The song "Jenny (867-5309)" was an '80s sensation. A hit for Tommy Tutone, it was written by Alex Call, who was in the band Clover with Huey Lewis. Alex' book 867-5309 Jenny: the Song That Saved Me is equal parts biography, tour diary, and gritty success story. It's where Alex recounts his adventures in Clover, his struggle with alcoholism, and the revival of his career by "Jenny," the song about a guy who becomes infatuated with a phone number on a bathroom wall.
Alex is a very interesting dude; a talented songwriter and musician who never found fame but may have found something better: publishing royalties. The great thing about writing a hit like "867-5309" is that checks keep showing up in your mailbox.
The reason this song keeps giving is that it keeps showing up in popular culture. Stories swarm around the girl and the number, the song and its writer.
"There was A actual Jenny with that actual phone number. No story of unrequited love or evil stalking or a flirty girlfriend of the lead guitar player or any of the other tales I've heard over the years. It would be more fun if there was."
"Over a hundred women have told me that they've used it as a brush-off number. The guy wakes up, a bit hung-over perhaps, but he's got this girl's name and number on a bar napkin. "It's Jenny. 867-5309. Ha ha, he's been had. So the song does have some redeeming social value."
Tommy Tutone was actually a band, not a singer. They were comprised of Tommy Heath and Jim Keller, and at first were known as Tommy and the Two-Tones. Keller co-wrote the song with Alex, giving him the idea that the phone number was a girl's number on a bathroom wall and not a prank.
8675309 is a prime number, meaning it can't be divided by any other number. chances of a random 7-digit number being prime are better than you'd think - about 6.5%, So they say!
A guy in New York tried to sell his 212-867-5309 number on eBay. In 2004, you were allowed to keep your mobile phone number even if you changed providers, which gave you certain rights to that number. It doesn't mean you own the number, however, and after he put the number on eBay and bidding got up to $80,000, the auction was canceled. I was one of them however my plan was to move to New York and start a mobile DJ service.
Over a decade after the single had sloughed off Billboard, Call received a royalty check about fifteen times higher than he expected. 867-5309 Jenny had appeared on over forty '80s compilation albums. Arnold Schwarzenegger put it on his Workout with Arnold. Beavis and Butthead sang along with their own dirty lyrics. Family Guy referenced the song. Every time the song was used, Alex got paid.
Keith Urban sings "867-5309" at his live shows Says Alex: "Country love hunk Keith Urban does the best version of the song ever in his live shows, but he'll never put it out. Will you, Keith? Like, please."
Most people would just call their local 867-5309, ask for Jenny and hang up. There were no reported cases of meaningful relationships forming from these calls.
Huey Lewis stole Alex's idea for the song "The Power of Love," Not really! Huey loved the title of a song Alex was writing called "Power of Love," and used it as the basis for a totally original song of his own. He signed 10% of the publishing royalties over to Alex in exchange for the title, even though he technically didn't need to - titles aren't copyrighted. Around the same time, Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Jennifer Rush also had hits with songs called "The Power of Love."
On 3 July 2014 Joe Maddon, manager of the Tampa Bay Rays, set his team’s batting lineup using position numbers 8-6-7-5-3-0-9 (with zero standing for the unnumbered designated hitter).So while it's clever and awesome and even radical, dude, it's incomplete by two and not sustainable for victory. He's leaving out the catcher and the second baseman. But who's ever heard of a hit song that goes "867-5309-24"? You might connect with Uganda by dialing that.
The song “867-5309/Jenny” served as the centerpiece for a 2003 Cingular television ad touting number portability
Comments
Post a Comment