Song: “Jenny (867-5309)”
A 1982 hit included an active phone number, leading to all sorts of excitement
Alex Call wrote this song while sitting under a plum tree in his backyard — but he was at a loss after the first bolt of inspiration struck. He had the four chords, the name “Jenny,” and the number “8675309” sketched out, but no idea where to go from there.
Sharing his sketch of a song with his friend Jim Keller of the band Tommy Tutone, Keller lit up, saying, “Al, it’s a girl’s number on a bathroom wall!” The two shared a laugh, then realized there might be a story there, and wrote the rest of the song in 15-20 minutes.
Over the years, the band and Call pushed various stories about “Jenny” and the origin of the song, ultimately copping to the less glamorous but true story of Call writing it in his backyard — no Jenny, no bathroom wall, no number other than one he made up.
Because the number actually existed across various telephone area codes and exchanges, the song’s popularity led to thousands of prank calls asking for “Jenny” over the years. Opinions of the song’s effects have varied, with some girls named Jenny hating the song for making their lives miserable, while others have found ways to use the song for fun and more:
- One big, extended family had the number on their landline, and as the children grew up and moved away, every member got a cell number ending in “5309” to keep the joy alive
- More than one guy has woken up with a hangover, opened a folded piece of paper with the number of the girl he met at the bar the night before, and found “Jenny — 867-5309” written inside
Phone numbers in mass media typically start with a prefix of “555” which renders them useless, as no such prefix exists in phone exchanges. However, in 2003, the Jim Carrey film Bruce Almighty showed a real phone number on the pager God used to call him, creating another flurry of prank calls. The number was changed to a “555” number in the later home video releases.
A one-hit wonder if there ever was one, “Jenny (867-5309)” was named by VH1 in 2006 as the 36th-greatest song of the 1980s. The song peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 after its release in 1982.
Tommy Heath, the lead singer of Tommy Tutone, is the only remaining member of the band, which is set to release a new album (New Wave Americana) soon.
Enjoy!