February 16, 2004

I got it. I got it. (I got)I got IIIITT! Some guy's trying to sell the phone number 867-5309 on ebay, in the 212 (New York) area code no less. Some amusing background, with a mention to the ebay auction.
posted by pyrrthon1 20 years ago
  • I got it. I got it. (I got)I got IIIITT! Don't get: Current bid: US $55,387.81. This # is still hot today, and speaking of, Jenny would be having grandkids about now... When the song was kind of new, tried calling it several times with the end result being: a busy tone or the generic, "line is disconnected", message. Ironic, Tommy Tutone recorded it during the time most telephones were rotary dialed.
  • $55,000 for a phone number based on some obscure reference? I mean come on, $55,000???
  • 867-5309 This is so 80s
  • maybe some of the bidders are in the music industry, maybe someone connected to the recording...? i never paid attn to the lyrics of that song, save the phone # of course, but it was a fun little tune. /off topic as an aside, which html tags work on this philter...? i notice pretty much most tags seem to not work, but i was wondering if that's intermittent. my own philter is dodgey with tags as well.
  • It just reached $65,000 and there's still 6 days before the auction ends. Knowing that the auctions are really starting during the last minutes, some people have way to much money.
  • yeah but 55k in NYC gets you what, a hot dog and a beer?
  • ::gets totally psyched, checks credit card balance:: ::cries:: Jenny! Jenny! Who can I turn to?!
  • I have um, a friend - yeah, a friend, whose name is Jennie. And she's STILL getting asked whether or not this is her phone number. At the bars, at work, at parties ... YOU spend the rest of your life trying to laugh at that song. Damn Tommy Tutone.
  • In all seriousness, props to pyrrthon1 who, through his (brief) status as high bidder, was able to fly Icarus-like and touch the blazing sun for one glorious moment.
  • I saw an interview on VH1 or something with the lead singer of this song, and he said it was actually about masturbation. He thought it was pretty funny that it was became so popular when no one really knew what it was about.
  • >it was actually about masturbation. Some other tunes: "Turning Japanese", "Blister in the Sun"...
  • Dudes, people forget how catchy this song really was for those of us on the tail end of the baby-boom. I saw these guys open for Tom Petty almost 2 years before the song made it big (didn't have any idea who they were at the time), and when it did hit, I remembered it instantly. I mean, it was on the radio and MTV for a whole year it seemed. In defense of its price, if you can get the rights to the song in addition, you could save a lot on promotion, no matter what you're selling. Oh, yeah. I want to know what tags work, too. I could swear I've used in the past .
  • -- Oh, yeah. I want to know what tags work, too. I could swear I've used in the past . -- Yeah these tags should work, see the FAQ. /OffTopic
  • Regarding tags: Read the comments in this post on Tracy's blog. In short... she's aware of it and will work on it tonight.
  • it was actually about masturbation. Some other tunes: "Turning Japanese", "Blister in the Sun"... ...Waltzing Matilda
  • it was actually about masturbation "Feel The Beat of the Rhythm of the Night?"
  • Is there a lawyer in the house? I'm curious as to the legality of selling a phone number. Does the cellphone portability act give someone the right to transfer the number to another party? Can phone numbers truly be owned?
  • Dr. Zira - IANAL, but I do recall reading something about phone numbers belonging to the telephone company which issues them. Given the new portability... I'm at a loss. But even in 1990 the issue was unresolved.
  • Exactly...I was under the impression that all the cellular portability act does is give you the right to tranfer the number between carriers. If you give up the number, it reverts back to the carrier... So someone is about to not only pay a ridiculous amount of money for a number, they'll also likely pay a ridiculous amount of money to a lawyer to sort out the legality of all this...
  • Jenny, you magnificent bastard! I GOT YOUR NUMBER! [/patton]
  • It's a Cingular commercial lately.
  • Current bid: US $200,100.00
  • Wow!,over $80,000 now.
  • That's strange - I copied the 200K number from the bid page earlier, and now it's gone down? How does this ebay thing work? Or maybe it was just their typo.
  • And just like metafilter last week--it's gone.
  • <"Wow!,over $80,000 now" ...please add a 0.00: $800K. <"copied the 200K number from the bid page earlier, and now it's gone down" Maybe you can't sell the # as the phone company owns it.
  • Little late there, pyrrthon1.