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Lyrics: Jenny, Jenny, who can I turn to? Jenny, I got your number
867-5309 Jenny, Jenny, you’re the girl for me Jenny, I got your number 867-5309 I got it, (I got it), I got it Jenny, don’t change your number 867-5309 Jenny, Jenny, who can I turn to? 
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In 1981, if you weren’t dialing 867-5309 just to see if Jenny answered, clearly, you didn’t have a sense of humor. When I was in junior high, we used to randomly dial area codes followed by the digits from this song, and every so often, we’d find someone who had this famous, though quite unfortunate, phone number. I also learned that people with this phone number didn’t think we were very funny. And sometimes, they knew some really bad words. Lots of them. Unfortunately, I never did find Jenny.¹ Before we plumb the depths of the song’s origin, we first need to clear up one very common misconception. Tommy Tutone isn’t a person; it’s the name of the band. Similar to how I once had to explain to a college freshman girl that Molly Hatchet was not, in fact, a woman, Tommy Tutone is not, in fact, a dude. Originally, the band was known as Tommy and the Tutones, and eventually shortened the name to Tommy Tutone. Now that we have the nomenclature settled, let’s talk about the song’s impetus. Guitarist Jim Keller has said that contrary to popular opinion, the real-life Jenny was not a hooker. Keller said he put the woman’s name on a bathroom wall as a dare and that she wouldn’t talk to him after the song became a hit. Singer Tommy Heath tells a similar version of the story, though his Jenny muse was different from Keller’s. However, in 2004, co-writer Alex Call confessed that that stories about the song’s origins were all fake and that he made up the song while sitting under a plum tree in his backyard. Whatever the real origins, people with the actual number 867-5309 were not amused, and some even threatened to sue the band. An Alabama woman who had this number in 1982 was quoted as saying of Tommy Tutone (and clearly under the impression that Tommy Tutone was an actual person): “I’d like to get hold of his neck and choke him.” The woman changed her number in 1982 after a deluge of late-night calls for Jenny. In its 18-year career, Tommy Tutone released five studio albums, but Tutone-2 was the band’s only truly successful album, and 867-5309 (Jenny) was the band’s only significant hit. In 1980, the band had a minor hit with Angel Say No. The band still tours, performing in small venues today. ¹ I should probably also mention that I got into serious trouble with my parents when the phone bill came in and they discovered that someone had made multiple calls to 867-5309 in multiple area codes. I must have mowed a couple hundred yards paying off that debt. Video: The official video for 867-5309 (Jenny) is here. Interestingly, in this video, Jenny is portrayed by Karen Elaine Morton who was Playboy’s Miss July 1978: No video for Angel Say No was produced, but I did find a good audio file:
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Get It: Your copy of Tutone-2 is waiting for you right here: DWB YouTube Channel:
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