10 Musicians Who Turned Down Iconic Songs

10. Call Me - Blondie

Depending on what stripe of music fan you ask, the beginnings of Blondie's disco phase normally signal the beginning of the end. These guys used to be the kings of the punk scene, and songs like Call Me and Heart of Glass were two of the first times where the heresy started to happen, taking the act that lit up CBGBs and turning them into glamour pinups. If Call Me went with its original plan though, chances are Blondie might have still been playing those club gigs these days.

Before Debbie Harry had had her turn singing the track, the original plan was to offer the song to Stevie Nicks, who was already branching off out of the confines of Fleetwood Mac. Then again, it makes sense why Nicks may have wanted to pass on this kind of song, thinking it might have been too much of a sellout coming off of albums like Rumours and Tusk while also wanting to work with the likes of Tom Petty on songs like Stop Draggin My Heart Around.

As far as sell out material goes though, Call Me fits perfectly with Harry's style, putting a more glamorous sheen on everything and making that disco bassline actually feel more badass than it normally warrants. Disco might have been the reason why things went wrong for rock and roll, but change is never a bad thing if you still stay true to yourself.