B-side "Not Say Goodbye" Recorded 1981 Length 3:45 | Format 7" Genre Power pop | |
Released November 16, 1981 (1981-11-16) |
"867-5309/Jenny" is a 1981 song written by Alex Call and Jim Keller and performed by Tommy Tutone that was released on the album Tommy Tutone 2, on the Columbia Records label. It peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #16 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart in May 1982 (see 1982 in music).
Contents
The song caused a fad of people dialing 867-5309 and asking for "Jenny".
Creation
Lead guitarist Jim Keller, interviewed by People in 1982, said "Jenny is a regular girl, not a hooker. Friends of mine wrote her name and number on a men's room wall at a bar. I called her on a dare, and we dated for a while. I haven't talked with her since the song became a hit, but I hear she thinks I'm a real jerk for writing it."
On March 28, 2008, Tommy Tutone lead singer Tommy Heath stated on the WGN Morning News that the number was real and it was the number of a girl he knew. As a joke, he wrote it on a bathroom wall in a motel where they were staying. "We laughed about it for years," he said.
"There was no Jenny," songwriter Alex Call told a Tampa, Florida, columnist in June 2009. "The number? It came to me out of the ether."
In the music video, the "Jenny" character is played by Karen Elaine Morton.
Covers
The song "Jenny" has been covered by a number of artists, including Everclear, Foo Fighters, Less Than Jake, Bracket, Crease, the Goo Goo Dolls, and Nirvana.
In 2003 singer-songwriter Mark Weigle included the song on his album Different and the Same. Weigle changed the title to "867-5309 Jimmy".
Popularity and litigation
The song, released in late 1981, initially gained popularity on the American West Coast in January 1982; many who had the number soon abandoned it because of unwanted calls.
"When we'd first get calls at 2 or 3 in the morning, my husband would answer the phone. He can't hear too well. They'd ask for Jenny, and he'd say 'Jimmy doesn't live here any more.' (...) Tommy Tutone was the one who had the record. I'd like to get hold of his neck and choke him."
Asking telephone companies to trace the calls was of no use, as Charles and Maurine Shambarger (then in West Akron, Ohio at +1-216-867-5309) learned when Ohio Bell explained "We don’t know what to make of this. The calls are coming from all over the place." A little over a month later, they disconnected the number and the phone became silent.
In some cases, the number was picked up by commercial businesses or acquired for use in radio promotions.
Pop culture usage
In episode nine of the first season of Cheers, during the scene in the men's bathroom, the number is written on the wall under the words "For a good time call Diane Chambers." Diane notices the words and scribbles them out.
In episode seven of the seventh season of Parks and Recreation, a hungover Leslie Knope realizes that she called 867-5309 a hundred times in order to reach Jen Barkley. Later, Jen plays back one of Ben's drunken calls to her and in the background you can hear Leslie singing the song to which Jen replies "I love that song!"
A study on the security of numerical passwords in 2012 revealed that 8675309 is the fourth most common 7-digit password, speculating that it is easy to remember because of the popularity of this song, despite being otherwise fairly random (unlike the #1 most common 7-digit password: 1234567). On Microsoft's WebTV (in standby mode) 8675309 is a hidden code which causes the unit to call Microsoft for firmware updates. 8675309 is prime.
An October 2011 WBTV local newscast reported that a majority of retail loyalty programs which use the client's local telephone number alone as an identifier showed 867-5309 as registered and eligible for point-of-sale discounts.
In 2011, the Mayo Clinic released a public service announcement "Jenny please watch your numbers, Blood pressure, lipids and BMI", as an online music video which used portions of the 1982 original, including the number.
On July 3rd, 2014,Tampa Bay Rays Manager Joe Maddon arranged the Rays' batting order to 8675309. In baseball, each fielding position receives a number. The Designated Hitter does not field in baseball, and was used for "0" in the sequence. Numbers 2 (Catcher) and 4 (Second Base) followed 8675309.
Jenny's constant has been defined by mathematician Eric Weisstein as
Springsteen controversy
Singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen's popular single "Radio Nowhere" features a set of guitar riffs at the beginning that many fans considered particularly similar to "867-5309/Jenny", although the lyrics and the tone of the two songs are quite different. Heath said in response, tongue-in-cheek, "the kids do need braces so maybe I will [sue Springsteen for musical plagiarism]". Heath clarified later on that he had no actual intention whatsoever of taking action and that he felt "really honored at a similarity, if any". Both songs were released on Columbia Records.