Tom Petty - 1950 - 2017

We all have taken some things away from music that are odd to others and tragic to some, interesting to a few and confusing to most it's because of our individual music tastes.  For everyone of us that is a fan of Blues music, there are fifty that think it is stupid and for everyone that loves that one obscure song by KISS there are fifty that will tell you that they were never any good.  That is the beauty of music, it is a passion and a trigger for opinions like no other.  What if I told you there was a guy, a single performer that left such an indelible mark on music that regardless of his accomplishments my greatest memory of him references a child's fairy tale and a video?

The year 1985 is unlike any other year for me because of some personal tragedies and significant milestones that occurred in my life.  I lost a very important uncle who was more like a brother to me than an uncle, I had a terrible car accident that scarred my leg and gave me concussion number four I think it was and it was the time that a medical condition kept me from enlisting into the military among other things.  It was also a time where I ended my Junior year of high school and started my Senior year plus I had my Beloved Chicago Bears that went to and WON Super Bowl XX, and my favorite baseball team, the Kansas City Royals won the World Series so things were not all bad.

In 1985 the town I lived in despite being the largest town in the county didn't have MTV so to watch the offending, I mean the "awesome" channel I had to travel to my cousins house in Warren, Illinois a scant 20ish miles away.  That used to drive me crazy because the town I lived in was not only the largest town in the county but also the county seat and we were last to actually get MTV on cable and that still didn't happen for a few YEARS so my chance to see videos was limited to time spent in Warren or on Friday nights when NBC had the aptly named show "Friday Night Videos."  I watched that show every chance I could (restricted oddly enough to Friday nights) and it actually introduced me to some amazing acts during that time.

Friday Night Videos was rife with acts I had never heard of and some that became staples to my music tastes and loves.  I harken back to what it must have felt like for the youth of the '50s and '60s to see their favorite artists in magazines as they listened to their "45's" (small, vinyl records that ran at 45 RPM on an actual record player for those of you that have never heard or seen such things) as I actually watched those artists perform their music.  It was a cathartic release because you could not only hear the song, but you could get a mini-movie out of the deal to further entertain you.  I am a massive movie buff so it was really special for me to see this little interpretation of the music.

It was fascinating to see these little interpretations but I remember the first time I watched the video for "Don't Come Around Here No More" from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, it was a tad disturbing if I'm being honest.  The song itself has this almost slow, methodical beat like something you might think one might use to hypnotize one with.  To this day I can still hear the sound of what is seemingly a zither or some Middle-Eastern sounding instrument in the background and it is haunting.  I love that aspect of the song but what I always liked was the progressive rate in which it began to ramp up to a much faster sound as it ended, it has always been one of my favorite songs.

The disturbing part was never really with the song itself, which was written by Petty and Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics it was with the video itself.  The origins of the song itself are "murky" based off of Stewart's explanation of the events that led to writing the song including a member of Fleetwood Mac, her trying on "Victorian Era" clothing at 5 AM, and her uttering the words "Don't Come Around Here No More" and how some of the events felt very much like Alice in Wonderland which leads me to the video.  As Stewart appears at the beginning of the video as a caterpillar it begins to take on the Alice in Wonderland feel with massive drug addled undertones that are prevailing throughout the video.  Okay that's being nice, the entire video is reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland with Petty appearing as the Mad Hatter and an major role for Alice in the video.  It culminates with her being turned into a giant cake and being eaten Petty and friends and at the very end Petty swallows Alice whole and burps.  It is a bizarre, disturbing video that has always stuck with me and for good reason.  It's an incredible video and one of my all-time favorites if not for the drug-addled symbolism, fairy tale qualities and copious amounts of what did I just watch.

By 1985 and the release of the album "Southern Accents" in which Don't Come Around Here No More was firmly seated, Petty had already released five other albums, five INCREDIBLE albums and the release of Southern Accents was far from disappointing.  Petty's first release in 1976 was the self-titled "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers" which went Gold and reached #55 on the Billboard Top 200.  While "blockbuster" status wasn't achieved two of Petty's greatest singles ever were on that album: Breakdown and American Girl.  The luster of Petty's music began to shine with the release of his next album "You're Gonna Get It" in 1978 reaching #23 on the Billboard Top 200 and with the 1979 release of "Damn the Torpedoes" Petty took his spot in rock royalty.

Rock royalty and only his third release how is that possible you ask?  Consider this for a moment, the release of "Damn the Torpedoes" took Petty to #2 on the Billboard Top 200, going Gold THREE times, and Platinum TWICE and only Pink Floyd "The Wall" kept the record from going #1.  Petty released three singles from the album (Don't Do Me Like That, Refugee, and Here Comes My Girl) with Don't Do Me Like That going #10 and Refugee hitting #15 on the charts.  Damn the Torpedoes was an iconic album for Petty and it cemented him as one of the best in rock. With the releases of the albums Hard Promises and Long After Dark in 1981 and 1982 respectively continued his successes reaching #5 and #9 on the Billboard Top 200.

Including the "Southern Accents" album, Petty had now released FOUR albums that were #9 or better on the Billboard Top 200 (Southern Accents was #9).  Petty's record sales garnered Gold status for each album, Platinum FIVE TIMES with FIVE songs in the Top 5 of the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts (The Waiting and You Got Lucky were #1, Don't Come Around Here No More was a #2, A Woman in Love (It's Not Me) and Rebels were both #5) that is simply amazing and it was all accomplished no later than 1985.

Petty had an incredible body of work, his music library is extensive and it isn't only confined to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.  Petty was also a solo artist, releasing albums under simply "Tom Petty" but he was also part of Mudcrutch and one of my personal favorite "super-groups" if you will, the Traveling Wilburys."

The Traveling Wilburys was a fascinating little band, it included some of the biggest names in music history quite frankly and they put out some wonderful music in the process.  Comprised of Petty, George Harrison (The Beatles), Jeff Lynne (Electric Light Orchestra), Roy Orbison and Bob Dylan, the band performed is if they were brothers, adopting the pseudonyms Charlie T. Jr. (Petty), Nelson (Harrison), Otis (Lynne), Lefty (Orbison) and Lucky (Dylan) the band put out two incredible albums.  What Petty and his cohorts accomplished with the Traveling Wilburys was two albums (Orbison died before the second studio album was recorded), the first being Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 which went #3 on the Billboard US Top 200, achieved Silver Record status and Platinum three times.  That album had two #2 hits (Handle With Care and End of the Line).

Following its success the band released their second and final studio release called Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3.  Despite the loss of Orbison Vol. 3 gathered it position at #11, it went Platinum and the single She's My Baby was a huge success at #2.  The Traveling Wilburys were in itself an incredible band but following Orbison's death and waning record sales the band began to fizzle out in 1990 despite a rumored tour by Harrison.  If I am being honest I really think that the Traveling Wilburys were an underrated band that had so much potential, I just wish it could have become even bigger and similarly lies the project Petty undertook called Mudcrutch.

Mudcrutch is a fascinating subject in and of itself honestly.  Started in Gainesville, Florida in 1970 by Petty and Tom Leadon (left in 1972) Mudcrutch became the first real foray into fame for Petty.  Petty and Leadon enlisted Jim Lenehan (vocals - left in 1972), Randall Marsh (drums) and Mike Campbell with Benmont Tench joining later to form Mudcrutch and they quickly became a Gainesville staple.  In 1974 Mudcrutch was signed by the now defunct Shelter Records but following a release of an uncharted single in 1975 the band broke up completely but Petty, Campbell and Tench formed a little band called Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Mudcrutch remained dormant until 2007 whereby Petty reformed Mudcrutch bringing Marsh and Leadon back into the fold.  Also in the mix were Campbell and Tench straight from the rolls of the Heartbreakers.  By 2008 Mudcrutch had recorded and released their self-titled album Mudcrutch and hit with relative success reaching #8 on the Top 200.  It's a real trend for Petty based bands to hit high on the Top 200 because with the release of Mudcrutch 2 was further success by reaching #10 on the same chart.

Isn't that extraordinary for a body of work for any musician?  It seems that everything Petty touched was blessed with success, in fact Petty released twenty-one total studio albums (as either a solo artist, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Traveling Wilburys or Mudcrutch) of which FIFTEEN charted #10 or higher on the Billboard Top 200 (SEVEN as the Heartbreakers, THREE as Tom Petty, THREE as Traveling Wilburys, TWO as Mudcrutch), twelve live albums (eleven as Tom Petty and one as Mudcrutch).  Petty released sixty-eight singles, THIRTY-THREE of which were #10 or better (two of these were as a guest performer) and eleven Videos / DVD's.

Petty is simply one of the most important musicians of our era and has been recognized as such.  Petty has achieved status that few have, he received a "Star" on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999, the George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement in 1996, the Billboard Century Award in 2005 and the crowning jewel to any musicians career induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.  Petty has been part and parcel to some of the most important music of the century and it is evident in his achievements.

On October 2nd, 2017 Tom Petty suffered full cardiac arrest at his home and was taken to the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, California where he passed away later that evening.  In the purest form of the internet, rumors began to swirl prematurely with some speculating erroneously and carelessly that Petty was one of the victims of the horrific mass shooting in Las Vegas October 1st, 2017.


Petty is survived by his wife second wife Dana, a brother, two daughters, a stepson and a grandchild.

In a world of bipolar music, painful talent and subpar music content Petty will be sincerely missed. When I first saw that video for "Don't Come Around Here No More" in 1985 I had no idea what an important song and video it truly was.  As I left the innocence of youth and started my own trek into the world at large there was no way I could know or understand the complexity of life that sat before me.  Musicians and visionaries like Petty are rare but their indelible mark upon our souls is real.  For every soulless piece of music that is spilled before us today there will still be works of art by real artists and musicians like Petty although exceptionally rare.  Musicians that really did pour out their hearts and souls into their craft and gave us music we could take with us each day of our lives.  We don't have enough musicians like Petty that can truly help us through our days with intelligent music and his loss is indeed a sad day.  God bless and Rest In Peace.