The Toy Box: Tom Petty

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Retro Spins: Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever

Today's a day for a little bit of Retro Spins cleanup. Back in May, I ran through the albums of Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, but in doing so, I skipped right over Petty's 1989 solo debut effort, Full Moon Fever. That's pretty ironic, considering that it touts some of his greatest hits of all time, including the overplayed, very tried and true...and boring, Free Falling. Admittedly, I'm diving in today more so out of necessity to check a box than an actual desire to hear this one.

The album was spawned from a desire to do something without his backing band, a decision which didn't sit well with most of the members. However, this would be odd unto itself, as all but Stan Lynch would contribute to the album. It was more so an opportunity for Petty to work with his friends, such as members of the Travelling Wilbury's; Roy Orbison, George Harrison, and Jeff Lynne, the latter who would write most of the songs with Petty, as well as play multiple instruments, and provide backing vocals on the record.

Full Moon Fever would become his biggest selling album in his career, including among those with the Heartbreakers. As a whole, it would peak at number three in the USA, as well as rank in the top ten in four other countries, while also charting in three others. With it came the 1989 Billboard Hot 100 hit single, Free Falling (of course), which peaked at number three, and was followed by I Won't Back Down, which stalled out at number forty-one. A final single, A Face In The Crowd would chart in 1990, and finish out at number forty-six.

If you picked up the CD version of the album, you'd get a little hidden treat not provided on the original vinyl and cassette releases. That would be the hidden track, Feel A Whole Lot Better, tucked in between songs six and seven. Not a song per se, but rather a monologue from Petty, laid over animal sounds. The liner notes for the disc refer to it as, "Attention CD Listeners"., and the monologue itself states:

"Hello, CD listeners. We've come to the point in this album where those listening on cassette, or records, will have to stand up, or sit down, and turn over the record, or tape. In fairness to those listeners, we'll now take a few seconds before we begin Side Two. Thank you. Here's Side Two."

Free Falling kicks the album off, and admittedly, I had zero interest in hearing this. It's a song which made my Dirty Dozen's list of most overplayed songs of all time, and is one I really don't enjoy at this point as a result of its overexposure. This was followed by; I Won't Back Down, another hit which has relatively run its course with me at this point in my life.

Finally, with track three, I was into new territory. You can hear the sound shift with Love Is A Long Road, and this is most likely because of Lynne not being involved with it. Instead, it's penned by Petty, and longtime Heartbreakers member, Mike Campbell. It was here that things started to get into better territory for me, albeit because it was relatively all new to me.

I won't shun the hits, the two aforementioned, along with Runnin' Down A Dream are definitely solid. I just find them to have run their course at this point. Resulting from that were other standout tracks for me, such as the above noted Love Is A Long Road, A Face In The Crowd, and Yer So Bad.

As a whole, it's a decent album, but more importantly, I'm just kind of glad to be done with Tom Petty in my CD collection. Unfortunately, there's not much more to say. While I'd normally go into further history, I pretty much covered all of that ground in my post on the album, Let Me Up (I've Had Enough). So, instead, I'm off to find something "new" for tomorrow.

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Retro Spins: Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - Let Me Up (I've Had Enough)

Between 1985 and 1986, Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers spent a lot of time on the road. This kicked off with their appearance at Live Aid, which was followed by their own world tour, and subsequent live album, Pack Up the Plantation: Live! Rather than return to the studio, the band instead took Bob Dylan up on an offer to join him on the road for his True Confessions Tour. They would then join the Grateful Dead for a few shows between 1986, and 1987. Because of this, it would be two years since his last studio album before Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) would be recorded and released.

It would receive a generally mediocre reception, with critics calling it simple and fragmented. The overall lackluster opinion of it would also translate to sales and charts, making it one of the worst in the band's career since 1978's You're Gonna Get It!

If I'm being honest, I tuned most of this album out. There wasn't much, if anything, which grabbed my attention. By track six, I couldn't even tell you what any of the previous sounded like. It was all relatively forgettable.

All the momentum Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers had built up with me on 1982's Long After Dark, had began to falter under the drastic musical change of 1985's Southern Accents, and with Let Me Up, was pretty much gone.

It's a shame. This isn't how I wanted my listening sessions to go. I wanted to walk away from it all saying that while I may have been burned out on Free Falling, that there was a reason they were a legacy band. At the end of it, I'm just not seeing the mass appeal. Candidly, I can't even say there was a standout track in it all. Everything was just sort of, blah.

Rather than jump into another studio album, Petty instead joined George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne to record the song, Handle Me With Care. It would initially be planned as a B-side to one of Harrison's singles but be deemed too good for that. The end result was the birth of The Traveling Wilburys, and their album, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1, released in 1988 by Warner Bros.

Petty would then release his own solo album in 1989, Full Moon Fever. While many of the Heartbreakers would contribute to the recording sessions, so to did the likes of George Harrison, Del Shannon, Roy Orbison, Jim Keltner, and Jeff Lynne. While the album was released by MCA, Petty too would shift to Warner for his next studio album, 1994's Wildflowers.

Despite his solo success, the Heartbreakers were far done. The line-up of Tom Petty, Mike Campbell, Howie Epstein, Benmont Tench, and Stan Lynch would continue through 1991's Into The Great Wide Open. Lynch would depart in 1994, citing creative issues with Petty, and the band would continue on as a four piece through 1999's Echo.

Struggling with a heroin addiction, Epstein would be fired in 2002. With his departure, the band would not only replace him with previous member Ron Blair but expand to a six-piece with the inclusion of Scott Thurston, and Steve Ferrone. This iteration would finish out the storied career of Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers with three more albums; The Last DJ (2002), Mojo (2010), and Hypnotic Eye (2014). Petty would also release his third and final solo album, Highway Companion in 2006.

The Tom Petty Radio channel launched in 2015 on Sirius Radio, and by 2017, the band was embarking on a 40th anniversary tour. The tour wrapped up on September 25 of that year, and tragically, it was reported that Petty had passed away just seven days later. The worst part about it, his death could have been avoided. It was ruled an overdose from opioids and antidepressants, which he was taking to aid him with severe pain from several medical conditions, including a fractured hip.

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Retro Spins: Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - Southern Accents

Led by its lead single, and quirky Alice in Wonderland homage music video, Don't Come Around Here No More would catapult the band into the MTV era. However, the album would be far from what it was initially planned out to be.

When Petty conceived Southern Accents, it was intended to be a concept album. However, this would quickly turn murky when Eurythmics alum Dave Stewart stepped in to co-write tracks. With him also came a shift in musical style. While it would still ultimately be labeled a Southern rock album, the truth was that the boys were dabbling into a more synth pop sound.

Some critics would call it ambitious, while others would say it got lost in its own ambition. Then there would be those who would rank it among the best from the band. In the end, the opinions didn't hinder the albums momentum up the charts, where it peaked at number seven on the Billboard 200. Further, it would once again return them to platinum selling artist status.

For me, Southern Accents includes my favorite tune from them, and that of course is the aforementioned Don't Come Around Here No More. I remember when I first saw the video on MTV, though not the timeframe it was. I couldn't take my eyes off of it. Visually, it was amazing, and the song itself resonated in my mind. Ironically, as I got older, I actually thought it was a tune from the 90's. I was ecstatic to learn it could be added to my 80's collection.

As for the rest of the album, you can definitely hear the influence of Stewart, not only in his three contributions, but across others. However, with that said, it's definitely a departure from Petty's previous work, and candidly, it kind of threw me off. With his previous album, Long After Dark, I had finally embraced the band's sound, and it made me eager to hear more. So, going from that to this, was a bit of a shock.

It's a decent album, and there's standout tracks in It Ain't Nothing To Me, and Mary's New Car. However, as a whole, it was really unexpected. I suppose it was also not what I really wanted. Like I said, I'd come around to the sound of the band, and my ears were ready, and maybe even anticipating hearing more of that.

The next stop for Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers was Live Aid, where they took the stage in Philadelphia to perform American Girl, The Waiting, Rebels, and Refugee. From there, they embarked on a massive world tour, which led to the live album Pack Up the Plantation: Live!, released that same year. Rather than return to the studio, the band would instead take Bob Dylan up on his invitation, and head out with him for his True Confessions Tour. Finally, in 1987, the world would receive their next album, Let Me Up (I've Had Enough), and that's where we go tomorrow.

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Retro Spins: Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - Long After Dark

Now that I've gone back a few days, and completed my run through Sade's albums, it's time to hop back into Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers. I daresay that the mind-numbing experience that was the smooth jazz band was just what I needed to put me in the mood for the faster paced Southern rock of Petty.

The storied history of Tom Petty begins as the Epics in 1976, which eventually evolved into the Mudcrutch. The band featured future Heartbreakers, Mike Campbell, and Benmont Tench. There's a history there in and of itself, and though they didn't at the time, Mudcrutch would eventually release two studio albums in 2008 and 2016. However, at the time, their music was going unnoticed, and they decided to disband.

Petty would reluctantly pursue a solo career, only to end up collaborating again with Campbell, Tench, Ron Blair and Stan Lynch, forming Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers. This lineup would land their first recording deal with Shelter Records, releasing their 1976 self-titled debut, and 1978 follow-up, You're Gonna Get It! The latter would become their first top forty album.

By 1979, Shelter was sold to MCA, Petty wasn't interested in joining. He'd state he felt like a piece of meat being bought and sold and had no interest. This resulted in a legal battle over his recording contract, one which Petty would file for bankruptcy to get out of. The suit was eventually settled, and as part of it, MCA agreed to form Backstreet Records to re-sign him and the band. It's been stated that this whole process inspired the hit, Refugee, released on their first Backstreet album, Damn The Torpedoes.

The album would become their first platinum seller, followed by 1981's Hard Promises. While as a whole they were going strong, internally, bassist Ron Blair had hit a wall. Exhausted and burnt out, he wanted a quitter life, prompting him to leave the Heartbreakers prior to 1982's Long After Dark. He'd be replaced by Howie Epstein.

Long After Dark doesn't necessarily deliver the hits that you'll hear across airwaves, especially these days. However, what it does have going for it is a solid rock album. It was surprising really good. Standout tracks for me included A One Story Town, You Got Lucky, Deliver Me, We Stand A Chance, and Straight Into Darkness.

I don't know, maybe it was the mind-numbing experience of Sade that really hooked me on this more up tempo album. Perhaps the music was just good. Maybe, I'm just turning into a Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers fan. Whatever it was, I endorse this album, and I'm keen on hearing some more from the fellas.

This is what I was hoping would happen. There's no doubt they're a legacy act, and I candidly wanted in on that scene. I'm glad that, so far, it's not disappointing. I'll pick up tomorrow with 1985's Southern Accents, an album that would continue the band's success, but wouldn't be without its own problems.

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Retro Spins: Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - Hard Promises

Thanks to the radio's incessant playing of Tom Petty's Free Falling, I have a very difficult time listening to his music. I'm just so burned out on it from just that one song repeatedly being hammered into my ears. It's because of this that I've had several of his albums, 70's through 90's, but to this day never played one of them. Well, it's time to grit my teeth, and check them off.

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers were catapulted to mainstream success with their 1979 album, Damn The Torpedo's, the third in their studio discography. It was because of this that when it came time to release his 1981 follow-up, Hard Promises, MCA wanted to capitalize by moving his albums into the "superstar pricing" category, a higher price reserved for the biggest sellers as a way to squeeze more money out of the fans. Petty objected and did so vocally through the local press. The artist even considered not turning over the album for release, or renaming it Eight Ninety-Eight, the standard price of albums at the time. MCA eventually stepped down from the matter and released it for the regular price.

Led by single, The Waiting, which would peak at number nineteen on the Billboard Hot 100, the album itself would eventually go platinum, peaking at number two on the Billboard 200. Mirroring Stevie Nick's 1981 release, Bella Donna, Hard Promises too would contain a duet with the two, with Insider. However, this tune wouldn't prove to be better than the Nicks album's Stop Draggin' My Heart Around.

Two additional singles would follow. The first being A Woman in Love (It's Not Me), which would peak on the Hot 100 at seventy-nine. The second, Thing About You, would actually make its way to Billboards US Hot Country Songs charts, where it landed at number fourteen.

Playing through it, I didn't expect much. My Petty fatigue has long since run its course. I will say it was nice to hear his voice again, considering he passed away in 2017.

I do appreciate that as an artist he seemed to embrace multiple music styles. He can definitely rock, but at the same time cross genres to country, and new wave. Through and through, he's a solid song writer, and The Heartbreakers definitely know their instruments. I can find no fault in the overall presentation.

There were also a handful of standouts, but not necessarily long-term memorable ones. These included King Roads, Letting You Go, and A Thing About You. Insider is also a pretty solid track, and I suppose based on the lyrics actually serves as the album title track.

Overall, it was much better than I expected. I think my first impression, or lack of desire to hear it was driven by my own fatigue. But ultimately, I can appreciate it as a whole. I dare say I may also be looking forward a bit to jumping into his 1982 follow-up, Long After Dark. While I wish that was where I was heading next, I did completely skip over Sade, which in chronological order will have already been posted.

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