’s daily bonus video of the day, the opening credits scene of American Gigolo, accompanied by Blondie’s “Call Me.” Nice car.
