867-5309/Jenny

Encyclopedia : 8 : 86 : 867 : 867-5309/Jenny

"867-5309/Jenny" is a song written by Alex Call and Jim Keller and performed by Tommy Tutone which peaked at Number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1982 (see 1982 in music).

Contents

1 Background
2 867-5309 in popular culture

2.1 In films and television
2.2 In computer games
2.3 Other sightings

3 Charts
4 See also
5 External links

Background

The lyrics imply that 867-5309 was the real phone number of a girl named Jenny, acquired from a mens' room wall. The song caused a fad of people dialing 867-5309 (which was then a valid phone number in dozens of area codes) and asking for Jenny.

Throughout the song, the singer just keeps thinking about this mysterious Jenny and how happy she makes him. It is more or less implied that the men's room graffitti featuring her name and number mentioned that she was an "easy lay," and that this is the reason for the singer's interest.

The song was released on the album Tommy Tutone 2, on the Columbia Records label. It has been covered by a number of artists, including Less Than Jake.

Various claims have been made about the number, including:

+1-415-867-5309 had been a real number in San Francisco of a friend (Sean Fao) of someone in the band, promptly disconnected after the song's release
+1-716-867-5309 was the number of the daughter of the Erie County, New York County Sheriff who vigorously investigated prank callers and turned them over for prosecution.

When the song became a hit, listeners began dialing 867-5309 in large numbers, with diverse effects on the people who actually had that number:

subscribers with same or similar numbers in other area codes also ordered them disconnected after receiving many calls
some radio stations at the time were applying to obtain lines with +1-areacode-867-5309 numbers for promotional purposes (some, such as one in Chicago, actually succeeded)
Phones in dormitories at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island begin with 867, and students with 867-5309 have had to deal with prank calls. However, recently GEM Plumbing and Heating in Providence aquired the number and uses it in their jingle; all other 867 numbers are still Brown dorms.
a more recent attempt to auction the number +1-212-867-5309 on eBay received bids in the $200,000 range before the auction listing was pulled at the request of Verizon

Although Tommy Tutone is primarily remembered for this song and commonly considered a "one-hit wonder", they actually had a Billboard Top 40 hit in 1980—two years before "Jenny" with "Angel Say No", which peaked at #38. "Angel Say No", however, is now almost completely forgotten by the general public.

The band and label eventually changed their story as to the number's origins, claiming it to be a random number that the songwriters came up with. Calls to 1-(area code)-867-5309 were still arriving in quantity as late as the end of the 1990s. Most media companies now use a fictitious 555 telephone number, or on rare occasions real numbers that they own, to avoid problems with real telephone numbers.

867-5309 in popular culture

In films and television

In an episode of Family Guy (titled "the Road to Rhode Island"), when Stewie is trying to reach his mother, the first number he dials is 867-5309. He then says, "Oh, wait, that's not it. Damn you, Tommy Tutone!"
In 2004, the song was featured in a TV commercial for Cingular Wireless, which promoted the company's number portability service. Many telephone carriers have refused to assign this number since the advent of this song but it is still valid in some areas.
On the American show Hit Me Baby One More Time, Tommy Tutone reunited for one night and sang the song for a chance to win money for charity.
In a first-season episode of the television show Cheers, 867-5309 is given as Diane Chambers' phone number in a bit of men's room graffiti.
In an episode of The Simpsons, 867-5309 appears on the church billboard.
In the opener of CNN's The Situation Room, the number 8675309 can be found at the bottom right in one of the boxes that displays random numbers. The number can be seen towards the end of the opener.
(801) 867-5309 is used as a fictionalized number in The Singles Ward, The R.M. and Sons of Provo.

In computer games

In the MMORPG Everquest, players can obtain an item named "Jenniy's Two-tone Cuirass" from the zone boss Grieg Veneficus. This item is a breastplate, and grants the wearer 8 strength, 6 dexterity, 7 stamina, 5 charisma, 30 wisdom, and 9 intelligence, among other benefits.
In the Monolith Productions computer game No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy In H.A.R.M.'s Way, an enemy sub has the number "8675309" painted on the side.
In the video game MDK2, the first level takes place in "sector 8675309," which is also identified as Edmonton, Canada - home of BioWare, the game's development team.
In the video game Duke Nukem 3D, "867-5309" can be found on the wall of the theater bathroom in Hollywood Holocaust (E1L1) next to the left urinal.
In the New World Computing computer game Heroes of Might and Magic II, typing the code "8675309" in-game reveals the whole map.
In the video game NetStorm, typing ".cheatorama 8675309" enables the game's cheat mode.
In the video game Soldier of Fortune, one of the Suni engineers tells John Mullins the access code for the Suni mainframe, which is 8675309.
In the video game Splinter Cell, a CIA employee is counting the batteries in a warehouse. He counts them as, "0J-8675307, 0J-8675308, 0J-8675...hold up....aww, man." He never quite reaches the famous number.
In the arcade game San Francisco Rush 2049, entering "8675309" on the numeric keypad during play immediately terminates the race.

Other sightings

The song was parodied by Christian parody band ApologetiX to tell the story of Abraham's test in Genesis 22. The parody is titled "Genny 22" in the album Spoofernatural.
The number appeared on a package for a dry-erase message board sold by Wal-Mart.
The telephone number (213) 867-5309 was available for sale from a [marketing firm in Los Angeles.]
Dialing +1-areacode-867-5309 from a Vonage line plays a clip of the song before connecting.
In a screenshot on page 12 of the Nintendo WiFi Connection Instruction Booklet distributed with online-capable Nintendo DS games, "8675309" is entered as the example WEP key.
In 2003 the song was covered by gay singer/songwriter Mark Weigle on his album Different and the Same, though his version changed the name (and gender) of the song's subject to "867-5309/Jimmy".
On the first "Extras" disk to AnimEigo's release of You're Under Arrest!, 8675309 is the code that has to be typed in on the on-screen keypad to access the Easter egg.
Typing 8675309 on Microsoft WebTV (such as the original EchoStar DishPlayer), [UltimateTV] and newer MSN TV 2 units when in off/standby mode would cause them to call home to download Microsoft TV software.
Near the end of Kid Radd, the password to the controls for the Chimera program was 8675309.

Charts

Year	Single	Chart	Peak
1982	"867-5309/Jenny"	Mainstream Rock	1
1982	"867-5309/Jenny"	Pop Singles	4
1982	"867-5309/Jenny"	Billboard Top 100 Hits	16

External links

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