Many people think that Tommy Tutone is the name of the singer, but it is just the name of the band. The lead singer's name is Tommy, but his last name is Heath. The band's original name was Tommy and the Tu-tones, but would later be shortened to just Tommy Tutone.

Here is a video of a live performance of "867-5309/Jenny" by Tommy Tutone:

Why do I bring this up? Well, there was an interesting ebay auction that just recently ended for this famous phone number (with a popular New Jersey area code). The ebay auction ended on February 9th (2009) and the winning bid was an amazing $186,853.09. Yes, you read that correctly, almost $190,000 for a phone number!

If you don't believe me, here is a link to the ebay listing so you can see for yourself. Originally, I thought somebody was outbid by 9 cents, but actually someone tried to win the auction by creatively bidding the amount 186753.09, but ended up being outbid by $100. Here is an article that ran in the UK Guardian while the auction was still in progress:

For sale: Pop's most famous phone number
867-5309, the titular digits of Tommy Tutone's 1982 hit, and one of the last cultural remnants of 80s pop - apart from the mullet - has been listed on eBay

Sean Michaels
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 4 February 2009

One of the most famous phone numbers in popular music is up for sale - or at least, one version of it is.

867-5309, the titular digits of Tommy Tutone's 1982 hit, has been listed in an eBay auction by New Jersey DJ Spencer Potter. Potter is not just selling the phone number, which would violate the telephone company's rules, but rather the DJ business to which the phone number is linked.

"This is really, in my opinion, one of the last cultural remnants of 80s pop," Potter told CNN, "other than the mullet."

He claims to receive almost 10,000 calls each year, from curious "80s fanatics" hoping to have a word with Jenny, to whom the song is addressed. "The minute we plugged the phone jack into the wall, it began ringing," he explained. He has since connected it to voicemail.

Of course, Potter's 867-5309 is not the only 867-5309 in existence. There are several 867-5309s across the United States (and the world) - his is simply the one with a popular New Jersey area code. The toll-free 800 and 888 versions of the phone number, owned by Philadelphia resident Jeffrey Steinberg, are claimed to be worth millions. Meanwhile, in the state of Rhode Island, a plumbing company has trademarked the digits.

Potter, 28, has more modest ambitions. He said he aims to make some $40,000 from the sale - enough for a Caribbean vacation and presumably a new phone number. But if the current bids are authentic - and that's a big if - Potter is set to collect rather more than a flight and hotel deal. With the auction not closing until 9 Feb, 201-867-5309 has a high bid of some $400,000 (£275,000). Jenny, it seems, is a popular girl.

He was hoping to make $40,000 and ended up with almost $190,000. Not too shabby. I think this guy owes a lot to the media attention this story received. It received over 20 articles by international media including all of the big ones like CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, Associated Press and more. He was interviewed on over 40 national TV and radio stations plus it was broadcasted on over 1000 radio and TV networks. It was estimated that the story had reached over 100 million people worldwide. Free marketing/publicity, the best kind.

It is pretty cool to me that something with such a strong connection to the 80s can still have such a pop culture impact. The song itself only reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, but the phone number is still pop culture gold. Don't go making a prank call to 867-5309 now (as much as you and I might be tempted to).

That will do it for this issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks as always for reading. If you are interested in reading any of my other 80s related issues, please click there for a summary of those. You can also always click on the Archives in the upper left hand column or use the Google Search Box at the top of the right hand column to find any other issues you may have missed. If you are a fan of Kickin' it, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FACEBOOK LOGO in the upper right hand column. This will take you to the new Fan Page where I ask you to then click on "Become a Fan". Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.

Check this out: I came across this video by the folks over at Overthinkingit.com called "40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 minutes" which splices together bits of famous motivational speeches from movies. I was quite impressed.

Here is a transcript of the entire speech as it ends up appearing in the video:
"Shame on you. This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you're going to let it be the worst. And I guarantee a week won't go by in your life you won't regret walking out, letting them get the best of you. Well, I'm not going home. We've come too far! And I'm going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause. A day may come when the courage of men fails... but it is not THIS day. The line must be drawn HERE. This far, no further! I'm not saying it's going to be easy. You're going to work harder than you ever worked before. But that's fine, we'll just get tougher with it! If a person grits his teeth and shows real determination, failure is not an option. That's how winning is done! Believe me when I say we can break this army here, and win just one for the Gipper. But I say to you what every warrior has known since the beginning of time: you've got to get mad. I mean plum mad dog mean. If you would be free men, then you must fight to fulfill that promise! Let us cut out their living guts one inch at a time, and they will know what we can do! Let no man forget how menacing we are. We are lions! You're like a big bear, man! This is YOUR time! Seize the day, never surrender, victory or death... that's the Chicago Way! Who's with me? Clap! Clap! Don't let Tink die! Clap! Alright! Let's fly! And gentlemen in England now abed shall know my name is the Lord when I tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our Independence Day!"

Quote of the day: That speech alone could be the quote of the day, but I figured I should give you another one too. Here's one on publicity... "I don't care what they call me as long as they mention my name." -George M. Cohan