Jump to content

Tommy Tutone

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 146.115.64.200 (talk) at 02:00, 2 March 2007. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Tommy Tutone is a rock band from San Francisco, California, best known for its 1982 hit "867-5309/Jenny", which peaked at #4 on the Billboard pop charts. The song became so popular that people in the United States to this day dial this telephone number and ask for "Jenny" as a prank. Regarding the famous number, "We had people threatening to sue us. It was the Chief of Police in Buffalo's daughter's number in New York," said Tommy Heath. Although they are frequently remembered as a "one-hit wonder", they actually had another top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Angel Say No" in 1980, predating "Jenny" by a couple of years.

A common misconception is that Tommy Tutone is the name of the lead singer; it is the name of the band. The lead singer's name is Tommy Heath. The name of the band developed from the original name "Tommy and the Tu-tones" to merely Tommy Tutone.

Tommy Heath and Jim Keller founded the band in the late 1970s, with Heath acting as the lead vocalist, also playing keyboards; Keller playing lead guitar and supporting vocals. Bassist Jon Lyons was later replaced by Greg Sutton and drummer Victor Carberry with Jerry Angel. Steve LeGassick joined later, playing keyboards and synthesizer.

Tommy Heath is now a computer analyst and resides in Portland, Oregon.

Chart positions

Year Single Chart Peak
1980 "Angel Say No" Pop Singles 38
1982 "867-5309/Jenny" Mainstream Rock 1
1982 "867-5309/Jenny" Pop Singles 4

Year Album Chart Peak
1980 Tommy Tutone Pop Albums 68
1982 Tommy Tutone-2 Pop Albums 20
1983 National Emotion Pop Albums 179