The Call’s second album, 1983’s Modern Romans, landed on Billboard’s albums chart and gave the band their first Hot 100 hit with ‘The Walls Came Down,’ which peaked at #74.
This was an urgent, angry and political album, and unfortunately another one not fully available on streaming services. I was able to listen to it by finding the individual songs on YouTube, where they have been uploaded in excellent quality.
The Call’s sound evolved quite a bit over time, and this album finds them in full New Wave mode. Today’s track could have fit easily on a Talking Heads album.
While inspired by the second Cold War and the U.S. invasion of Grenada, this song’s cynical take on geopolitics is just as relevant today.
And the walls came down
They’d all been warned
And the walls came down
They stood there laughing
They’re not laughing anymore
The walls came down
Sanctuary fades, congregation splits
Nightly military raids, the congregation splits
It’s a song of assassins, ringin’ in your ears
We got terrorists thinking, playing on fears
Oh
Well they blew the horns
And the walls came down
They’d all been warned
But the walls came down
I don’t think there are any Russians
And there ain’t no Yanks
Just corporate criminals
Playin’ with tanks
Meet Me In Montauk 
I remember this song.
Odd that this album isn’t on a streaming service.