Tommy Tutone

Tommy Tutone-2 867-5309  in the middle in pink  on a blue license plate with a road in  the background.

Tommy Tutone was a band based in Willits, California that was founded in 1978 by Heath and Jim Keller. Keller played the lead guitar and sang supporting vocals while Heath was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist, and occasionally played keyboard as well. The other members of the band rotated throughout the band’s career. The band was most active in the 1980s and 1990s and is most well known for their single “867-5309/Jenny.” This song hit No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982.

The song was written by Alex Call and Jim Keller and was released on the album titled Tommy Tutone 2. There are various stories as to the origin of the idea for the song. Alex Call states that the number came to him in a dream while Tommy Heath explained that the number belonged to a girl that he knew. The song caused a lot of problems for companies and individuals that had the famous telephone number. Nonetheless, the song remains popular and it has been covered several times by artists such as the Foo Fighters, the Goo Goo Dolls and Everclear.