Tommy Tutone
American rock band
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tommy Tutone is an American power pop band, known for its 1981 song "867-5309/Jenny", which peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. The band's lead singer and rhythm guitarist is Tommy Heath. Heath grew up in Philadelphia, Texas, and Montana before moving to San Francisco during the Summer of Love to become a hippie. There, he formed the band with Jim Keller and Terry Nails in 1978, naming it after his nickname. The band's first single, "Angel Say No", was released in 1980 and reached the top 40, and they opened for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on his US tour for Damn the Torpedoes.
Tommy Tutone | |
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Tommy Tutone in 2017 | |
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| Origin | California, U.S. |
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| Website | tutone |
The band's second album, Tommy Tutone 2, was released in 1981 and featured "867-5309/Jenny". The song became so popular it inspired a nationwide fad for prank calls to the telephone number. [1] In 2006, VH1 named it the 36th-greatest song of the 1980s.
History
Tommy Heath and Jim Keller founded the band in 1978 along with bassist Terry Nails, with Heath acting as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist. Keller played lead guitar and Nails played bass and provided supporting vocals. Heath and Keller were the only constant members of Tommy Tutone, while the lineup featured a rotating membership of bassists and drummers.
Bassist Jon Lyons, who performed on "867-5309/Jenny", replaced founding member Terry Nails, but was soon himself replaced by Greg Sutton, Pete Costello, and in 1988 Jimmy James. Mona Gnader, the bassist in Sammy Hagar's The Waboritas band, played with the band as well. Original drummer Kenny Johnson (of Chris Isaak's band) was replaced by Mickey Shine (Clover and the first Elvis Costello album), then Victor Carberry for the band's second album, and later Jerry Angel. John Cowsill of The Cowsills played percussion (and sang) on "867-5309/Jenny".[2]
From 2001 to 2010, the band consisted of Heath, Jimmy James, guitarist Greg Georgeson, and drummer Andy Gauthier. In 2007, the band signed a recording contract with Spectra Records. By 2012, Tommy Heath had become a computer analyst and software engineer and moved to Portland, Oregon.[3][4]
In 2017, with the addition of Steve Fister (Steppenwolf, Lita Ford) on guitar, Jimmy James switched to drums and the band released the single "My Little Red Book".
Jim Keller went on to become the director of Philip Glass's publishing company, Dunvagen Music Publishers.[5] He still performs in New York City.
In 2019, the band released their first studio album since 1998, Beautiful Ending.
The band is still touring in 2026.
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [6] |
CAN [7] | ||||||||
| 1980 | Tommy Tutone
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68 | 82 | ||||||
| 1981 | Tommy Tutone 2
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20 | 44 | ||||||
| 1983 | National Emotion
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179 | — | ||||||
| 1996 | Nervous Love
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— | — | ||||||
| 1998 | Tutone.rtf
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— | — | ||||||
| 2007 | The Singles
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— | — | ||||||
| 2019 | Beautiful Ending
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— | — | ||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) |
Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [8] |
US Main [8] |
CAN [9] |
AUS [10] |
NZ [11] | ||||||
| 1980 | "Angel Say No" | 38 | — | — | — | — | Tommy Tutone | |||
| 1980 | "Cheap Date" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1980 | "Girl in the Back Seat" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1981 | "867-5309/Jenny" | 4 | 1 | 2 | 22 | 32 | Tommy Tutone 2 | |||
| 1982 | "Which Man Are You" | —[13] | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1983 | "Get Around Girl" | — | — | — | — | — | National Emotion | |||
| 2009 | "Santa I Got Your Number" | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | |||
| 2017 | "My Little Red Book" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 2018 | "Time Won't Let Me" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 2018 | "When You Walk in the Room " | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||||||
