Michael Been of The Call dead at 60
Sad news today friends. Michael Been lead singer and bass player of the band The Call died of a heart attack in Belgium. Easily one of the best bands of the 1980s, a decade that has no shortage of great bands, The Call never achieved the chart success that they deserved, but the fans are rabid. How many other bands had Bono of U2, Peter Gabriel, Jim Kerr of Simple Minds, and Robbie Robertson of The Band back them up on one album? Check out the Yahoo group, and the official The Call page. Been’s son is the bassist for the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
One of the best concerts I ever attended was in the Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Everyone was dressed in black. Everyone was dressed up. Or at least dressed for a concert, like a black t-shirt and black jeans. No street clothes like people wear to concerts now. The Call were two hours late. Inside, they had these little two person tables set up edge to edge parallel to the stage, with half the people’s backs to the stage. When the band came out everyone stood on chairs and the tables. I never did see the band. But they sounded great. I did get a glimpse of one member of the band through the crowd when I went to the restroom. (I also learned it was good to sit by the women’s restroom, as all night long a parade of babes in black miniskirts and hose came by my table.) The next time I saw them in Wichita, KS, I had my shins rubbing the stage all night. Been shook my hand before he left the stage. He was only 60, and will be missed by his family and friends. It’s a little hard to see, but in the bottom picture I’m wearing a white Call sweatshirt that has the cover of the Reconciled album.
