867-5309/Jenny
Tommy Tutone
1982
Annual listening list: initial release cycle, with recent carryovers; not an original-release-date field. Release chronology remains partly unverified.
Genre
Not classifiedTheme
Not classifiedRelease: 1981
Release: 1981Source checked | Recent carryover
Source-supported first release year of the original recording at year precision. Later single-chart appearances and anthology or remaster dates are separate. Exact user-file audio, edit and mastering remain unverified.
The large badge identifies this listening list, not a newly issued recording. Later reissues and renewed chart popularity do not replace an original release date. How years are assigned.
Alex Call - firsthand account of writing 867-5309
Co-writer describes inventing the number while composing, then Jim Keller proposing the bathroom-wall story. Does not establish a real Jenny or copied number.
Tommy Tutone - 867-5309/Jenny original recording
Original Tommy Tutone 2 recording is dated 1981; explicitly named later rerecordings are excluded.
Inspiration and background
Documented songwriting inspiration
Co-writer Alex Call describes inventing the telephone number while experimenting with guitar chords in his yard. Jim Keller then proposed the bathroom-wall premise, and they developed the lyric together. In Call's account, the number and musical hook came before the story; it is not evidence of an actual Jenny whose telephone number they copied from a wall.
Evidence scope: Firsthand songwriter account; interpretation is attributed to the participant.
Sources for this information
Alex Call - firsthand account of writing 867-5309
Co-writer describes inventing the number while composing, then Jim Keller proposing the bathroom-wall story. Does not establish a real Jenny or copied number. | Retrieved 2026-10-19
Tommy Tutone - 867-5309/Jenny original recording
Original Tommy Tutone 2 recording is dated 1981; explicitly named later rerecordings are excluded. | Retrieved 2026-10-19
Earlier note and its recorded status
Earlier status: Supplied note - not independently verified. This earlier wording is retained as historical context; the reviewed account above is the current summary.
Written by Jim Keller and Alex Call, inspired by a real phone number they saw on a bathroom wall.
Other appearances and versions
catalog version unspecified
Source-supported first release year of the original recording at year precision. Later single-chart appearances and anthology or remaster dates are separate. Exact user-file audio, edit and mastering remain unverified.
An annual chart year and an original release date are different. Similar titles may be covers or different masters; no audio fingerprint has been performed.
Sources and scope
Source-backed annual association (secondary source; not a complete discographic review)
Not classified - no adequate editorial basis in this pass
Billboard year-end 1982 table (Wikipedia transcription)
Secondary chart transcription reviewed for title, artist and annual association. Not proof of release date, genre or inspiration.
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