Song: Call on Me
Artist: Eric Prydz
Original artist: Stevie Winwood (under the title Valerie)
To say that the 2004 song Call on Me is co-written and produced by Swedish DJ and
producer Eric Prydz is a bit of a stretch for me. Produced? Yes, but co-written, not so
sure.
Call on Me is so heavily sampled from the Stevie Winwood song, Valerie, it is difficult to
spot much co-writing going on.
But, let’s not be churlish here. Prydz’s version is such a good up-beat version of the
Winwood number that even Stevie himself liked the re-working to the extent he re-
recorded the vocals to better fit the dance track.
Winwood is quoted as saying: “It’s not exactly my cup of tea but, I liked what he did
technically with it which is why I agreed to work with him on it.”
Call on Me is probably best remembered for the video that accompanied it, which was
recorded in a dance studio in Deptford, south-east London. I hope it is not over-stating
things when I say it borders on the erotic. At the time of its launch, it became the most
downloaded music video in Australia.
You wouldn’t win many awards for remembering the lyrics of the Prydz version which
topped the charts in the UK. Just repeat ‘Call on Me’ several times with ‘I’m the Same
Boy I Used to be’ as a refrain.
That’s surely one of the most lyrics-starved tunes to ever become a UK No 1. The same
cannot be said for Stevie Winwood’s Valerie. Plenty of good lyrics here.
Mystery surrounds the identity of the original Valerie. Neither Winwood nor co-writer Will
Jennings is letting on.
When released in 1982 the song only reached No 51 in the UK and No 70 in the US. Six
years later a re-mixed version hit No 19 in the UK and No 9 in the US.
There are a few songs with Valerie as the title (see elsewhere is this blog for the Amy
Winehouse unconnected track), but this remains a personal favourite.
