"Call Me" is a song by the American new wave band Blondie and the theme to the 1980 film ''

American Gigolo ''American Gigolo'' is a 1980 American neo-noir crime drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader, and starring Richard Gere and Lauren Hutton. It tells the story about a high-priced escort in Los Angeles (Gere) who becomes romantically ...

''. Produced and composed by Italian musician

Giorgio Moroder Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer, songwriter, and record producer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance mu ...

, with lyrics by Blondie singer

Debbie Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981. Born in ...

, the song appeared in the film and was released in the United States in early 1980 as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

. "Call Me" was No. 1 for six consecutive weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, where it became the band's biggest single and second No. 1. It also hit No. 1 in the UK and Canada, where it became their fourth and second chart-topper, respectively. In the year-end chart of 1980, it was ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s No. 1 single and ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' magazine's No. 3 in Canada.

Composition and recording

"Call Me" was composed by Italian disco producer

as the main theme song of the 1980 film ''

''. It is played in the key of D minor. Moroder originally asked

Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and producer known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasi ...

from

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...

to perform a song for the soundtrack, but she was prevented because of a recently signed contract with

Modern Records Modern Records (Modern Music Records before 1947) was an American record company and label formed in 1945 in Los Angeles by the Bihari brothers. Modern's artists included Etta James, Joe Houston, Little Richard, Ike & Tina Turner and John Lee ...

. Moroder turned to

of Blondie, presenting Harry with an instrumental track called "Man Machine". Harry was asked to write the lyrics, a process that Harry states took a mere few hours. The lyrics were written from the perspective of the main character in the film, a male

prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

. Harry said the lyrics were inspired by her visual impressions from watching the film and that "When I was writing it, I pictured the opening scene, driving on the coast of California." The completed song was then recorded by the band, with Moroder producing. The bridge of the original English-language version also includes Harry saying "call me" in two European languages: and . In 2014, keyboardist-composer

Harold Faltermeyer Hans Hugo Harold Faltermeier (born 5 October 1952) is a German musician, composer and record producer. Faltermeyer is best known for composing the "Axel F" theme for the feature film ''Beverly Hills Cop'', an influential synth-pop hit in the 1 ...

remembered the recording process as having three main sections: first Moroder and his music crew recorded an instrumental version of the song at

Westlake Recording Studios Westlake Recording Studios is a music recording studio in West Hollywood, California. History Westlake Recording Studios was founded in the early 1970s by the American audio engineer Tom Hidley under the name Westlake Audio. Hidley was experienc ...

in Los Angeles, with the tape locked to

SMPTE timecode SMPTE timecode ( or ) is a set of cooperating standards to label individual frames of video or film with a timecode. The system is defined by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers in the SMPTE 12M specification. SMPTE revised t ...

so that it would synchronize with the film. Then the project moved to New York for the Blondie recording session, at which the band surprised Moroder by insisting they would play their own parts. Faltermeyer was engineering when Harry sang and

Chris Stein Christopher Stein (born January 5, 1950) is an American musician known as the co-founder and guitarist of the new wave band Blondie. He is also a producer and performer for the classic soundtrack of the hip hop film '' Wild Style'', and write ...

played electric guitar. Stein's guitar and amplifier were buzzing and noisy, so his setup was repaired to get a clean recording. The band had difficulty locking to sync, so Moroder stopped the unfinished sessions to save time, and took the project back to Los Angeles to more quickly add the final parts with his own picked musicians, including a keyboard solo by Faltermeyer. On the ''American Gigolo'' soundtrack album, Blondie the band is credited only for vocals, with other credits naming Moroder's crew of

Keith Forsey Keith Forsey (born 2 January 1948) is an English pop musician and record producer. Early life Forsey began his career as a percussionist in the mid-late 1960s as the drummer for The SpectrumCaptain Scarlet and the Mysterons - The Vault - Chris ...

on drums/percussion and Faltermeyer on keyboards and arrangements. Faltermeyer said the band was angry about being replaced by session players, but the song turned out to be very successful, so they took it in stride. Blondie keyboard player

Jimmy Destri Jimmy Destri (born James Mollica, April 13, 1954, Brooklyn, New York City, United States) is an American musician. Background Destri is of Italian descent. His father was a novelist who also wrote screenplays and eventually advertising copy to ...

was obligated to play Faltermeyer's solo in concerts.

Release

In the US, the song was released by three record companies: the longest version (at 8:06) on the

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

, the 7" and 12" on Blondie's label

Chrysalis A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...

, and a Spanish-language 12" version, with lyrics by Buddy and Mary McCluskey, on the disco label

Salsoul Records Salsoul Records is an American New York City based record label, founded by three brothers, Joseph Cayre, Kenneth Cayre, and Stanley Cayre (the Cayre brothers). Salsoul issued about 300 singles, including many disco/post-disco 12-inch releases, ...

. The Spanish version, titled "Llámame", was meant for release in Mexico and some South American countries. This version was also released in the US and the UK and had its CD debut on Chrysalis/

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

's rarities compilation ''

Blonde and Beyond ''Blonde and Beyond'' is a compilation album of recordings by Blondie released on Chrysalis Records in 1993. As of August 9, 2005 it has sold 43,000 copies in United States. Overview ''Blonde and Beyond'' is a compilation that gathers some o ...

'' (1993). In 1988, a remixed version by

Ben Liebrand Ben Liebrand () (born 27 September 1960 in Nijmegen, the Netherlands) is a Dutch dance music DJ and remixer. He has produced for artists such as Forrest and MC Miker G & DJ Sven and remixed tracks by artists such as Alexander O'Neal, Salt-N- ...

taken from the Blondie remix album ''

Once More into the Bleach ''Once More into the Bleach'' is a remix album released in December 1988 by the band Blondie and Debbie Harry. The 13-track compilation contains remixes of Blondie songs and material from Harry's solo career. It was the first compilation to inclu ...

'' was issued as a single in the UK. In 2001, the "original long version" appeared as a bonus track on the ''

Autoamerican ''Autoamerican'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Blondie. It was released in November 1980 and reached in the UK charts, in the US, and in Australia. Background The album was a radical departure for the band, with the openin ...

'' album re-issue. In 2014, Blondie re-recorded the song for their compilation album ''Greatest Hits Deluxe Redux''. The compilation was part of a 2-disc set called ''

Blondie 4(0) Ever ''Blondie 4(0) Ever'' is a double album by American rock band Blondie. It was released on May 12, 2014, by Noble ID in celebration of the band's 40th anniversary. The two-disc package consists of ''Greatest Hits Deluxe Redux'', a collection of r ...

'' which included their tenth studio album ''

Ghosts of Download ''Blondie 4(0) Ever'' is a double album by American rock band Blondie. It was released on May 12, 2014, by Noble ID in celebration of the band's 40th anniversary. The two-disc package consists of ''Greatest Hits Deluxe Redux'', a collection of r ...

'' and marked the 40th anniversary of the forming of the band. Harry recorded an abbreviated version of the song that was backed by the Muppet Band for her guest appearance on ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a ser ...

'' in August 1980. It was first broadcast in January 1981.

Popularity and acclaim

The single was released in the United States in February 1980. It spent six consecutive weeks at number one and was certified Gold (for one million copies sold) by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. It also spent four weeks at No. 2 on the US

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

chart. The single was also No. 1 on ''Billboard'' magazine's 1980 year-end chart. The song lists at No. 57 on ''Billboard's All Time Top 100''. It was released in the UK two months later, where it became Blondie's fourth UK No. 1 single in little over a year. The song was also played on a

British Telecom BT Group plc (trade name, trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is th ...

advert in the 1980s. 25 years after its original release, "Call Me" was ranked at No. 283 on the

list of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...

. In 1981, the ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...

'' ranked "Call Me" as the third-best song of the year 1980 on its annual year-end critics' poll,

Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abse ...

. In 2017, ''Billboard'' ranked the song number three on their list of the 10 greatest Blondie songs, and in 2021, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' ranked the song number four on their list of the 20 greatest Blondie songs. In 2022 the song was played as part of HBO's flagship show,

WestWorld ''Westworld'' is an American science fiction- thriller media franchise that began with the 1973 film ''Westworld'', written and directed by Michael Crichton. The film depicts a technologically advanced Wild-West-themed amusement park populat ...

. In 1981, the song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, as well as for a Golden Globe for Best Original Song.

Music video

There were two videos made: * One was clips and video footage of Debbie Harry in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The video can be found on the 1991 UK video compilation '' The Complete Picture: The Very Best of Deborah Harry and Blondie''. * The other, which came out in 1981, did not feature any of the band. It depicted a

taxi driver (who had appeared in several other Blondie music videos) driving his

Checker Taxi Checker Taxi was a dominant taxicab company and national franchisor that was based in Chicago, Illinois. Checker Motors was an American vehicle manufacturer based in Kalamazoo, Michigan that built the iconic Checker Taxicab, sold commercially ...

through

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

traffic. This version was part of the 1981 " Best of Blondie" compilation video.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

End-of-decade charts

All-time charts

1988 Remix charts

Sales and certifications

Release history

1980 release

;US, UK 7" (CHS 2414) #"Call Me (Theme from ''American Gigolo'')" (7" edit) — 3:32 #"Call Me" (7" instrumental) — 3:27 ;UK 12" (CHS 12 2414) #"Call Me" (7" edit) — 3:32 #"Call Me" (Spanish version – 7" edit) — 3:32 #"Call Me" (7" instrumental) — 3:27 ;US 12" (Polydor PRO 124) romo only#"Call Me" (Theme from American Gigolo) — 8:04 #"Night Drive" (Reprise) - by Giorgio Moroder — 3:52 ;US 12" (Salsoul SG 341) #"Call Me" (Spanish version, extended) — 6:23 #"Call Me" (Instrumental) — 6:10

1989 release

;UK 7" (CHS 3342-1) #"Call Me" (

Remix edit) — 3:48 #"Call Me" (Original Version) — 3:31 ;UK 12" (CHS 12 3342) #"Call Me" (Ben Liebrand Remix) — 7:09 #"Backfired" (Bruce Forrest And Frank Heller Remix) — 6:03 #"Call Me" (Original Version) — 3:31 ;UK CD (CHSCD 3342) #"Call Me" (Ben Liebrand Remix) — 7:09 #"

Backfired "Backfired" is the debut solo single from American singer and Blondie vocalist Debbie Harry. Released in 1981, it was taken from her debut solo studio album, ''KooKoo''. Song information "Backfired" peaked at number 32 in the UK, and number 43 ...

" (Bruce Forrest And Frank Heller Remix) — 6:03 #* Performed by Debbie Harry #"Call Me" (Original Version) — 3:31 #"

Hanging on the Telephone "Hanging on the Telephone" is a song written by Jack Lee. The song was released in 1976 by his short-lived US West Coast power pop band The Nerves; in 1978, it was recorded and released as a single by American new wave band Blondie. Blondie h ...

" — 2:23

Notable cover versions

* In 2001, artist

Nikka Costa Domenica "Nikka" Costa (born 4 June 1972) is an American singer whose music combines elements of pop, soul, and blues. She also had a career as a child singer starting in the early 1980s. She is the daughter of music producer Don Costa. Early l ...

recorded a cover for the soundtrack of the comedy film ''

Zoolander ''Zoolander'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by and starring Ben Stiller. The film contains elements from a pair of short films directed by Russell Bates and written by Drake Sather and Stiller for the '' VH1 Fashion Awards'' television ...

'' and featured in the episode "Did You Miss Me?" in ''

Pretty Little Liars ''Pretty Little Liars'' is an American mystery teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Sara Shepard. Developed by I. Marlene King, the series was broadcast on Freeform between June 8, 2010, and June ...

''. * In 2008, British singer

Skye Edwards Skye Edwards (born Shirley Klaris Yonavieve Edwards; 27 May 1974), sometimes simply Skye, is a British singer-songwriter. Her career began in 1994 when she and the Godfrey brothers (Paul Godfrey, a DJ, and Ross Godfrey, a multi-instrumentalist ...

collaborated with Marc Collin of French band

Nouvelle Vague French New Wave (french: La Nouvelle Vague) is a French art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentation and a spirit of iconocla ...

on a cover of the song for the album ''Hollywood, Mon Amour''. * Scottish

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band

Franz Ferdinand Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria, (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I. F ...

were asked by Blondie themselves to cover it for a War Child charity album. * Blondie re-recorded the song (with Moroder returning as producer) for their 2014 re-recording compilation album ''Greatest Hits Deluxe Redux''. The compilation was part of a two-disc set called ''Blondie 4(0) Ever'' which included their 10th studio album ''

'' and marked the 40th anniversary of the forming of the band. * In 2017, Guatemalan singer-songwriter

Gaby Moreno Gaby Moreno is a Guatemalan singer-songwriter, producer, film composer and guitarist. Singing in both English and Spanish, Moreno's music covers many genres including Latin, Alternative, Blues, Folk and Americana. Biography Moreno was born i ...

and American drummer Isaac Carpenter recorded a cover of the Spanish-language version for the film ''

How to Be a Latin Lover ''How to Be a Latin Lover'' is a 2017 American comedy film directed by Ken Marino, written by Chris Spain and Jon Zack and stars Eugenio Derbez, Salma Hayek, Raphael Alejandro, Raquel Welch, Rob Riggle, Rob Huebel, Rob Corddry, Renée Taylor, Li ...

''. * In 2019, Emily Blue covered the track for

Audiotree Audiotree is an American music record label located in Chicago, founded in 2011. The company records and publishes live music sessions. It also promotes artists and organizes live events, and invites artists from around the world to enter a profe ...

's compilation album ''Turn Her Up!''. The cover was also released as a single and featured on

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

's ''

Batwoman Batwoman is a name used by several characters of DC Comics, both in mainstream continuity and Elseworlds. The best known Batwomen are Batwoman (Kathy Kane), Kathy Kane and Kate Kane. History * The first Batwoman (Kathy Kane), Batwoman, Kathy Ka ...

''.

References

External links

Debbie Harry's isolated vocal track
on YouTube * {{authority control 1979 songs 1980 singles Blondie (band) songs In This Moment songs Century Media Records singles Chrysalis Records singles Dance-rock songs Polydor Records singles Song recordings produced by Giorgio Moroder Songs about prostitutes Songs about telephone calls Songs written for films Songs with feminist themes Songs written by Giorgio Moroder Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles Macaronic songs