As EBay Bid For Rock Classic '867-5309/Jenny' Skyrockets

LOS ANGELES (Top40 Charts/ Alex Call Official Website) - Few songs immediately take you back to the early '80s (and the early days of MTV) as well as the enduring power pop classic, "867-5309/Jenny," by Tommy Tutone. Recently, the song is back in the news and has led to a media frenzy. The song's author, Alex Call, explains why: "A 28-year-old that's got a DJ business in New Jersey, got the number through his cell phone number. He figured he could sell the business, and the number would be part of the business. People have tried to sell the number before, but the phone companies have retained the right to the number. But since he's selling it as a business, it's a loop hole. As it stands right now, the bidding was at $434,000!"

Despite "867-5309/Jenny" back in the news, Call's main musical interest nowadays is a new project he has launched with his wife, Lisa Carrie, and lyricist (and founder of the Studer Group), Quint Studer, and album, 'Passion and Purpose.' The album - which covers quite a lot of musical ground, including R&B, country, and ballads - was released on Studerecords digitally through iTunes, Amazon.com and all digital platforms on December 18th, 2008, and will be available at retail shortly.

"Lisa, used to be a singer for a bunch of country people - Eddy Arnold, Mickey Gilley, and the Grand Ole Opry, she also made a solo record in 2001 produced by Andrew Gold ," explains Call. Carrie had begun a new career and obtained a job as a customer service director for a health care corporation when she met Quint Studer, who has a consulting company. "Studer goes into hospital corporations and he reforms them - top to bottom. He's a very successful guy and very innovative." Soon the CEO of Lisa's company introduced her to Quint. Continues Call, " Quint said, 'I write lyrics,' so she brought the lyrics to me. At the time, I was really sick of the music business, but she brought me these lyrics, and it turned out to be a lot of fun. I met Quint and we started talking about music - he knows a lot about music, he knows a lot more about records than I do!"

Positive messages can be heard throughout the album's compositions, especially such standouts as "If Only," "I Can Start a Fire," and "The Calling,". Recounts Studer: "Lots of lyrics based on real life came from me, with Alex creating the music. And Lisa put magic into every song - her voice is incredible." Musically, Call describes 'Passion and Purpose' as "Reflecting my roots - I call the style 'Michael McEagles,' somewhere along the lines of Michael McDonald and the Eagles." As evidenced by 'Passion and Purpose,' Call - along with Carrie and Studer - have created a piece of music that will undoubtedly leave a lasting impression on whoever comes in contact with it.

Call, who has also penned songs for Huey Lewis and Pat Benatar, also explained the story behind his best-known song. "I wrote '867-5309/Jenny' in '81 - as kind of a joke. I was sitting under a plumb tree in California. Just came up with the name and number, four chords, and a little guitar riff. I made a demo of it, and the guitar player for Tommy Tutone showed up, heard it, and we put lyrics on it. The song just turned into this iconic monster after a while. It's stayed really strong - it seems to jump generations. Twelve-year-old kids know the song, which is really odd!"