“Don’t Do Me Like That” was a song that Petty had had lying around for five years, back to when his early (and later) band Mudcrutch recorded it as a demo in 1974. All of that in spite of the fact that their ear for a commercial melody carried them onto both pop and rock radio, when so many rivals had to choose one or the other. There was a tangible aura of controlled aggression about so many Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers songs, an alluring sense of danger that made it cool to choose them as your favorite group.
Straddling Rock and Pop Radio Don’t Do Me Like That Years later, on their 12th studio set Mojo, released in 2010, Tom and the boys went back to the bar (or the 12 bars) to deliver some raucous bluesiness in the form of “Good Enough.” As part of their first album together for eight years, the Petty/Campbell co-write was a raunchy reminder of the feistiness that got them noticed in the first place. After Tom and co’s first two UK chart showings, their original “Breakdown” hit the Hot 100 in November. Not to mention a reggaed-up rendition by Grace Jones, on 1980’s Warm Leatherette. Its sulky blues tones inspired covers by Suzi Quatro and, on their Wasting Light Tour of 2011, Foo Fighters. “Breakdown,” from Petty and the Heartbreakers’ self-titled first album in late 1976, was an early sign that they were about far more than foot-to-the-floor rock’n’roll. “I just couldn’t take the pressure anymore, but then I came back and when we regrouped we were actually able to get it down on tape.”Ĭlick to load video Hidden Bluesy Depths Breakdown I remember being so frustrated with it one day that – I think this is the only time I ever did this – I just left the studio and went out of town for two days,” he continued. We just had a hard time getting the feel right. Co-writer Mike Campbell later remembered: “It took us forever to actually cut the track. “Refugee” was part of 1979’s memorable third album Damn The Torpedoes, which bears the distinction of being the Heartbreakers’ most-certified US release, at triple platinum. To this day, it’s hard to believe that the anthemic “American Girl” never showed on that US chart at all. They had minor British Top 40 hits from that LP with both “Anything That’s Rock ‘n’ Roll” and “American Girl,” giving punk a real run for its money that new wave-fuelled summer. But it was in the UK that they received their first chart placings. Petty served wider notice of his incisive songwriting, sharp-tongued lyrics, and distinctive vocals when he and the Heartbreakers debuted on disc in 1976.
TOM PETTY YOU GOT LUCKY FULL
He was a great performer, full of the light, a friend, and I’ll never forget him.” Formative Rockers Anything That’s Rock ’n’ Roll / American Girl On his death, his friend and former bandmate from the Traveling Wilburys, Bob Dylan, said “I thought the world of Tom. This selection of 20 of Petty’s finestreminds us of his sudden and cruelly early passing on October 2, 2017, and underscores what a huge loss he continues to be.