Call Me -- a song she rejected [Archive]

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PenguinHead

08-25-2009, 07:58 PM

I was just watching a special on VH1 that features the 100 best songs from the 1980s. Call Me, from Blondie was one of them. The writer of the song initially had Stevie in mind to record it. She rejected it and it fell into the hands of Blondie.

It's interesting to see how many songwriters, famous (the lauded Bernie Taupin!) and not so famous, at that time, were writing songs they wanted Stevie to sing. She rejected almost all of them!

mylittledemon

08-25-2009, 08:02 PM

Yeah like "These Dreams".... and then Heart went on to do it. I heard Stevie thought it was too close to Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" (at least in title) and that's why she didnt do it. :shrug:

~GoldDustWoman~

08-25-2009, 08:02 PM

Didn't know that, good song.

David

08-25-2009, 08:09 PM

Didn't Bruce Springsteen also write her a song to sing called "Janie's Got a Gimp in Her Gitalong"?

GypsyBlueEyes

08-25-2009, 09:12 PM

She would have been able to make These Dreams work...but Call Me definitely doesn't sound like anything she would sing.

markolas

08-25-2009, 09:13 PM

I think Call Me being written for Stevie is a myth; I think that was discussed here extensively a few years ago.

GoldDustOrphan

08-25-2009, 09:47 PM

Giorgio Moroder says he asked Stevie to write a song with him for the soundtrack of American Gigolo, but she declined. Moroder then brought the instrumental track (called "Man Machine") to Debbie Harry, asking her to write lyrics and melody, and "Call Me" was born.

silvasprings

08-25-2009, 10:52 PM

Dodfather

08-26-2009, 01:10 AM

I also read or heard (i'm not sure) somewhere that during Rock A Little sessions or Mirror Mirror:confused: (sometime around 1984-5) that she was offered the song "Crazy For You" that was later done by Madonna, i always wondered what this would have sounded like....
I can really imagine her doing "These Dreams" it even sounds like a song she would write. although i do love Heart's version.

This is my all time favourite Madonna song. I think a Stevie version could be pretty good, it's just that side of country. Not totally certain but I'd definitely love to have heard it.

Random fact about Crazy For You.... it's co-written by John Bettis who was Richard Carpenter's good friend at college and went on to write several of the Carpenters biggest hits with him.

silvasprings

08-26-2009, 01:18 AM

This is my all time favourite Madonna song. I think a Stevie version could be pretty good, it's just that side of country. Not totally certain but I'd definitely love to have heard it.

Random fact about Crazy For You.... it's co-written by John Bettis who was Richard Carpenter's good friend at college and went on to write several of the Carpenters biggest hits with him.

I love Crazy For You too, it's one of the only Madonna songs i really really like...
I'm not really sure if her RAL voice would have done it well or not.

It's amazing how it's such a small world with songwriting... can you imagine the carpenters singing crazy for you...lol that would be hilarious, i really can't see them doing a really 80's song like that...:D

carrie721

08-26-2009, 01:24 AM

Didn't Bruce Springsteen also write her a song to sing called "Janie's Got a Gimp in Her Gitalong"?

that was gonna be the b-side to "grandma got run over by a reindeer."

trackaghost

08-26-2009, 08:58 AM

Didn't Bruce Springsteen also write her a song to sing called "Janie's Got a Gimp in Her Gitalong"?

I once started a thread about this very subject, Tiffany had good info about it too, shame she doesn't post anymore

http://ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/showthread.php?t=14859

LukeA

08-27-2009, 04:21 AM

Travis

08-27-2009, 07:07 AM

She would have been able to make These Dreams work...but Call Me definitely doesn't sound like anything she would sing.

I know I’m in the minority here but if you think about the time Stevie would have recorded the song, 1979/80, I think Stevie could have pulled this off. Stevie was the deal back then and you can understand why she was first asked to do it. Even though the lyrics are not what Stevie would have written, it doesn’t mean she couldn’t have interrupted the song. Stevie certainly had a sexy voice back then.

goldustsongbird

08-27-2009, 05:13 PM

Christopher

08-27-2009, 05:34 PM

Never heard the story about "Crazy for You" or "We Built this City" being offered to Stevie before but I for one am glad she turned them down, esp WBTC...Blech!

Yeah Giorgio Moroder (of Donna Summer fame in the late 70's) offered Stevie the instrumental track for what would become "Call Me" by Blondie....so there is no telling how it would've turned out with lyrics/melody in Stevie's hands....also I think she turned it down cause she was way too busy with TUSK, the ensuing tour and planning her own solo record.

I heard she turned down "These Dreams" cause it was too similiar to her own songwriting style, same reason she took SDMHA instead of "Insider".

And yes, Bruce wrote "Janey Dont Lose Heart" for Stevie, as reported in Rolling Stone Magazine's random notes in 84" saying he had written her a song for possible inclusion on her 3rd solo record. Who knows why it never came to fruition, it went the way of "Don't Come Around Here No More", "Reconsider Me" and probably countless others......

And finally I heard that "She Still Loves Him" was a instrumental written by Mark Knofler, that Stevie penned lyrics and melody to, and there was some conflict about having her release it, I'm not sure Mark liked it?? (maybe someone on this board could confirm that) It's too bad, cause in my humble opinion I think that song is killer...and a keeper:nod:

PenguinHead

08-27-2009, 06:43 PM

Didn't Bruce Springsteen also write her a song to sing called "Janie's Got a Gimp in Her Gitalong"?

I remember reading that in a magazine - probably Rolling Stone, the same magazine that wrote about 'The Tragedy of One's Own Soul' and "Dial The Number' being on her next album -The Other Side of the Mirror.

silvasprings

08-27-2009, 07:57 PM

Actually, for RAL-era Stevie, Crazy For You would have been perfect. I could hear her singing that.

Yeah I liked the Madonna version, but she sings it without real gusto, not like stevie would have, it would have been pretty awesome... I love the 80's...:D

goldustsongbird

08-27-2009, 09:17 PM

Yeah I liked the Madonna version, but she sings it without real gusto, not like stevie would have, it would have been pretty awesome... I love the 80's...:D

CFY is one of Madonna's worst songs. When I first heard it, I was like, waaaait.a.minute. She doesn't have a good voice and it really shows in that one.

We need a new thread: Madonna songs Stevie should have sung. :lol:

vivfox

08-27-2009, 10:00 PM

CFY is one of Madonna's worst songs. When I first heard it, I was like, waaaait.a.minute. She doesn't have a good voice and it really shows in that one.

We need a new thread: Madonna songs Stevie should have sung. :lol:

Causing A Commotion?

<a href="http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd169/cielosharon/?action=view&current=z116.gif" target="_blank"><img src="http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd169/cielosharon/z116.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

goldustsongbird

08-27-2009, 11:29 PM

Causing A Commotion?

<a href="http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd169/cielosharon/?action=view&current=z116.gif" target="_blank"><img src="http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd169/cielosharon/z116.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Right up there with her How Still My Love-esque take on Erotica.

silvasprings

08-28-2009, 02:29 AM

CFY is one of Madonna's worst songs. When I first heard it, I was like, waaaait.a.minute. She doesn't have a good voice and it really shows in that one.

We need a new thread: Madonna songs Stevie should have sung. :lol:

Fair enough :lol:
I was forced to listen to Madonna as a child...My mother was obsessed....
I think i like it more for the sound and the message rather than cos Madonna did it...

I can't imagine many songs by Madonna that Stevie should have sung...
They're totally different....:lol:

trackaghost

08-28-2009, 08:35 AM

As I've said many times on these boards, "These Dreams" by Stevie would have been a major hit, along the lines of "Bette Davis Eyes", #1 for 6-7 weeks.

She also turned down the Bernie Taupin-penned track "We Built This City", too. The Motels and another female solo artist I can't remember at the moment turned it down too before it ended up in Starship's lap.

Thank god she didn't record either. It's embarrassing enough being a Stevie fan as it is.

As for Call Me, it was a missed opportunity but I'm glad she didn't do that one either as it's one of my favourite Blondie songs. I can't understand why she didn't record Springsteen's Janey Don't Lose Heart though, I mean at least she recorded Warren Zevon's Reconsider Me even if she foolishly decided not to include it on the record. But she was making some odd choices back then.

petep9000

08-28-2009, 09:00 AM

I read either on the old AOL board or the old Usenet newsgroup, that 'Love Will Find A Way' from Yes (which wound up on their 'Big Generator' album) was offered to Stevie. And I would have loved to hear RAL Stevie sing that one, with the same arrangement.

Also, I feel like I remember someone posting Cher's 'Just Like Jesse James' had been offered to Stevie too. I can't imagine Stevie singing the lyric "just a small-town dude", but then again she sang "bitch", "monkey" and "laundromat" so maybe it would have worked.

David

08-28-2009, 11:02 AM

Right up there with her How Still My Love-esque take on Erotica.If you take the "t" out of "Erotica," you get "Eroica" -- my license plate!!

seekerj

08-28-2009, 11:39 AM

Never heard the story about "Crazy for You" or "We Built this City" being offered to Stevie before but I for one am glad she turned them down, esp WBTC...Blech!

Yeah Giorgio Moroder (of Donna Summer fame in the late 70's) offered Stevie the instrumental track for what would become "Call Me" by Blondie....so there is no telling what it would have turned out with lyrics/melody in Stevie's hands....also I think she turned it down cause she was way too busy with Tusk, the ensuing tour and planning her own solo record.

I heard she turned down "These Dreams" cause it was too similiar to her own songwriting style, same reason she took SDMHA instead of "Insider".
And yes, Bruce wrote "Janey Dont Lose Heart" for Stevie, as reported in Rolling Stone Magazine's random notes in 84" saying he had written her a song for possible inclusion on her 3rd solo record. Who knows why she it never came to fruition, it went the way of "Don't Come Around Here No More", "Reconsider Me" and probably countless others......

And finally I heard that "She Still Loves Him" was a instrumental written by Mark Knofler, that Stevie penned lyrics and melody to, and there was some conflict about having her release it, I'm not sure Mark liked it?? (maybe someone on this board could confirm that) It's too bad, cause in my humble opinion I think that song is killer...and a keeper:nod:

About "Insider", I thought that Tom changed his mind when they were listening to the playback because he really loved how it came out, and he asked Stevie to pick a different song of his instead. He gave her a tape of the songs he wasn't going to use, and she picked out "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around".

goldustsongbird

08-28-2009, 06:11 PM

If you take the "t" out of "Erotica," you get "Eroica" -- my license plate!!

Subtle as always, Beethoven. :thumbsup:

vermicious knid

08-28-2009, 11:50 PM

Wikipedia says about this song that "a recently signed contract with Modern Records prevented [Stevie] from working with Moroder". There is no citation for the statement. I didn't know that a contract could specify working only with select producers.