Bruce Springsteen Calls Jenny
2007-10-01 by John Cruz EMERITUS | 2 Replies | 1414 Views |
 The Chicago Tribune
When we last heard from Tommy Heath, leader of the 1980s band Tommy Tutone, he hadn’t yet heard Bruce Springsteen’s new single, “Radio Nowhere,” in its entirety, but plenty of folks had been telling him about its similarity to Tommy Tutone’s 1982 hit “867-5309/Jenny.”
What he had heard were the short snippets of both songs, and based on that, with the caveat that he’d still have to hear all of “Radio Nowhere,” Heath said he’d consider legal options.
“I think it’s close enough that if I wanted to, I could work with it,” he said. “I don’t really get into that sort of thing, but the kids do need braces, so maybe I will.” Heath’s comments shot around the Internet – turns out there are a few Springsteen fan sites out there – and even made their way into the Wikipedia entry on “Radio Nowhere.”
Well, now Heath has heard all of “Radio Nowhere,” and he said he’s composing a letter to Springsteen manager Jon Landau about that possible lawsuit. His main point: “I was just kidding.”
As he told us Wednesday night, “I’m really honored at a similarity, if any. I think there’s too much suing in the world now, and I’m writing Bruce’s manager now a letter to assure him that I’m not taking any action. If anything, if I had enough gumption, I’d be suing those people who tried to trademark my phone number.”
Heath was referring to a tiff sparked this spring between two plumbing companies, one based in New England and one in Florida, that both were using the phone number 867-5309 in different area codes (including toll-free). The New England company took out a trademark on the number, which the Florida company has fought in court.
“There’s certainly more action I could take there than on this [with Springsteen], and I’m not doing that,” said Heath, who’s currently preparing a new Tommy Tutone album for the South Carolina-based Spectra Records.
Still, does Heath think “Radio Nowhere” sounds like “867-5309”?
“It’s kind of similar,” he said, “but I didn’t think it was that big a deal.”
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