Michael Been, former leader of The Call, passed away yesterday. The cause of death was a heart attack. This one really sideswiped me, as I actually met the man on a couple of occasions back in the early 90s. To be honest, he was a lot more focused on impressing a couple of women at the venue than socializing with the opening band. We'd been invited specifically to open for his band in Tulsa and the Norman the following night. The gig was canceled, as we learned about 3/4's of the way to Tulsa, because Been wasn't feeling well. We went ahead and finished the trip and showed up at the hotel they were staying at. We saw him coming out of the elevator but he didn't look too sick to me. We all just figured the ticket sales didn't meet expectations, because they insisted the Norman show would come off as planned (which it did). The drummer of our band, a friend of mine, had written all the lyrics from our band's album (though I wasn't with them at the time) and somehow Been had gotten hold of a copy. Apparently he was bowled over by them (they are pretty damn good) and wanted to do some sort of collaboration. I think he was going to put together a band (not sure whether he was going to be in it or not) and write a bunch of music for my friend to add lyrics to. For whatever reason it did not pan out, but we did play the show in Norman with them (a fiasco in it's own right, but that's a story to be told another day). Here's the blurb from CNN:
Michael Been of the 1980s alt-rock band The Call -- and father of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Robert Been -- died Thursday. He was 60.
The elder Been was on tour in Belgium as the sound engineer for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club when he died of a heart attack backstage, said publicist Juliana Plotkin.
The Call had several hits in the early 80s, including "The Walls Came Down" and "Let the Day Begin," and earned many notable musicians as fans along the way.
Among them were Bono and Peter Gabriel, both of whom contributed to The Call's albums.
In later years, Been played a key role in Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, said Plotkin -- who represents the band.
"Often referenced as their fourth member, Been spent countless hours in the studio acting in many roles from mentor and guide," she said.
Not a lot there, I know. And they failed to mention "I Still Believe", which may well have been the Call's biggest hit.
No comments:
Post a Comment