"Calling" is a song by British singer-songwriter, Geri Halliwell. It was released as the third and final single from Halliwell's second albumScream if You Wanna Go Faster. Just like Halliwell's previous single, "Scream If You Wanna Go Faster", the success for the song was limited. In certain regions, the song was released in a French version, called "Au nom de l'amour". The song was praised for both lyrics and production. To promote the single, Halliwell performed the song on Top of the Pops, Top of the Pops Germany, , Children in Need 2001, Blue Peter, This Morning and the Pepsi Chart.
Background
"Calling" was Halliwell's favourite song on Scream If You Wanna Go Faster. After she recorded a demo version of the song, she rushed over to singer and personal friend George Michael's house in London and played it to him. She commented that Michael would only offer praise if he really thought it was deserved. As he was "brutally honest" and it could be hard to take, she was so confident about this song that she was willing to risk it. When the song ended, he said, "You know what, Geri, that's very good". According to Halliwell, "from George Michael that means something. I really believed I had a winner".
Chart performance
"Calling" debuted and peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart when released on 26 November 2001 with 28,000 copies sold in its first week, lasting ten weeks on the chart. Altogether, the single sold 70,515 copies and it became the 192nd best selling single of 2001 in the United Kingdom. However, the performance of the single did little to help the sales of Scream If You Wanna Go Faster, as it was poorly promoted. In her autobiography "Just For The Record", Halliwell revealed that the chart position upset her as "Calling" was her favourite song from the album, and she was certain that it was a sure-fire number one. Due to her disappointment with the chart position of the single, no further singles were released from Scream If You Wanna Go Faster and Halliwell moved to Los Angeles, California for several months and took a break from the music industry. In most other European countries, its charting success was also rather limited, reaching only the top ten or top twenty in most countries and peaking at #37 in Ireland and at #48 in Germany.
Music video
The black and whitemusic video was directed by Pierluca DeCario. It shows Geri, dressed with a black sweater and barefoot, singing the song while lying in a meadow and standing and walking in front of concrete walls.
Formats and track listings
These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Calling". UK & Europe CD1
