Michael Been, the bassist and frontman for the band “The Call,” passed away this Thursday from a heart attack. He was 60 and had been working sound for his son’s band “Black Rebel Motorcycle Club” at a pop festival in Belgium.
The Call never quite got over the hump on the way to topping the music charts, but they came out of the same impulse that yielded U2, early Violent Femmes, and other pop groups that were deeply influenced by their faith commitments. Certainly most of them have ended up being prone to the kinds of excesses that plague the entertainment industry (Been aggravated me on a number of occasions), but The Call took their name seriously, introducing explicitly Christian principles to their lyrics as part of their mission. “Everywhere I Go” spoke to Providence. “The Walls Came Tumbling Down” to the power of faith. “I Still Believe” to the enduring optimism that God produces in our lives, no matter the circumstances. Videos for the songs still reside at places like youtube.
For those of us who came of age in the early 80s, these groups gave us an important release for the songs of our hearts. I remember that our local Christian station programmers thought they were edgy because they played Sandi Patty; Amy Grant was too much of a rocker for them. I was one of those who kept wondering, as the late Larry Norman so aptly put it, why should the devil have all the good music? In the energy and authenticity of groups like The Call, I found succor for my spirit and balm for my youthful angst. Like all things that are founded on God’s truth, Been’s music will live on well beyond his own life in this world. Praises for the glory of God always do.
August 21st, 2010 | 5:13 pm | #1
The Call; The Violet Burning; The Choir; Iona; the early King’s X. These were (and still are) the bands which still mean “Christian Rock” to me.
This guy was such a great singer as well as bassist, and inspired others. For a real treat, listen to Russ Taff’s cover of “I Still Believe”; Bono of U2 appears in a big way on the Call’s “What’s Happened to You”; the Call covered Mark Heard’s “We Know Too Much” as a blazing rocker (and improved the song by doing so). And, of course, listen to the Call’s “Greatest Hits” CD. This is what Christian music could have sounded like.
R.I.P.
August 21st, 2010 | 8:32 pm | #2
I was a big fan of his song To Feel This Way. Played it over and over. Great stuff.
August 23rd, 2010 | 3:02 am | #3
Sad to hear of Been’s death. I have every album, mostly on cassette, down to the breakup. Michael Been had one of the greatest of the manly rock voices, passionate even in the low notes and the grumbles. And though a lot of The Call’s music sounds way-too-80s and new-wavey, I thought they really reinvented themselves with a more timeless sound on Red Moon. A unique sound that Peter Gabriel once called “the future of American music” has passed.
August 23rd, 2010 | 4:36 pm | #4
I never knew that the Violent Femmes were Christian in any way. Can you say more about them? I like their sound, but the content of theirs with which I’m familiar seems pretty un-Christian.
August 24th, 2010 | 8:53 pm | #5
Sad to hear. Too young. 60 is not old. Bands like The Call always struck me as way more authentic, musically and spiritually than the shallow, sound-like stuff cranked out of Nashville by the CCM establishment. I think of Mark Heard too. His music still inspires me. I’m sure Michael Been’s will continue to also.
August 26th, 2010 | 12:33 pm | #6
- A PRAYER FROM JESUS -
This prayer is from Jesus that we may here from Him, that He may meet our needs. It only consist of three simple steps.
1) We need to read one scripture. This will focus us in the word that brings everlasting life.
2) Since this prayer is from Jesus we need yo direct our prayer to Him personally. Too often Christian focus they’re prayer’s to G_D the father. Scripture proclaims that Jesus should be the focus of our prayer.
3) The simplest part of this Prayer is to ask Jesus one question. Please, all that is required for this question is to make it simple. Let Jesus Himself finish the question when He gives you that understanding through prayer.
The PRAYER
The scripture that is the focus of this prayer is “ACTS 2:38″. It’s not necessary to do any study into this scripture. Jesus Himself willl bestow the understanding that will resonate in your heart.
The most important part of this prayer is that we need to direct our prayer directly to Jesus. If you normally would say Father in your prayer, change your focus from the Father to Christ Jesus by lifting Jesus name up every time you would normally use Father in your prayer.
Maybe the hardest part of this prayer is the question that we need to ask Jesus. For man as we are, always try to understand the question and may add many additional quires. The simplest question is all that is required.
Simply ask Jesus ‘WHY’
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