Customer Reviews

Golden Classics Edition

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Tommy Tutone is often noted as being a one hit wonder band. This is simply because "867-5309/Jenny" was their only song to receive air play. It isn't even their best song. This CD is full of good songs primarily from the first 2 albums. I highly recomend this CD, just take a listen and you will agree. Given more airtime for all their material they could of had a string of hits during the 80's, there is little music in the same genre today that can match this stuff !!

Tommy Tutone made three albums in the early 80s, and had one smash hit single, "867-5309/Jenny", which was from the second album, "Tommy Tutone 2". This CD re-issue combines the first 2 albums on one CD. (The 3rd album, "National Emotion", has never been issued on CD, but is a disappointment compared to the first two.) Tommy Tutone's albums were comprised of energetic power pop in the style of the hit, plus slower, more somber songs that were equally catchy but had a quality of melancholy - "Shadow On The Road Ahead", "Which Man Are You". The first album is pretty good, a 3-star effort, but it is on the 5-star second album where they really shine. The two leaders, singer Tommy Health and guitarist Jim Keller, where known during the band's brief life for not getting along well together, and after album three they finally split up. More than a decade after their heyday, Heath resurrected the band name and put out two more albums as Tommy Tutone, without Keller's involvement. I haven't heard either one. If you know and love "867-5309/Jenny" and are curious about whether the rest is worth owning, my advice is go ahead and buy this CD, there are plenty of other good songs to be found here.
(April 2003 update: Now I HAVE heard the two later albums, and I like them both. 1994's "Nervous Love" seems more like a Tommy Heath solo album, but 1998's "Tutone.rtf" has got the old Tommy Tutone spirit, and holds it's own with the best of the albums from the 80s. I've submitted reviews of each to Amazon.

Tommy Tutone enjoyed a short heyday during the peak of New Wave in the early 1980s. The first two Tutone albums contained an array of power pop--music with hooks and an edge. There are at least five or six great tunes on this CD. Jenny (867-5309 is their best-known song and may also be their best. But songs like Baby It's Alight, Angel Say No, Cheap Date and Which Man are You, among others, are worth a serious listen. If you're into the music of the New Wave period, definitely check this CD out.

Having been exposed to only "8675309-JENNIE" leaves you totally unprepared
for the scope and depth that this band summons forth in this compilation of their other songs. Tommy Heath and Jim Keller evoke a synthesis of sound that stirs the echos of Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, the Beatles, T-Bone Burnett and Tom Waits among others. Why they did not chart more hits is no mystery as they had little help or promotion from their label. With songs like "Which Man Are You", "Why Baby Why","No Way to Cry", "Steal Away" and "Tonight", all of which have haunting lyrics and captivating melodies (like Orbison's Ballads)they should have stayed in the Top 40. Their lyrics are so good they must have been written with a silver pen using golden ink because once you start listening to the songs, its hard to stop. For anyone that believes no good music came from the 1980s, you need only hear Tutone 'Once' to realize that's not true. They had a rare talent and should have stayed together longer because their music is much, much better than the seemingly anonymous and androgynous "pretty boys" which seemed more concerned with their hair than with their music. Their guitars and vocals are faultless, and adding the meshing together of the drums and keyboards have you believing they had been together for many years. They don't need the on stage antics of other bands, and they did not need it as their music is so introspective and different that it is almost, "stand alone."
A genuine diamond that begs to be played over and over.

CD-R's are fine. It's the person preparing your shipment that may be screwy. Labels mis-spelled, some titles in CAPITAL LETTERS and some not. Some track listings may be incorrect. No info on who wrote or performed on the songs... just a pretty one sided label, a jewel case and a CD-R. A burner, a printer and some paper, and you, too, are in business...

This is all the output that you'll need. This is the best "Best of Tommy Tutone" at the moment that "this" New Wave (Catchy, Edgy, Power Pop)was Hot, (for about 18 months in the 80's then everybody wanted more "raw emotions") These guys did it smart. If you get Marshall Chrenshaw, you'll get these guys!

Tommy Tutone 2, is a great CD. His style was Rock-n-Roll in the package of New Wave. That's because of the keyboards used on the songs. There is a lot of great songs on this CD, unfortunately everything has been overlooked because of his massive hit Jenny! If you like that song his style is similar on all the other tunes. I'm still waiting for his third CD National Emotion to be released on CD.
Yuou'll be surprized on how the songs grow on you. So Mr. Heath, quit fixing PC's and record a new album. Your fans are waiting!

I saw this band perform in 1981 in a bar on the marina at Sodus Point, New York. They sucked live, and I drove 40 miles to find that that out! But I can tell you that in spite of this disappointment, I am a Tommy Tutone fan. Like a lot of "one hit wonders", Tommy Tutone has many more songs that are MUCH better than the one hit that, for some unknown reason, got the radio airplay. The depth of the songwriting on Tommy Tutone 2 is much deeper than the lyrics for 867-5301/Jenny would have you believe. "Shadow On The Road Ahead", "Why Baby Why", "Which Man Are You" and "No Way To Cry" stand out for me. And "867-5309/Jenny" is a hoot of a party song! I have not heard the releases after Tommy Tutone 2, but this album alone is worth the price of admission on a two-for-one CD.

Despite the concensus opinion in most reviews to disparage Tommy Tutone's third album "National Emotion" I maintain that it was a stellar effort and should have been for Tommy Tutone what "Rumours" was for Fleetwood Mac. I am obviously the odd man out on this opinion, but happily so. Can we please have National Emotion go digital?!