Etc.

Nobody here by that name

If you were into rock music back in the early 1980s – seriously into it, that is – you may remember a hit song, "867-5309/Jenny." Not that it's among the all-time golden oldies, mind you, but it did serve to make that hypothetical phone number perhaps the most famous in the history of the genre. (If only because the recording by the band Tommy Tutone repeats it 20 times in the 4-1/2 minutes that the song lasts.) To this day, pranksters call the number to ask if "Jenny" is at home. You could check with Spencer Potter for confirmation of that. As a professional disc jockey in Weehawken, N.J., he was familiar with the song. And on a whim, when the number became available in his area code, he and his roommates asked the phone company if they could have it. Answer: yes. That was five years and roughly 50,000 calls ago. Indeed, the first came as they were plugging their new phone into its wall socket. Others have arrived at 2, 3, and 4 a.m. In self-defense, the guys eventually bought an answering machine, then a second telephone with a different number. One of the calls came from a young woman who wished to explain that she'd given 867-5309 to people she didn't care to hear from again. That led to a dating relationship with Potter. Alas, it didn't endure, and now he has had enough of the novelty number, too. He is moving his business to New York State and has put 867-5309 up for sale on eBay, the online marketplace. Still, he told reporters, "It has been awesome; I've met some great people." On the other hand, "I've heard some very, very bad singing performances."