Songfacts®:

• "Call On Me" by the Swedish DJ Eric Prydz is a techno reworking of the 1982 song "Valerie" by Steve Winwood. The first version of Prydz' track sampled the original recording, but when he was asked to approve the sample, Winwood offered to re-sing the vocals to fit the track better.
• "Call On Me" was a huge hit across Europe, topping the charts in Germany, Ireland, France, the UK, Austria and Sweden. Winwood's contribution made him the only person to sing lead vocals on a UK #1 single in both the 1960s ("Keep On Running" by the Spencer Davis Group) and the 2000s.
• Eric Prydz began to make music at the age of 9 in Stockholm, Sweden. After developing a nasty habit of breaking and entering in order to "borrow" his school's keyboards, he soon landed himself in a Swedish reform school. Nevertheless, this setback merely strengthened his resolve and, buoyed by encouragement from influential friends in the music business, Prydz was soon producing tracks that found their way into the record boxes of some of the world's most high profile DJs. This was his first hit single in the UK.
• The video shows semi-clothed women doing raunchy aerobics. It was in heavy rotation on the music channels in the UK.
• "Call On Me" was #1 in the UK for three weeks before it was knocked off by Robbie Williams' "Radio." A week later, Williams was knocked off the top spot when "Call On Me" climbed back on top.
• After about a year, Eric Prydz stop playing "Call On Me" at his shows. He didn't revisit the song until March 15, 2025, when he stunned fans in Austin, Texas, by dropping it mid-set during his "20 Years of Pryda" anniversary show. The moment unfolded as he first teased Steve Winwood's "Valerie" before launching into "Call On Me," prompting an eruption from the crowd. Clips of the unexpected moment quickly spread across social media and music press.
  
  In an interview with Billboard, Prydz explained that he'd deliberately kept the track out of his sets for years, distancing himself from its pop-chart legacy. "I was just flicking through my SD card looking for music and I saw a special edit of the track I have," he said. "I turned around to my tour manager like, 'Stefan, should I play 'Call on Me'?' It was almost like a joke… I was as shocked as everyone else."
  
  He played it again four months later during his "On The Beach 2025" event in Brighton, England.