Customer Reviews

tutone.rtf

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

 

 

I have been waiting for Tommy Tutone for several years. The new CD is just fantastic. Tommy Heath's voice has never sounded better. Listening to him howl 'Jenny's got the blues...' sent chills through my body. My favorite track is 'Everybody Else is Wrong', but the whole CD is great. A must for Tommy Tutone fans.

I am an old fan of "Tommy tutone". If you liked any of his older tunes this is a must buy CD. I feel that "Jenny's Calling" is one of the best tracks on the CD. When you hear the whole CD you will enjoy every track. This is A MUST BUY CD. I encourge you to buy this CD.

I picked this CD up with little to lose, but a few bucks. It has yet to leave my CD player. The best track on this CD is called "Jenny's Calling" As you can gues a follow up to "867-5309/Jenny." He is glad she never returned that phone call after a listen to this song.

As a young man, I remember spending at least 25% of my paycheck every payday on vinyl records. Occasionally, you got an album where you liked every tune... the writing was inspiring, the performances were strong and the production, recording and pressing were impeccable. I have had damn few CDs that bring the best of those times back to me but this is CD is a stand-out in all these departments!

I had played "Jenny" in bar bands in the late '70s and early 80's so I was familiar with the band Tommy TuTone but I was not clued into this album until a chance meeting with the man himself. I had the distinct pleasure of playing some of these songs (cold) while backing up Tommy Heath at a local jam he occasionally dropped in on. I was blown away by his delivery and presence on stage as well as the power of the music and lyrics ("The World Ain't Flat" made the most immediate connection and impression on me).

In the hope of being better prepared for the next time (if there was a next time), I went out and found this album and found that I couldn't stop listening to it! The next time I had an opportunity to play with Tommy I got to provide guitar and back-up vocals on "The World Ain't Flat" with the benefit of having listened to the song at least 100 times! It was definitely a powerful moment for me. :-)

This album is one of my "Desert Island" CDs. I have bought a number of copies of this CD and have passed them on to friends who I knew would appreciate its fine qualities and it never fails to please. This album is a sleeper that deserves more exposure. I am certainly excited about Tommy's new album (which is due out this year) but I can certainly give this CD my highest recommendation.

Just get it !!!! It's GREAT !!!!
(Now...where did I put Jenny's phone number....? )

Tutone.rtf shows the true genius behind Tommy Tutone, Tommy Heath, who was really the primary focus of the band. But if you are not a Tutone fan, you probably never heard of it. If anything its better than his prior recordings, and they were GOOD. Usually you get one or two songs per disc that are good with the rest being 'filler'. TuTone.rtf stands that notion on its head as every song is very good, and some,"Young Love", "Happy Birthday", "World Ain't Flat", Once You Start Walking" and "Everybody Else is Wrong" really stand out as exceptional. But, "World Ain't Flat" and "Everybody Else is Wrong", are GREAT, with the paranoid's lament from "8675309-JENNY" continuing with "Everybody Else is Wrong". It has a good old rock beat that pulls you into it and just won't let go. He achieves Orbison's ballad theme of lost love in a very different gritty hard rock format-and it works. Tommy Heath will never get the acclaim of Roy Orbison, because of Orbison's four octave high tenor voice. But I cannot help but think had he written these songs for a "NAME" artist they might have achieved some Top Ten possibilities. As a writer he is exceptional.
I hope Tommy Heath continues his music with a better Label, one with some support, because his eclectic style deserves to be HEARD.
TUTONE LIVES!

After 3 albums in the early 80s, the band "Tommy Tutone" disbanded. In 1994 the lead vocalist, Tommy Heath, put out a CD ("Nervous Love") using the Tommy Tutone name, even though none of the other original band members participated. In 1998 Heath did it again with "Tutone.rtf". And you know what? This time out, he proves himself fully capable of continuing the TT name with an album that ranks right up there with the best stuff they ever produced. That was not the case with the 1994 album, which was not well-produced and which did not adhere to the old TT sound. That's not to say it was bad, in fact I liked it, but it didn't SOUND like a Tommy Tutone album. This one ("Tutone.rtf") does. In fact the production this time out is outstanding, superior in fact to any of the original TT albums. And rather than explore different genres such as country or folk ballads, as he had done on the prior album, this time out Heath sticks to the punchy power pop that TT was known for. Furthermore, some of the best songs have the same sort of dark undercurrents that made their best album, "Tommy Tutone 2" from 1981, so good. My favorite is "The Grifter's Prayer", about a desperate guy praying for one big lucky financial windfall. "Happy Birthday Anyway" is great, as is "The World Ain't Flat". In fact, there are no weak tracks at all. "Jenny's Calling", an apparent sequel to "867-5309/Jenny", seems to get the most attention, but it's probably my least favorite track on the album. As you may recall, in 1981 he was obsessed with Jenny after seeing her number written on a bathroom wall. But now he knows her and he realizes he'd have been better off if he never met her - that Jenny is nothing but trouble! It's kind of amusing but it also strikes me as a pretty shameless ploy to try to recapture past glories. Two of the songs from the previous album ("Our Special Place" and "Once You Start Walking") are re-recorded for this album. "Our Special Place" benefits greatly from the second effort, but on the other song I actually prefer the earlier version, even if it's not as well recorded. Anyway, overall this is a very strong album which will almost surely please the old fans. I hope Heath isn't finished yet, this album has left me hungry for more.

I picked this up at a live show in St Paul Minnesota. Every track rings true to the Tommy Heath vocals from days gone by...great lyrics and songs. Pick it up if you can find it...