It’s always the ’80s for some bands

This is the thing about being an ’80s band: No one wants to admit they’re in one.

“I don’t consider myself to be an ’80s artist,” says Tommy Heath, lead singer of Tommy Tutone. “That’s part of the problem.”

There’s a stigma attached to the title, because everything about the ’80s was embarrassing and because it suggests that the act in question hasn’t had a hit since. For Heath, this is true, though the band’s first and last blockbuster, the early ’80s hit “867-5309/Jenny,” is the stuff of legend, the repository of so many rumors, it has its own Snopes.com page.

Detroit band The Romantics had two big, equally enduring hits, “What I Like About You” and “Talking in Your Sleep,” the latter an exercise in Robin Thicke-style creeper pop, though legal battles would keep the band out of the studio during its prime hit-making years. New Jersey band the Smithereens had smaller hits, but more of them, during their almost-10-year heyday circa 1986-94.

The lead singers of all three bands (who appear, alongside singer-songwriter Marshall Crenshaw, at the Arcada Theatre on Friday night) got on the phone to talk about the curious fortunes of ’80s hit-makers. Edited excerpts from those separate conversations follow:

On day jobs, past and present

Pat DiNizio (The Smithereens): I run into folks all the time, whether it’s at the airport or the supermarket, who are very complimentary about the impact our music has made on their lives. It means I made the right choice when I quit the family garbage business to start a rock band. My grandfather and father were appalled when I quit, but I wasn’t happy being the garbageman.

Tommy Heath (Tommy Tutone): I’m a business software developer. It probably sounds really boring, but when I got into it, it sounded really exotic, because I never had a day job.

On the other bands on the bill

Heath: The Romantics and I crossed paths (in the past), but they were really into new wave, and I just happened to be there, pretending to be new wave, like, “OK, I’ll put on the skinny tie.” (The other bands) had an idea about me like everybody else, that I must be corny to have that song, but I think I impressed them. We all get along good.

DiNizio: I had never seen Tommy Tutone play before. He had the one big hit with — was it “Jenny”? But he’s really a great entertainer. People love him. His voice is tremendous. I had my own preconceptions about what it was going to be.

On their biggest hits

Wally Palmar (The Romantics): (“Talking in Your Sleep”) is not creepy. It was just a song about a certain theme, that’s all. It just worked, and it doesn’t go too deep, you know? Unless people want to take it too deep. It’s just a dance song, that’s all.

Heath: (“867-5309”) has got more stories than any other song. I just hit upon something that you can’t escape. I used to laugh about it (being someone’s actual phone number), but then People magazine put my phone number in an article about me to teach me a lesson.

On what they’d do differently

Palmar: Once you’re in a lawsuit, you get a little bit handcuffed from doing any recording. It’s an uncomfortable situation, it draws you away from what you really want to do. We never did anything wrong.

Heath: I’d probably do some things different, yeah. I’d love to go back and try again. … I should’ve (made) a record in 30 days and gone back out and made a million dollars. But I went back in the studio for almost two years, making the big concept album, which about 80 people own. So I’d change that. And I’d try to be nicer back then. I’m pretty nice now. I was a shy egomaniac. I hated stuck-up people, but looking back, I was actually stuck-up myself.

DiNizio: I don’t know that we could have done anything differently. I think I’m a better person than I was, though we were always very kind to everyone and always tried to do the right thing. Did I like that period in time better? Did I feel safer? Yeah, you bet. I don’t miss being recognized everywhere I went. I dealt with it very well, I thought. In a very thankful way. But life is a series of adjustments, and this is who I am now. I wish there was as much work now as there was then.

On decline

DiNizio: Everything has its season, and we had nearly 10 years of tremendous success, where everything we did succeeded, but you can only do that for so long. Eventually things change and public tastes change, and your audience moves on. There’s a saturation point where people get tired of you. When you go from being Pollstar tour of the year three tours in a row, then grunge hits, and the bottom falls out of your career, and the gigs fall off and the audience loses interest. The movement that we helped inspire — we were Kurt Cobain’s favorite band, and I was one of his favorite songwriters. I got this from (producer) Butch Vig and Krist (Novoselic), the bass player. They were listening to our albums in the studio and (being inspired) by our albums when they were making “Nevermind.”

Heath: I wasn’t cool in the ’90s, then I became cool again. No one stays at the same level forever.

On why it’s better to be a two-hit wonder

Palmar: Seeing the bills that come in here every month, it’s a good thing.

Heath: What really makes me mad is when I play with a Flock of Seagulls. They have two versions of the same song (“I Ran”) that was a hit, so they can play it at the beginning and the end. That makes me jealous.

onthetown@tribune.com

Twitter @chitribent

When: 8 p.m. Friday

Where: Arcada Theatre, 105 E. Main St., St. Charles

Tickets: $39-$69; 630-962-7000 or oshows.com