A bit of quick maneuvering through this story will get you access to some classic and unheard material from one of the more underrated bands of the '80s: The Call.

Famously championed by Peter Gabriel as "the future of American music" (and featured with Simple Minds' Jim Kerr on the single "Everywhere I Go"), The Call (chiefly comprised of frontman Michael Been, guitarist Tom Ferrier, keyboardist Jim Goodwin and drummer Scott Musick) were best known for the modern rock favorites "I Still Believe (Great Design)" - famously covered by statuesque saxophonist Tim Cappello in the 1987 horror-comedy The Lost Boys - and "Let the Day Begin," a Billboard Mainstream Rock chart-topper later utilized by Al Gore as the theme to his presidential campaign in 2000. Their bold, introspective rock style existed on a continuum similar to European acts like U2, Simple Minds, Big Country and The Alarm, although their profile was never quite as large as those groups due in part to their disbandment in 2000 and the subsequent passing of Been in 2010. (The surviving trio have since occasionally reunited with guest vocalists, including Been's son Robert, the frontman for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.)

Ferrier, Goodwin and Musick opted to write one more chapter for the group in 2022, after a series of behind-the-scenes events seemed poised to raise awareness of The Call. "I Still Believe," complete with a cameo by Cappello, was prominently featured in the second season finale of the acclaimed dramedy Reservation Dogs - featuring an almost entirely Indigenous North American cast and crew filming in Been and Musick's home state of Oklahoma - and Simple Minds covered "The Walls Came Down" to close their album Direction of the Heart. Shortly thereafter, the group remastered their fourth and fifth albums Reconciled (1986) and Into the Woods (1987) with engineer Levi Seitz (having regained U.S. copyright of the albums from Warner Music Group) and, crucially, uncovered a trove of unreleased live and studio recordings, all featuring completed vocals from Been. The studio material was finessed and finished by the band to create The Lost Tapes, their first album since 1997, and two live sets from 1983 and 1989 will also be prepped for release.

Lead single "Welcome to My World" was delivered digitally in January, but it appears that physical copies of The Lost Tapes - as well as a double reissue of Reconciled and Into the Woods (on two CD or two 180-gram clear LPs) and the two live sets - will only be available to fans via Kickstarter. The campaign wraps up this week (its financial goals happily met), but if you've missed the opportunity or are interested to get further into one of the great unsung groups of the '80s, this is your chance. Follow the link to get your copies and check out the track list for everything below.

The Lost Tapes (Triple Pop, 2024)

1. Welcome to My World
2. Only Love
3. Beaten At Your Own Game
4. I'm Yours
5. Right Between the Eyes
6. Can't Find Love
7. Amazed by You
8. A Beautiful Lie
9. Christine
10. Time in a Beer Bottle
11. What a Ride

Reconciled / Into the Woods (Triple Pop, 2024)

CD/LP 1 (released as Elektra 60440, 1986)

1. Everywhere I Go
2. I Still Believe (Great Design)
3. Blood Red (America)
4. The Morning
5. Oklahoma
6. With or Without Reason
7. Sanctuary
8. Tore the Old Place Down
9. Even Now
10. Everywhere I Go (Extended Remix) (CD/digital bonus track - released as Elektra U.K. 12" EKR 40T, 1986

CD/LP 2 (released as Elektra 60739, 1987)

1. I Don't Wanna
2. In the River
3. It Could Have Been Me
4. The Woods
5. Day or Night
6. Memory
7. Too Many Tears
8. Expecting
9. Walk Walk

Violent Times: Live in New York (Triple Pop, 2024)

1. Heavy Hand
2. Tremble
3. War Weary World
4. All About You
5. Turn a Blind Eye
6. Scene Beyond Dreams
7. Modern Romans
8. Who's That Man
9. Back from the Front
10. The Walls Came Down
11. There's a Heart Here
12. Destination

All tracks recorded live at My Father's Place, Roslyn, NY - 5/15/1983

Live in Boston (Triple Pop, 2024)

1. Surrender
2. Oklahoma
3. I Don't Wanna
4. For Love
5. You Run
6. Jealousy
7. Same Ol Story
8. Into the Woods
9. Closer
10. Communication
11. I Still Believe
12. Let the Day Begin
13. Memory
14. Everywhere I Go
15. The River
16. The Morning
17. The Walls Came Down
18. Uncovered

All tracks recorded live at Berklee Performance Center, Boston, MA - 9/9/1989