867-5309: A number from the 1980s hit song Jenny now directs callers to support cancer patients | US News

The phone number immortalized in Tommy Tutton’s hit song 867-5309/Jenny has begun connecting callers to a cancer support line – with one ad promoting the news saying it’s time for music’s most popular numbers to do “some good”.

The Cancer Support Community (CSC) Instagram page announced the campaign with a series of posts on Monday referencing the song, which is about a man nervously contemplating calling a woman named Jenny’s phone number, a number scrawled on the bathroom wall.

“The number you and your friends sing at karaoke is now the cancer support number,” one post read, with classic 80s rock music in the background.

Meanwhile, on the website csc8675309.com, a prominently featured radio ad explains in a voice purporting to belong to the song’s heroine: “Hey, it’s Jenny – yes, that Jenny. People call my number all the time to see who answers – it’s been dares, karaoke, bachelorette parties, and road trips. And I love that you all know my number better than your mother’s number. But it’s time for this number to do some good.”

“That’s why I’m texting 867-5309 to the Cancer Support Community Helpline.”

The announcement explains that the telephone helpline at 1-CSC-867-5309 provides free access to specialists with information about resources and education for patients and their caregivers, along with support for affected children.

Another ad on the site with the same voice quotes the famous lyric, “Jenny, who can I turn to?”

“I’m just a girl in a song,” the voice continues. “But since you know my number better than your Social Security number, I’m sending it to someone who actually wants to call me.”

CSC said it organized the line in collaboration with Gilda’s Club, a group founded in honor of actress Gilda Radner, who died of ovarian cancer in 1989.

Meanwhile, in an interview with People magazine published on Monday, Tommy Tutton singer Tommy Heath said one of the main reasons he supported linking his band’s signing to the CSC and Gilda’s Club campaign was because he had “some family members who are suffering from cancer.”

He told the outlet that he suffers from “mild” skin cancer himself — and that the disease tends to attack unexpectedly.

“I went out on tour with a lot of bands and suddenly there was no one left,” Heath was quoted as saying. He added that cancer “affects all of us.”

Heath suggested in his comments to People that he would be happy if Jenny’s association with CSC and Gilda’s Club became more popular in American popular culture.

“I’ll be happy if this…makes people smile [gave] “They hope. I’m very proud to be a part of it,” Heath said.

As The Guardian wrote in 2018, the number in the recurring chorus of 867-5309/Jenny was deemed off-limits by several US phone companies after it peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1982 due to the excessive amount of cold calls it inevitably generated.

However, one radio station managed to get hold of the number – it reportedly received 22,000 calls in just four days.