It isn’t often that a song is so successful that the artist decides to never perform it live. But that’s exactly what Swedish DJ and producer Eric Prydz has done with his biggest dance single.
This month mark’s the 20th anniversary of the release of Prydz’s monster hit “Call On Me,” which famously sampled Steve Winwood’s 1982 single “Valerie.”
Winwood was apparently so impressed when he heard Prydz’s version that he re-recorded the sampled lyrics, which solely consist of the lines “call on me” and “I’m the same boy I used to be,” repeated on a loop throughout.
You’ve probably danced to it at a bar, circuit party, or your cousin’s wedding.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Take a listen and refresh your memory:
Released in September 2004, “Call On Me” reached the top of the singles charts in the UK, France, Germany, and Ireland, among other countries. In the US, it was a staple inside clubs, but only made it to the top 30 of Billboard Dance Charts..
However, the song’s visually titillating music video was a sensation in its own right.
Set inside a workout class, the clip features a group of female dancers decked out in ’80s-inspired aerobics outfits performing a series of suggestive and over-the-top moves.
There is one lone man in the class, played by hunky Argentine Fuller House star Juan Pablo Di Pace in one of his earliest roles, who appears to be turned on by all the deep lady thrusts and booty posturing going around him, despite being all dolled up in a crop top, short shorts and leg warmers himself.
Watch and werk!
The clip ends on a romantic note as the dude and the instructor (Deanne Berry) embrace at the culmination of the fitness class. However, there is a plot twist since Di Pace came out as gay in real life back in 2019. The short shorts don’t lie!
The entire music video, with its awkward gyrations and retro fashion sense, was inspired by the so-bad-it’s-good 1985 Jamie Lee Curtis and John Travolta film Perfect. Which is everything but!
The “Call On Me” video was bold and brash and polarizing. Wildly popular, it became one of the most downloaded music videos at the time and spawned multiple sequels of sorts.
First, the main cast reunited to record a full-length workout video entitled Pump It Up – The Ultimate Dance Workout.
Jane Fonda and Richard Simmons are shook!
Then in 2006, Di Pace and Berry joined forces again in the music video for The Hughes Corporation’s house remix of Irene Cara’s 1983 hit “Flashdance… What a Feeling.”
In the clip, the duo pick up right from the end of the “Call on Me” workout class and transform their cheesy Euro pop energy into a Dancing With the Stars-like remake of the Jennifer Beals classic film.
What a feeling, indeed!
Despite its viral fame and spinoffs, “Call On Me” also has its haters.
In 2011, NME gave it the dubious honor of being number five on its list of the “50 Worst Music Videos Ever.” The music publication said the clip “had a lowest common denominator vibe to it.”
If it’s any consolation, it did fare better than Lady Gaga‘s “Judas,” which landed #4 on the list. So it’s in pretty iconic company.
But perhaps the biggest diss to “Call On Me” is that Prydz hasn’t performed it live since 2005. While the Grammy-nominated musician swears he’s not embarrassed by the song, it appears it doesn’t gel with his sound now.
“This was just some side project that I did. It took me a half an hour to make, just a fun thing on the side,” Prydz told Zane Lowe in 2016. “I already had my path with my labels and Pryda [an alias of his] and the whole progressive house underground stuff and the techno with CirezD [another alias] that I was doing.”
Prydz may not be nostalgic for the chaotic high jinks of “Call On Me,” but Di Pace, who recently starred in the queer comedy-drama The Mattachine Family, has never shied away from his involvement in the cheeky video.
In fact, he couldn’t have been happier when his scenes from the video were used for a mash-up with Madonna‘s 2005 dance opus “Hung Up.”
“My fantasy of being in a @madonna music video has been fulfilled!” he jokingly captioned the clip upon sharing it to Instagram in 2020.
“Call On Me” and the Queen of Pop together? Now that’s a true test of any song and video’s legacy!
