Tommy Tutone | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Origin | California, U.S. |
Genres | Rock, pop rock, power pop, new wave |
Years active | 1978–1984, 1996–present |
Labels | Columbia/CBS Records Spectra Records |
Members | Tommy Heath Jimmy James Steve Fister Kerry Movassagh |
Past members |
|
Website | tutone |
Tommy Tutone is an American power pop band, known for its 1981 hit "867-5309/Jenny", which peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Though some people consider the band to be a one-hit wonder, they did reach the Top 40 the year before with "Angel Say No".
Tommy Heath and Jim Keller founded the band in 1978 along with bassist Terry Nails (Steve Jones, Ozzy Osbourne), with Heath acting as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, also playing keyboards on occasion. Keller played lead guitar and Terry Nails played bass and provided supporting vocals. Heath and Keller were the only constant members of Tommy Tutone during the band's heyday, and the lineup featured a rotating membership of bassists and drummers. Bassist Jon Lyons (original name Jonathan Lyons Terlep), who performed on "867-5309", replaced founding member Terry Nails, but was soon himself replaced by Greg Sutton, Pete Costello, and more recently 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". [1] From 2001 to 2010, the band consisted of Heath, James, Greg Georgeson (guitar), and Andy Gauthier (drums). By 2012, Tommy Heath had become a computer analyst and software engineer and moved to Portland, Oregon. [2] [3] In 2007, the band signed a recording contract with Spectra Records.
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. [4] He still performs in New York City.
In 2019, the band released their first studio album since 1998, Beautiful Ending.
Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [5] | CAN [6] | ||||||||
1980 | Tommy Tutone
| 68 | 82 | ||||||
1981 | Tommy Tutone 2
| 20 | 44 | ||||||
1983 | National Emotion
| 179 | — | ||||||
1996 | Nervous Love
| — | — | ||||||
1998 | Tutone.rtf
| — | — | ||||||
2019 | Beautiful Ending
| — | — | ||||||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) | Album | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [7] | US Main [7] | CAN [8] | AUS [9] | NZ [10] | ||||||
1980 | "Angel Say No" | 38 | — | — | — | — | Tommy Tutone | |||
1981 | "867-5309/Jenny" | 4 | 1 | 2 | 22 | 32 | Tommy Tutone 2 | |||
1982 | "Which Man Are You" | — [12] | — | — | — | — | ||||
1983 | "Get Around Girl" | — | — | — | — | — | National Emotion | |||
2017 | "My Little Red Book" | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | |||
2018 | "Time Won't Let Me" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
2018 | "When You Walk in the Room " | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||||||
Econoline Crush is a Canadian rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia, formed in 1992. They have released five studio albums and two studio EPs, and are best known for their charting singles such as "You Don't Know What It's Like", "Home", "Surefire ", "All That You Are (X3)", "Make It Right", and "Dirty". They achieved platinum status with the 1997 album The Devil You Know and also received two Juno nominations, in 1995 for Purge and in 1998 for The Devil You Know.
"867-5309/Jenny" is a song written by Alex Call and Jim Keller and performed by Tommy Tutone that was released on the album Tommy Tutone 2 (1981) through Columbia Records. It peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Rock Top Tracks chart in April 1982. The song led to a fad of people prank calling unsuspecting victims by dialing 867-5309 and asking for "Jenny".
"Crimson and Clover" is a 1968 song by American rock band Tommy James and the Shondells. Written by the duo of Tommy James and drummer Peter Lucia Jr., it was intended as a change in direction of the group's sound and composition.
"Jessie's Girl" is a song written and performed by Australian singer Rick Springfield. It was released on the album Working Class Dog, which was released in February 1981. The song is about unrequited love and centres on a young man in love with his best friend's girlfriend.
Cherry Pie is the second studio album by American glam metal band Warrant, released September 11, 1990. The album is the band's best-known and highest-selling release and peaked at number 7 on the Billboard 200. The album featured the top 40 hits "Cherry Pie" and "I Saw Red".
American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails have released 11 studio albums, one live album, three remix albums, two compilation albums, six extended plays, 20 singles, 10 promotional singles, four video albums and 31 music videos. Nine Inch Nails has also contributed to numerous film soundtracks as well as the soundtrack to the video game Quake.
John Patrick Cowsill is an American musician, best known for his work as a singer and drummer with his siblings' band the Cowsills. He has been a drummer and vocalist for the Beach Boys touring band, which featured original Beach Boy Mike Love and long time member Bruce Johnston. Cowsill has also played keyboards for the Beach Boys touring band performing Al Jardine's and the late Carl Wilson's vocal parts. He also has performed and recorded with Jan and Dean.
"Twistin' the Night Away" is a song written and recorded by Sam Cooke. It was recorded on 18 December 1961 and released as a single in 1962. It became very popular, charting in the top ten of both the Billboard Hot 100 (#9) and Billboard's R&B chart (#1). "Twistin' the Night Away" was successful overseas as well, peaking at #6 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Kickstart My Heart" is a song by American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, originally released on their 1989 album, Dr. Feelgood. Released as the album's second single in 1989, "Kickstart My Heart" reached number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States in early 1990.
Clover was an American country rock band formed in Mill Valley, California and active from 1967 to 1978. Clover are best known as the backing band for Elvis Costello's 1977 debut album My Aim Is True, and for its members going on to greater success with Huey Lewis and the News, the Doobie Brothers, and Lucinda Williams.
Thomas Allen Heath is an American musician best known as the lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and occasional keyboardist of the band Tommy Tutone, who are most famous for their 1981 single, "867-5309/Jenny." A common misconception is that "Tommy Tutone" is Heath's stage name, rather than the name of the band. The band was originally known as "Tommy and the Tu-tones", which was shortened to "Tommy Tutone". Heath left the band after the release of their third album, 1983's National Emotion. In 1994, Heath released the album Nervous Love under the Tommy Tutone name, but without the involvement of any of the other original band members.
Anita Renee Cockerham, known professionally as Anita Cochran, is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She has released two albums for Warner Bros. Records Nashville and one for Straybranch Records. Cochran is best known for her late 1997-early 1998 single "What If I Said", a duet with Steve Wariner that reached the number-one position on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts.
Tommy Tutone 2 is the second album by rock band Tommy Tutone, released in 1981. It features its biggest hit, "867-5309/Jenny". The first two albums by the band were re-released by the Collectable label as a two-albums-on-one-CD release in 1997. John Cowsill of the Cowsills appears on backing vocals and plays percussion on the album.
"Radio Nowhere" is the first single released from Bruce Springsteen's 2007 studio album Magic. It was awarded Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance and Best Rock Song at the Grammy Awards of 2008.
Jim Keller is an American musician, producer, manager, publisher, and composer whose work in the music business spans more than 40 years. He was the co-founder, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter for the American rock band Tommy Tutone based in San Francisco, California, and was co-writer of that band's most famous single, 867-5309/Jenny. Since 1992, Keller has worked with Philip Glass, first running Glass's publishing company and eventually managing his career as director of Dunvagen Music. In 1999, Keller founded St. Rose Music as a publishing and management company for friends and associates. Their roster has grown to include Nico Muhly, Rachel Portman, Angélica Negrón, the music theater works of Tom Waits, Jeff Beal, Paul Leonard-Morgan, Ravi Shankar, and Anoushka Shankar.
"Love Will Keep Us Alive" is a song written by Jim Capaldi, Paul Carrack, and Peter Vale and produced by the Eagles, Elliot Scheiner, and Rob Jacobs. It was first performed by the Eagles in 1994, during their Hell Freezes Over reunion tour, with lead vocals by bassist Timothy B. Schmit. This is the last single to feature Don Felder, who was terminated from the band in 2001.
The Vegas Years is a compilation of cover songs by American rock band Everclear. It was released on April 15, 2008, via Capitol Records.
National Emotion is an album by the American band Tommy Tutone, released in 1983. The band broke up after its release; it reunited in 1996.
"Perfect World" is a song performed by Huey Lewis and the News and released as the first single from the album Small World in late June 1988. The single peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and #48 on the UK Singles Chart.
"It's All I Can Do" is a song by the American rock band the Cars. It is the third track from their 1979 album Candy-O. It was written by the band's leader and songwriter Ric Ocasek, and features bassist Benjamin Orr on vocals.