Expert: Bong Santos - 8/5/2006

Question
The title of the song is "Call Me" but i dont know the artist, i know
some parts of the chorus and it goes "You can call me (call me..call
me..)baby if you ever change your mind, believe me when i say to you
anytime will be alright...." If you could please tell me who sang this song.
Thank you very much.


Answer
Dear Jack,

If you're an 80's guy, you might easily recognize the voice behind that song. It is CALL ME by former STYX lead vocalist DENNIS DEYOUNG. It was from his 2nd solo project, 1986's BACK TO THE WORLD. Born on February 18, 1947, he formed  the main core of STYX in 1963 with neighbors CHUCK & JOHN PANOZZO: they later added JAMES YOUNG & JOHN CURULEWSKI to form TRADEWINDS. The band was renamed TW4 in 1968 before becoming STYX in 1970. He was the chief songwriter of the group before going solo briefly in 1984 with his debut album DESERT MOON. It generated the hits DESERT MOON (Hot 100, #10,  November 10, 1984) & DON'T WAIT FOR HEROES (Hot 100, #83, December 18, 1984). In 1986, he released BACK TO THE WORLD which contained CALL ME (Hot 100, #54, April 26, 1986) & THIS IS THE TIME (Hot 100, #93, July 5, 1986). STYX reunited from 1990-92, then took a break again. DE YOUNG tried stage acting before reuniting again with the band in 1995. In 1998, he was diagnosed with a chronic fatigue syndrome-type illness. Because of this, he was forced out of the band (just a pretext as band members TOMMY SHAW & JAMES YOUNG really wanted him out in order to focus the band on harder rock music instead of DE YOUNG's favored art-rock pop style). He was last seen in the movie THE PERFECT MAN (2005, stars HILARY DUFF), as lead vocalist of a STYX tribute band. He recently announced he is working on his 1st album since 1988 due for release in 2007.

CALL ME / DENNIS DE YOUNG

Rain began to fall softly
As she gazed around the room
Even now she wondered what went wrong
A letter in her hand trembled
As she placed it by the phone
All at once there were footsteps by the door
She didn't want a confrontation
To tear them apart
She wasn't sure of all the feelings
Racing through her heart

I looked into her eyes
Knowing something wasn't right
And suddenly the tears began to show
Babe, I know that it's wrong
But you know I'm really not that strong
How I wish I could tell you that I am
But before I even read this letter
I want you to stay,
But if I see your mind's made up
There's one thing I've got to say

You can call me
Baby if you ever change your mind
Believe me when I say to you
Anytime will be alright
You can call me
Only seven numbers on the phone
Maybe we can talk things over
You're never that far from home
No, no, no baby you're not alone

Another season
Another change
Two hearts are breaking
With no one to blame
I know the reasons
You want to go
But if you find that you still want me
There's one thing that you know

You can call me
Baby if you ever change your mind
Believe me when I say to you
Anytime will be alright
You can call me
Only seven numbers on the phone
Maybe we can talk things over
You're never that far from home
No, no, no baby you're not alone

Maraming salamat po!

BONG M. SANTOS
Manila, Philippines