"Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen, Sunday, September 26, 2021
I THREW A WISH IN THE WELL. In 2011, Carly Rae Jepsen was a folk singer, who had charted modestly on Canadian radio. When she wasn't making music or playing shows in Canada, she was waiting tables. She was recording an EP to follow up her debut studio album Tug of War, penning "Call Me Maybe" with Travish Crowe as a folk tune. But producer Josh Ramsay, lead singer of the pop punk group Marianas Trench, turned the song about teenage love into the powerhouse pop track it is today. In March of 2012, Jepsen released a music video for the song. The video featured Jepsen lusting after the boy next door, played by actor Holden Norwell as he takes off his shirt and mows the lawn. Later in the video, she provocatively washes her car in order to catch his attention as he tinkers under the hood of his car. The video's twist at the end, that the hunk is interested in one of the male bandmates--Travish Crowe (the writer of the song), is perhaps the reason that the video became so popular. It was a funny, awkward situation for all involved, including actor Holden Norwell, who revealed in an interview with iHeartRadio Canada that the scene originally called for him to kiss Crowe, but Norwell didn't feel comfortable with that scene. Passing his phone number fit quite well with the song, though. Many have criticized the actor who spoke out about "being forced into the role," as Norwell says that he regrets playing the gay character in the music video because he is often mistaken for a gay man in real life.
HOT NIGHT, WIND WAS BLOWIN' In 2020, Carly Rae Jepsen released a video called "Me and the Boys in the Band." The song talks about missing the touring life and spending time on the road with her bandmates. The song also serves as a reminder that solo artists are more than one person behind the production. "Call Me Maybe" may not be a band-heavy track. Casual listeners may miss the lead guitar. The ear may only hear the disco strings--played on the keyboard. Solo singers can go into the studio had never meet the musicians making their backing music. In some cases, all of the music could be taken as samples from music recorded in any time period. But Carly Rae Jepsen is quick to show her bandmates in her videos, including her most famous song "Call Me Maybe." Earlier this year, when I wrote about "Run Away with Me" from her follow up Emotion, we see footage of Jepsen hanging out with her bandmates as they tour the world. When I was growing up, my rock-band-loving friends and I scoffed at backup bands. When you're young and the rock bands were still viable, it seemed like the height of any musician is to be in a band like Creed, even just a drummer who has a small role in a music video. But as I grew up and learned more about the music industry and found out how very few touring band-bands (as opposed to bands that tour in support of an artist like Carly Rae Jepsen) make any money. When you're a teenager, there's something romantic about sleeping on the floor, eating TacoBell for every meal, and waiting for that big break with a big record executive at your show only to undersell your record because kids don't like rock music anymore. Maybe the solution was more about listening to your music teacher, practicing scales while sitting down, training your ear with covers, playing the gigs, and getting a job with a studio. I digress. I rest my case that "Call Me Maybe" is a worthy song of the day.
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