The Little-Known History Behind “Call Me” by Blondie

In 1979, Debbie Harry joined director Paul Schrader at his hotel to view a raw edit of his film, American Gigolo. It was then that she first heard the piece of music that would become her biggest hit. Although it’s credited to Blondie, the final version isn’t exactly a full-band effort.

Giorgio Moroder

Harry was moved by what she heard at Schrader’s Los Angeles hotel. The instrumental was written by the Italian composer Giorgio Moroder, best known for guiding Donna Summer to pop stardom with disco hits like “Last Dance” and “MacArthur Park”. (Moroder was also coming off an Oscar win for scoring Midnight Express.)

But when he arranged music for the opening sequence in American Gigolo, he envisioned Stevie Nicks singing it.

However, a contract clause blocked Nicks from recording the song. Moroder then tapped Harry, whose lyrics were inspired by Richard Gere’s character in the film, a high-class male escort named Julian Kaye.

Cover me with kisses, baby, cover me with love,
Roll me in designer sheets, I’ll never get enough.
Emotions come, I don’t know why,
Cover up love’s alibi.

A Band vs. Session Musicians

The initial sessions began at Westlake Studios in Los Angeles, where Moroder cut the track and synced it to the film. In New York, Harry and her band attempted to overdub their parts. But struggled with noisy gear and timing issues related to the film’s sync code.

Frustrated by the imperfections of a scrappy new-wave group, Moroder finished the track in Los Angeles with polished session musicians, including keyboardist Harold Faltermeyer. “Call Me” may be credited to Blondie, but it’s really a collaboration between Moroder and Harry. (The rest of the band can be heard shouting backing vocals during the chorus.)

Call me, my love,
Call me, call me in a sweet design.

Nonetheless, “Call Me” remains Blondie’s biggest hit. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1980—where it stayed for six weeks.

Blondie’s own disco hit “Heart Of Glass” feels like a connective thread to Moroder. He helped pioneer Euro disco in the 1970s and transformed pop music with a combination of space-age synths and electronic beats that were at once dynamic and coolly detached.

And that last bit is also an apt description of Harry on “Call Me”: dynamic and coolly detached.

Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images