Back in the early ’80s, David Lee Roth did not seem to care much for new wave music. His line about Elvis Costello — that critics like Costello because most of them look like him — is the kind of thing that haunts people in my profession to this day. At the time, Diamond Dave was Van Halen’s wildman lead singer, so he didn’t really have to worry about that stuff too much. Now, however, DLR’s wildman antics are mostly confined to his unhinged YouTube presence, and there’s nothing stopping him from singing an ’80s new wave classic for no reason.

In 1981, the year that Van Halen released Fair Warning, the LA band Tommy Tutone released their only hit, the insidiously catchy prank-call incitement “867-5309/Jenny.” I don’t remember my mom’s phone number, but I remember that one. I bet David Lee Roth called it at least once, too. Today, just because, Roth has posted an acoustic cover of the song on YouTube. Roth’s vocal performances don’t always get rave reviews, but I think he sounds good on this one. Listen below.

In related news, efforts to uncover the identity of the titular Jenny are not going so well.

@badgalfrancesca

♬ original sound – FRANCESCA