She May Call You Up Tonight

This week the genre is baroque proto-power pop and the song is "She May Call You Up Tonight" by The Left Banke, Great melodies by Michael Brown, a killer chorus, velvet vocals by Steve Martin Caro ... but what's it all about?! A band called California Spectrum produced a faithful cover in '68 and added some cool fuzz ... but why does the singer sound like they're 12?! Who cares, it's garage! Canadian ICON Anne Murray tried her voice out on the song, which got retitled "He May Call." A sweet but sensible performance, with a crazy, period-apropo brass section and some woody woodblock - this one's as wacky as Anne gets!  Ex-Fairport Conventioneer Ian Matthews made the song into the powerpop gem it was meant to be in the bleak year of 1980. And finally, Linda Thompson stripped the song back in the early 80s, making it folky and campfire smoky. Come back, Anne!!!!!