There are three bands with the name The Call. 1. The Call were a San Francisco Bay Area-based rock band originally formed in Santa Cruz in 1980 by vocalist/guitarist Michael Been, Scott Musick, and Tom Ferrier. Despite support from such luminaries as Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, and Jim Kerr, the band never achieved the success they deserved. ...show more

There are three bands with the name The Call. 1. The Call were a San Francisco Bay Area-based rock band originally formed in Santa Cruz in 1980 by vocalist/guitarist Michael Been, Scott Musick, and Tom Ferrier. Despite support from such luminaries as Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, and Jim Kerr, the band never achieved the success they deserved.

The eponymous premiere album was recorded in England, and Michael 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 has 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. ...show less