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The Call
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Artist · chart history

The Call

Band Santa Cruz Active 1980–2000 From California, USA.

The Call formed in 1980 in Santa Cruz and was active until 2000. The Call has 100 chart appearances on 46 radio countdowns from 13 stations on RockLists, spanning 1986–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “The Walls Came Down”, which appears on 32 lists with a best position of #106. The station that charted The Call most often is CD101 (Columbus, OH), with 56 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1989.

100appearances
46countdowns
11songs charted
13stations
0#1 finishes
1986–2026years

The Call came out of Santa Cruz, California, in 1980, a band with the dark, driving urgency of post-punk that got filed under new wave and Christian rock as well. Michael Been sang lead and played guitar, Tom Ferrier played guitar, Jim Goodwin played keyboards, Scott Musick played drums, and Greg Freeman was on bass. Been's voice is the thing: a big, grave voice that sounds as if it's delivering news you'd better not ignore.

Modern Romans, on MCA in 1983, carried "The Walls Came Down", a thundering rocker with keyboards swirling around a pounding beat, and it set the tone. Reconciled followed in 1986 with "Everywhere I Go" and "I Still Believe (Great Design)", a slow-building anthem, and Into the Woods in 1987 brought "I Don't Wanna" and "In the River".

The breakthrough came with the title song of Let the Day Begin in 1989, a stirring, gospel-tinged rallying cry that reached number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and was later picked as a theme song for Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign. "You Run" came off the same record.

The Call made 9 studio albums in all over 2 decades before calling it quits in 2000.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

Songs by The Call on radio countdowns

#SongStrengthListsBest#1sPeak year
1 The Walls Came Down
1,532		 32 #106 – –
2 Let The Day Begin
989		 23 #33 – 1989
3 Everywhere I Go
887		 17 #27 – 1986
4 I Still Believe (Great Design)
858		 18 #51 – 1986
5 I Don't Wanna
101		 3 #53 – 1987
6 You Run
69		 2 #1283 – –
7 What Happened to You
46		 1 #50 – 1990
8 In the River
40		 1 #56 – 1987
9 When The Walls Come Down
14		 1 #430 – –
10 The River
13		 1 #93 – 1987
11 When the Walls Came Down
7		 1 #467 – –

Albums with charting songs

Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.

Year-end chart timeline

Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.

86 87 89 90

Every countdown appearance

Year#SongCountdown
2026 283 Let The Day Begin KXT 917 Song Countdown
2025 160 Let The Day Begin The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs
2023 328 Let The Day Begin The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s
2023 551 I Still Believe (Great Design) The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s
2021 771 The Walls Came Down 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s
2014 873 I Still Believe (Great Design) CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)
2014 1277 Everywhere I Go CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)
2014 1405 The Walls Came Down CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)
2014 1467 Let The Day Begin CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)
2013 830 I Still Believe (Great Design) CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)
2013 1280 Everywhere I Go CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)
2013 1350 The Walls Came Down CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)
2013 1492 Let The Day Begin CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)
2011 796 I Still Believe (Great Design) CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)
2011 1217 Everywhere I Go CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)
2011 1293 The Walls Came Down CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)
2011 1515 Let The Day Begin CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)
2010 768 I Still Believe (Great Design) CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)
2010 1238 The Walls Came Down CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)
2010 1241 Everywhere I Go CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)
2010 1449 Let The Day Begin CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)
2009 750 I Still Believe (Great Design) CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)
2009 1203 The Walls Came Down CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)
2009 1351 Everywhere I Go CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)
2009 1422 Let The Day Begin CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)
2008 728 I Still Believe (Great Design) CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2008 1183 The Walls Came Down CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2008 1410 Let The Day Begin CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2008 1412 Everywhere I Go CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2007 783 I Still Believe (Great Design) CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)
2007 1234 The Walls Came Down CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)
2007 1453 Everywhere I Go CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)
2007 1477 Let The Day Begin CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)
2006 351 The Walls Came Down WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006)
2005 354 The Walls Came Down WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005)
2005 815 Everywhere I Go CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)
2005 854 The Walls Came Down CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)
2005 1262 I Still Believe (Great Design) CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)
2005 1346 Let The Day Begin CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)
2005 234 The Walls Came Down 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005)
2004 815 Everywhere I Go CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)
2004 854 The Walls Came Down CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)
2004 1265 I Still Believe (Great Design) CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)
2004 1346 Let The Day Begin CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)
2003 360 The Walls Came Down WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003)
2003 815 Everywhere I Go CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)
2003 854 The Walls Came Down CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)
2003 1264 I Still Believe (Great Design) CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)
2003 1346 Let The Day Begin CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)
2003 152 The Walls Came Down Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003 452 Let The Day Begin Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003 518 Everywhere I Go Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003 758 I Still Believe (Great Design) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003 1372 You Run Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003 1906 I Don't Wanna Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2002 253 The Walls Came Down WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2002)
2002 815 Everywhere I Go CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)
2002 856 The Walls Came Down CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)
2002 1279 I Still Believe (Great Design) CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)
2002 1360 Let The Day Begin CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)
2002 106 The Walls Came Down Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002 453 Let The Day Begin Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002 967 I Don't Wanna Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002 1283 You Run Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002 1315 I Still Believe (Great Design) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2001 246 The Walls Came Down WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2001)
2001 815 Everywhere I Go CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)
2001 856 The Walls Came Down CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)
2001 1280 I Still Believe (Great Design) CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)
2001 1361 Let The Day Begin CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)
2000 245 The Walls Came Down WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2000)
2000 813 Everywhere I Go CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)
2000 854 The Walls Came Down CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)
2000 1279 I Still Believe (Great Design) CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)
2000 1359 Let The Day Begin CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)
1999 321 The Walls Came Down Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 982 Let The Day Begin The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 279 The Walls Came Down WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999)
1999 762 Everywhere I Go CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 803 The Walls Came Down CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 1278 I Still Believe (Great Design) CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 1359 Let The Day Begin CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1998 467 When the Walls Came Down KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998)
1996 430 When The Walls Come Down KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996)
1996 260 The Walls Came Down WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996)
1994 283 The Walls Came Down Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994)
1994 181 The Walls Came Down WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994)
1991 391 The Walls Came Down WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991)
1991 181 Everywhere I Go CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition)
1990 50 What Happened to You 91X Top 91 Songs of 1990
1989 39 Let The Day Begin KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1989
1989 37 Let The Day Begin 91X Top 91 Songs of 1989
1989 33 Let The Day Begin Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1989
1989 400 The Walls Came Down WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989)
1988 301 The Walls Came Down Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988)
1987 53 I Don't Wanna 91X Top 91 Songs of 1987
1987 56 In the River 91X Top 91 Songs of 1987
1987 93 The River Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1987
1986 27 Everywhere I Go 91X Top 91 Songs of 1986
1986 51 I Still Believe (Great Design) 91X Top 91 Songs of 1986

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