Calling
| Calling | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by B'z | ||||
| from the album SURVIVE | ||||
| Released | July 9, 1997 | |||
| Promotions | #1 (Garasu No Kamen Theme) | |||
| Length | 12:01 | |||
| Label | Rooms Records | |||
| Producer | Tak Matsumoto | |||
| B'z singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Calling is the twenty-second single by B'z, released on July 9, 1997. Unquestionably one of the band's foremost ballads, the title song has been performed over 150 times with key appearances during numerous LIVE-GYM concerts, including those for Brotherhood, BIG MACHINE, and as the closer during C'mon. Addtionally, the song is one of the relatively few B'z songs premiered live and was played throughout B'z LIVE-GYM Pleasure'97 "FIREBALL". This version featured Tak playing piano for the first half of the song as Koshi delivered a standard ballad before the former switched to his electric guitar for the heavy finale. This performance was later captured in 2008 on B'z LIVE-GYM Hidden Pleasure ~Typhoon No.20~. Another especially memorable live performance took place during the second North American tour B'z LIVE-GYM 2011 -long time no see- in which the crowd was invited to help lead into the song. A few months following its initial release, the title song would appear as the closing track on the band's ninth studio album SURVIVE. It has subsequently been collected four times on compilation albums: B'z The Best "Pleasure", The Ballads ~Love & B'z~, B'z The Best "ULTRA Pleasure", and B'z The Best XXV 1988-1998.
The recording for "Calling" took quite some time for the band to get right. In fact, it was noted in Be With! issues from the era that production on the song was so arduous and taxing that it spanned the entire recording session for SURVIVE—it was the first song attempted during recording and the last to be mastered. Ultimately, this process took seven months in all. At its core, it is a song divided, presenting itself as a ballad but bookended by a hard rock riff and numerous guitar solos. The arrangement in particular did not come easily. Four arrangers—Tak, Koshi, Daisuke Ikeda, and Akihito Tokunaga—are credited with the arrangement, marking the first time this was the case with one of the band's songs. While no additional versions have since surfaced on a single or album, a special piano revision was used as the Ending SE to Pleasure'97 "FIREBALL", the tour during which it was premiered live.
While "GIMME YOUR LOVE" began as merely an album song on the 1990 studio album RISKY, it lives on as a very popular live choice for the band after having found its way into over 250 individual shows. After being included during almost every date on 2008's ACTION tour, the song was paired with "Ai no Bakudan" at the very end of B'z LIVE-GYM 2015 -EPIC NIGHT-.
The music video for the single, presented mostly in monochrome and later muted tones, features the band performing in the rain with Tak playing piano as Koshi sings atop it. Tak is also shown playing violin amidst an orchestra as well. Due to the heavy rain effected for the video, a less valuable instrument similar to Tak's common Gibson Les Paul Goldtop was used. The video itself was directed by Ten Shinomiya, who also directed the promotional footage for "FIREBALL". The single was also performed on television on three occasions in 1997: twice on Music Station and once on CDTV.
At release, "Calling" moved over 500,000 copies and debuted at number one on the Weekly Oricon Singles charts. It was the sixteenth highest seller of all of 1997, taking second for all of July 1997 and tenth for August. After spending 17 weeks on the charts, the sales of the ballad ultimately reached over 1,000,000, giving the song a Million certification by the Recording Industry Association of Japan.
Track listing
All music and guitar by Tak Matsumoto. All lyrics and lead vocals by Koshi Inaba.
- Calling
- File:s22 01.ogg One of the band's most popular ballads, "Calling" has carved out a space essentially all its own as it exists as a ballad and hard power ballad at different measures. When debuted during LIVE-GYM Pleasure'97 "FIREBALL", the band were still several months from locking the final arrangement and mix. After seven months of work, they were finally content with the work and answered mass fan demand that it be released as a single. In its original live incarnation, the harder rock elements were not present—certainly for the opening, which was played on piano by Tak at the time. The essential foundation of the song was actually written by Tak for the wedding of a good friend in America. Later, he introduced the tune to Koshi and asked if he could think of lyrics to match. Koshi later said, "For the first time in a while, I felt invigorated and excited to start on the lyrics." While a perennial hit amongst fans of all eras, the song is now only revived for special occasions, such as serving in highlight slots during both B'z LIVE-GYM 2011 -long time no see- in North America and as the closer during B'z LIVE-GYM 2011 -C'mon-.
- Gimme your love(Live at Tokyo Dome)
- File:s22 02.ogg The only live recording released in the B'z catalogue, "Gimme your love(Live at Tokyo Dome)" is a live version of the RISKY album song recorded during B'z LIVE-GYM Pleasure'97 "FIREBALL"—named for the then-recent single. It is also the longest B-side in the B'z discography and begins as SURVIVE album track "Do me" ends and contains a brief snippet of "BLOWIN'" at the end. The idea for using a live recording as a B-side was thought to be an interesting prospect, and ultimately was decided to be "GIMME YOUR LOVE" from the recent tour due to the band being especially pleased with the quality of the performance and especially the balloon robots designed in Tak and Koshi's images. Unlike many live albums produced by other artists, the crowd has been almost entirely muted to allow listeners to take in the full live performance as it occurred on stage. Notably, when questioned as to why the Tokyo Dome performance was chosen over the other venues, Koshi said he felt some of the others were a little too noisy for comfortable home listens. Naturally, the promotional video aired on televsion contained matching footage. This version would go unreleased on home video, but in 2008, a performance from another date at Tokyo Dome was utilized for LIVE-GYM compilation set B'z LIVE-GYM Hidden Pleasure ~Typhoon No.20~. So memorable was this rendition of the song that it would later be recreated for The Final Pleasure "IT'S SHOWTIME!!" in 2003, which was shortly thereafter captured on a matching home video.
Reversion history
| Original Song | Reversion History |
|---|---|
| Calling SINGLE & ALBUM SONG (1997)
|
UNRELEASED: Calling [Piano Version] (1997) |
| GIMME YOUR LOVE -Fukutsu no LOVE DRIVER- ALBUM SONG (1990)
|
KARAOKE: GIMME YOUR LOVE [Karaoke Version] (2007) |
Live appearances
Live Performances
- Calling [159 SHOWS]
B'z LIVE-GYM Pleasure'97 "FIREBALL" [9/9 SHOWS]- B'z SHOWCASE "GO! GO! HEAVEN" [1/1 SHOWS]
- B'z LIVE-GYM '98 "SURVIVE" [49/49 SHOWS]
- B'z LIVE-GYM '99 "Brotherhood" [24/24 SHOWS]
- B'z LIVE-GYM in Taipei & Hong Kong 2001 [4/4 SHOWS]
- B'z LIVE-GYM 2001 "ELEVEN" -Extra- [3/46 SHOWS]
- 2002 FIFA World Cup International Day Concert [1/1 SHOWS]
- B'z LIVE-GYM 2002 "GREEN ~GO★FIGHT★WIN~" [3/18 SHOWS]
- B'z LIVE-GYM 2002 "Rock n' California Roll" [3/3 SHOWS]
- B'z SHOWCASE 2003 "BIG MACHINE" [1/1 SHOWS]
- B'z LIVE-GYM 2003 "BIG MACHINE" [12/12 SHOWS]
- B'z SHOWCASE 2009 -B'z In Your Town- [8/8 SHOWS]
- SUMMER SONIC 09 [2/2 SHOWS]
- B'z LIVE-GYM 2011 -long time no see- [3/3 SHOWS]
- B'z LIVE-GYM 2011 -C'mon- [26/26 SHOWS]
- B'z SHOWCASE 2015 -Shinagawa Uchouten NIGHT- [1/1 SHOWS]
- TV Asahi Dream Festival 2015 [1/1 SHOWS]
- B'z SHOWCASE 2018 -The Wall Of Rock- [1/1 SHOWS]
- B'z LIVE-GYM Pleasure 2018 -HINOTORI- [6/23 SHOWS]
- B'z SHOWCASE 2020 -5 ERAS 8820- [1/5 SHOWS]
- GIMME YOUR LOVE -Fukutsu no LOVE DRIVER- [268 SHOWS]
- B'z LIVE-GYM '90~'91 "RISKY" [49/49 SHOWS]
- B'z LIVE-GYM '91~'92 "IN THE LIFE" [66/66 SHOWS]
- B'z LIVE-GYM Pleasure'93 "JAP THE RIPPER" [2/2 SHOWS]
- B'z LIVE-GYM '94 "THE 9TH BLUES -Part2-" [32/32 SHOWS]
- B'z LIVE-GYM '96 "Spirit LOOSE" [44/44 SHOWS]
- B'z LIVE-GYM Pleasure'97 "FIREBALL" [9/9 SHOWS]
- B'z SHOWCASE 2003 "IT'S SHOWCASE!!" [1/1 SHOWS]
- B'z LIVE-GYM The Final Pleasure "IT'S SHOWTIME!!" [22/23 SHOWS]
- B'z LIVE-GYM 2008 "ACTION" [42/53 SHOWS]
- B'z SHOWCASE 2020 -5 ERAS 8820- [1/5 SHOWS]
Home Videos
Sales data
| No. | Cover | Single | Physical Copies Sold | Chart Positions | Certification | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FIRST WEEK | LIFETIME | WEEK | MONTH | YEAR | ||||
| 22 | 
|
Calling |
506,100+ |
1,000,020+ |
1 |
1 |
16 |
Million |
Personnel
B'z
- Tak Matsumoto: Guitar, Music Composition, Arrangement
- Koshi Inaba: Vocals, Lyric Composition, Arrangement
Support Members
- Akihito Tokunaga: Bass (Track 1), Arrangement (Track 1)
- Jun Aoyama: Drums (Track 1)
- Hideo Yamaki: Drums (Track 1)
- Denny Fongheiser: Drums (Track 2)
- Masao Akashi: Bass
- Akira Onozuka: Piano (Track 1)
- Takanobu Masuda: Keyboards (Track 2)
- Shinozaki Strings: Strings (Track 1)
Production
- Daisuke Ikeda: Arrangement (Track 1)