How I Wrote..."867-5309/ Jenny"

Jim Keller recalls how he helped dial in Tommy Tutone's 1982 smash hit.

- JOE BOSSO

"AFTER ALL THESE years, I still love the song," guitarist Jim Keller says about "867-5309/Jenny," the hook-filled rocker that his band, Tommy Tutone, turned into a radio hit in 1982. "Any time I hear it, it sounds amazing. It always feels pure."

Underscoring that point, Keller has seen many bar bands perform the song over the years, and never once did he think it sounded bad. "It's a song that's impossible to mess up," he says. "It's like 'Louie Louie' - is there ever a bad version of that? '867' has the same charm. It's always fun."

NUMBERS GAME Since the song's release, stories about its origins have floated around, namely that the band members knew a girl named Jenny who wrote her phone number on a men's room wall. Keller sets the record straight. "There was never a real Jenny, and none of us saw that number anywhere," he says. "Our label thought we should make up a good story about it, so we went with it. It took on a life of its own."