Music today has been Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers‘ debut album (1976). I was always a fan of Petty and horrified that he died like he did, one of the most tragic deaths in R’n’R. On this album I was fascinated by how he managed (along with Elvis Costello on My Aim Is True, 1977) to convince the world, the critics, the labels, the fans that he was new wave, when in actual fact like Elvis Costello it was pretty standard old fashioned rock music, catchy but closer to roots than the perceived new revolution. One imagines that picture of Petty on the cover in a leather jacket might have done it for him (along with the classic American Girl), as did the picture of Elvis Costello looking very un-seventies rock on the cover of My Aim Is True and looking more like Buddy Holly as if that was a ticket to the zeitgeist and the hearts of a changing music scene. 12 bars, Mike Campbell’s standard Chuck Berry-influenced guitar solos, albeit with a fantastic tone and feel but Petty’s voice and great tunes made for an impressive debut. It straddles the past and the future although the second album You’re Gonna Get It (1978) was more of the same it wasn’t till the breakthrough album Damn The Torpedos (1979) that the band settled into their R’n’R comfort zone. Their blend of catchy rock continued into the future and they even went on a tangent with Longdancer/Tourists/Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart that gave birth to the hit Don’t Come Around Here No More from Southern Accents (1985). Ultimately they were one of the great modern American R’n’R bands, climaxing in a rock and roll cliché that would be hard to swallow.

Music Of The Daze

The musical musings in this post are an excerpt from my daily blog, TO WHERE I AM NOW, featured on my main website. See more pictures and read the full post here.