POLL: Tom Petty/Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

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Using the <i>Anthology: Through the Years</i> compilation as a catchall for most of Petty's singles and popular work (from the MCA catalogue, at least) up to the year 2000, it's time to pick your favorite.

http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/416MSE2V5HL._SS500_.jpg

Poll Results

OptionVotes
"American Girl" 8
"Don't Come Around Here No More" 5
"The Waiting" 3
"Even the Losers" 3
"Learning to Fly" 3
"Mary Jane's Last Dance" 2
"Refugee" 2
"Here Comes My Girl" 2
"Free Fallin'" (solo) 1
"Yer So Bad" (solo) 1
"The Best of Everything" 1
"You Got Lucky" 1
"Jammin' Me" 1
"Don't Do Me Like That" 1
"Into the Great Wide Open" 1
"Runnin' Down a Dream" (solo) 0
"It'll All Work Out" 0
"Waiting for Tonight" 0
"Two Gunslingers" 0
"Love Is a Long Road" (solo) 0
"I Won't Back Down" (solo) 0
"Breakdown" 0
"So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" (live) 0
"Hometown Blues" 0
"The Wild One, Forever" 0
"I Need to Know" 0
"Listen to Her Heart" 0
"Too Much Ain't Enough" 0
"A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)" 0
"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" (with Stevie Nicks) 0
"Straight Into Darkness" 0
"Change of Heart" 0
"Rebels" 0
"Surrender"0


Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 3 October 2007 05:52 (seventeen years ago)

as much as i'd like to choose something from 'full moon fever', don't come around here no more takes it out easily (and not just for the ace video)

electricsound, Wednesday, 3 October 2007 06:02 (seventeen years ago)

i went for "the waiting"

gman, Wednesday, 3 October 2007 06:12 (seventeen years ago)

I'm sort of favoring "It'll All Work Out" right now because I just watched Elizabethtown a couple days ago, but in the grand scheme I really have to go with "Don't Come Around Here No More."

Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 3 October 2007 06:15 (seventeen years ago)

the super-underrated "Learning to Fly," narrowly over "You Got Lucky," "Free Fallin" and "Don't Come Around Here No More>."

The Good Dr. Bill, Wednesday, 3 October 2007 08:30 (seventeen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

ILX System, Tuesday, 9 October 2007 23:01 (seventeen years ago)

"Refugee"

"Even The Losers" and "Into The Great Wide Open" are great as well though.

Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 9 October 2007 23:13 (seventeen years ago)

He's had lots of hits that you no longer hear on the radio, no? From a distance "Jammin' Me," "A Woman in Love," and "Change of Heart" sound great, so this is hard to choose.

Ok fuck it I say "Jammin' Me," thanks to Dylan's lyrical input.

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 9 October 2007 23:15 (seventeen years ago)

"even the losers"

M@tt He1ges0n, Tuesday, 9 October 2007 23:25 (seventeen years ago)

wtf it has to be American Girls or Even the Losers or even Here Comes My Girl. That latter day ELO-style stuff is uggghghghghgh

Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 9 October 2007 23:27 (seventeen years ago)

i love a lot of these but because i think "american girl" is perfect in every detail i can't not vote for it.

tipsy mothra, Wednesday, 10 October 2007 00:36 (seventeen years ago)

Yeah, "American Girl" for me too, easily.

Myonga Vön Bontee, Wednesday, 10 October 2007 00:42 (seventeen years ago)

"Don't come around here no more" for me.

Trayce, Wednesday, 10 October 2007 00:50 (seventeen years ago)

Don't Come Around Here No More takes it easily.

Curt1s Stephens, Wednesday, 10 October 2007 01:01 (seventeen years ago)

went with "The Waiting" just over "Don't Come Around Here No More" cuz "A Face In The Crowd" isn't on it.

da croupier, Wednesday, 10 October 2007 01:07 (seventeen years ago)

I've always been annoyed by "Don't Come Around Here..." It's a great production job, but Petty's whine has never sounded more irritating ("y-y-ya TANGLE mah EEE-MO-O-O-T-SHEE-ONNS!!!").

Still, there was really nothing that sounded like it on the radio in 1985, right? (sitars! drum machine! psychedelic keyboards! Dave Stewart wank-a-rama!)

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, 10 October 2007 01:13 (seventeen years ago)

"Don't Come Around Here No More" is first and foremost a great video.

Geir Hongro, Wednesday, 10 October 2007 10:22 (seventeen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

ILX System, Wednesday, 10 October 2007 23:01 (seventeen years ago)

I knew I should have voted for Breakdown

If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Thursday, 11 October 2007 05:46 (seventeen years ago)

"Learning to Fly" is his most boring single ever. Doesn't deserve the company of "Even the Losers."

clotpoll, Friday, 12 October 2007 00:32 (seventeen years ago)

don't come around here no more is a sound in search of a tune

omar little, Friday, 12 October 2007 01:04 (seventeen years ago)

"So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" (live)

"Into the Great Wide Open" is the worst song/video of all time

gabbneb, Friday, 12 October 2007 01:07 (seventeen years ago)

don't come around here no more is a sound in search of a tune

OTM

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Friday, 12 October 2007 02:09 (seventeen years ago)

five years pass...

1999's "Swingin'," his last top 20 rock radio hit, has aged pretty well

some dude, Monday, 31 December 2012 04:16 (twelve years ago)

"Breakdown" 0
"Rebels" 0
"I Need to Know" 0

still can't get over these results

If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Tuesday, 1 January 2013 02:12 (twelve years ago)

yeah i am loathe to run the same poll twice but it might be warranted here, i think ILM has become a more Petty-friendly place since then

some dude, Tuesday, 1 January 2013 02:14 (twelve years ago)

Straight Into Darkness also got really hosed.

justfanoe (Greg Fanoe), Tuesday, 1 January 2013 03:02 (twelve years ago)

yeah wtf. RE POLL

set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 1 January 2013 03:07 (twelve years ago)

I would totally repoll mid eighties Petty. Our generation has reclaimed him.

the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 1 January 2013 03:25 (twelve years ago)

i was thinking of doing something goofy and specific like post '70s and pre-Full Moon Fever but i don't really know

some dude, Tuesday, 1 January 2013 03:27 (twelve years ago)

Let Me Down is a very good record; and Drive By Truckers covered " Rebels"

the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 1 January 2013 03:30 (twelve years ago)

no votes for "I Won't Back Down" = this poll clearly has no legitimacy whatsoever

Sri Harold Klemp (crüt), Tuesday, 1 January 2013 03:32 (twelve years ago)

the problem with a Tom Petty poll is only being able to vote for one song

some dude, Tuesday, 1 January 2013 03:37 (twelve years ago)

like i spot at least 6 songs i'd feel terrible not making my #1

some dude, Tuesday, 1 January 2013 03:38 (twelve years ago)

mike Campbell rules

2am chopped top (brimstead), Tuesday, 1 January 2013 03:41 (twelve years ago)

i think as a teenager i'd irritate my brother by making a big deal about how mike campbell was the name of the heartbreakers' guitarist and how great he was every time a tom petty song came on, for years and years

some dude, Tuesday, 1 January 2013 03:51 (twelve years ago)

make a Petty poll where u can vote five times each

mike campbell rules

set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 1 January 2013 03:54 (twelve years ago)

it's a shame a big tom petty tracks poll isn't really a sustainable ilx thing. maybe i should just sign up to do one, and then spend the next 2-3 years until it's time to do it rallying people to explore the petty catalog.

some dude, Tuesday, 1 January 2013 03:56 (twelve years ago)

A whole generation grew up thinking the Wilburys created the besf acoustic/harmony sound in latr eighties rock

the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 1 January 2013 04:02 (twelve years ago)

oh some dude you should do one! pleeeeese

set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 1 January 2013 04:04 (twelve years ago)

the problem with a Tom Petty poll is only being able to vote for one song

Seriously. Tom Petty's got such a ridiculously strong catalog.

誤訳侮辱, Tuesday, 1 January 2013 04:05 (twelve years ago)

I'm drunk at a friends house and want to hear every Petty song

the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 1 January 2013 04:09 (twelve years ago)

i demand excellent youtubes

set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 1 January 2013 04:11 (twelve years ago)

I demand Cheer Down clips

the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 1 January 2013 04:13 (twelve years ago)

i don't do karaoke but i decided a few years ago that if i ever do, "don't do me like that" would probably be my song

some dude, Tuesday, 1 January 2013 04:13 (twelve years ago)

which is probably a bad idea, petty is even further out of my range than most singers, but man i love that song

some dude, Tuesday, 1 January 2013 04:15 (twelve years ago)

here is an excellent youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfeEkJGcG0I

set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 1 January 2013 04:16 (twelve years ago)

tbh I cannot believe don't come around here no more finished at #2.

LIKE If you are against racism (omar little), Tuesday, 1 January 2013 04:17 (twelve years ago)

i want to go back in time& date tom petty

set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 1 January 2013 04:17 (twelve years ago)

Fine tune but no

LIKE If you are against racism (omar little), Tuesday, 1 January 2013 04:17 (twelve years ago)

wow

Flamenco Drop (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 8 October 2015 05:11 (nine years ago)

I'm assuming he was into it during Wildflowers and maybe Echo? Saw some comments above about Mike Campbell's "extracurricular activities" was he also on heroin?

DavidLeeRoth, Thursday, 8 October 2015 14:33 (nine years ago)

think that was referring to campbell's production/songwriting gigs away from petty.
but yeah, pretty strange re: petty's heroin use. obviously Echo is a pretty dark record, but ...

tylerw, Thursday, 8 October 2015 14:44 (nine years ago)

Sixties had acid. Seventies had cocaine. But nooooo, I had to come of age when everyone was shooting heroin.

pplains, Thursday, 8 October 2015 15:01 (nine years ago)

i'm thankful that i missed the coke years

welltris (crüt), Thursday, 8 October 2015 15:22 (nine years ago)

Holy mackerel that's nuts. I actually saw the tour the writer was on. It was the Del Fuegos, Georgia Satellites and Tom Petty/Heartbreakers. The Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) tour.

kornrulez6969, Thursday, 8 October 2015 15:27 (nine years ago)

was just listening to Let Me Up I've Had Enough and was thinking it was kinda underrated? Sort of a hodgepodge of approaches, but all pretty good. Weird record for 1987...

tylerw, Thursday, 8 October 2015 15:34 (nine years ago)

It's a real good record. The sound is very dated, and it has its share of clunkers, but the songs are real good. Ain't Love Strange could have been a huge hit if it was produced differently.

kornrulez6969, Thursday, 8 October 2015 15:40 (nine years ago)

Really curious to learn more about Stan Lynch's departure. Always thought he was underrated, and had such a unique top-heavy-but-not-really sound.

Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 8 October 2015 15:45 (nine years ago)

LOVE that record. I love the slapdash feel, out of which emerge these great songs that they never play live.

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 8 October 2015 15:45 (nine years ago)

yeah it's funny, w/ Let Me Up, you can see an alternate timeline where they just kinda wander off into being an interesting, maybe kinda esoteric roots rock band, but Full Moon Fever came along.

tylerw, Thursday, 8 October 2015 15:49 (nine years ago)

Holy cow, that blows me away abt Petty's addiction...though looking back on it, I always thought it was really weird that band had one seemingly randon heoirn user in Howie Epstein...there always felt there was more to that story

Still...man that is insane

TS: Herbie Hancock's 90s crack use vs Tom Petty's 90s heroin use?

chr1sb3singer, Thursday, 8 October 2015 16:05 (nine years ago)

First concert I ever saw was Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Full Moon Fever tour, it was totally fucking awesome

chr1sb3singer, Thursday, 8 October 2015 16:06 (nine years ago)

LOVE that record. I love the slapdash feel, out of which emerge these great songs that they never play live.

Yes. The title track should have been the single instead of Jammin Me. I'd like to hear an alternate version of Runaway Trains without all the 1986 production.

kornrulez6969, Thursday, 8 October 2015 16:17 (nine years ago)

it is kind of a bummer that dylan didn't make a real record with the heartbreakers as his backing band at the time ... though i guess it's typical dylan -- he's the dude who had The Band at his beck and call from 67-70 and didn't make a real record with them either!

tylerw, Thursday, 8 October 2015 16:37 (nine years ago)

Mike Campbell is on Together Through Life.

DavidLeeRoth, Thursday, 8 October 2015 16:40 (nine years ago)

we'll probably get to hear the great lost Dylan & The Heartbreakers LP on the forthcoming Knocked Out Loaded Again: The Bootleg Series vol. 27

tylerw, Thursday, 8 October 2015 16:42 (nine years ago)

well, he did have the Band at beck and call for The Basement Tapes

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 8 October 2015 16:44 (nine years ago)

sure, but i don't think any of them thought they were making a proper record at the time -- when it came time for john wesley harding and nashville skyline he went back to nashville.

tylerw, Thursday, 8 October 2015 16:47 (nine years ago)

Let Me Up is the best Heartbreakers record of the '80s, maybe Hard Promises comes closest.

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 8 October 2015 16:49 (nine years ago)

someone with loose connections with the LA music scene told me about the heroin thing about 16 years ago, kinda shrugged it off at the time, weird to have a half-remembered thing be confirmed so long after the fact.

hunangarage, Thursday, 8 October 2015 16:50 (nine years ago)

As far as 80s Tom Petty, I always enjoyed Long After Dark. Some of his best songs ever are on that, like Straight Into Darkness.

kornrulez6969, Thursday, 8 October 2015 16:56 (nine years ago)

should we hold the upcoming pettypoll till folks have had a chance to read the bio?

resulting post (rogermexico.), Thursday, 8 October 2015 17:25 (nine years ago)

pop quizzes every Thursday

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 8 October 2015 17:26 (nine years ago)

The Petty poll is what, three or four polls away? Just in time for the 50th anniversary reissue of Damn The Torpedoes.

kornrulez6969, Friday, 9 October 2015 01:17 (nine years ago)

Huge fan of Let Me Up

Comme Si, Kamasi (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 9 October 2015 02:22 (nine years ago)

the title track

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 9 October 2015 02:23 (nine years ago)

The title track should have been the single instead of Jammin Me. I'd like to hear an alternate version of Runaway Trains without all the 1986 production.

― kornrulez6969, Thursday, October 8, 2015

Well, uh, no! If it didn't have the programmed synths, it wouldn't be as good. It's Mike Campbell's attempt to write music as good as "The Boys of Summer."

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 9 October 2015 02:25 (nine years ago)

I think you meant to post that in posts very much in character

pplains, Friday, 9 October 2015 02:28 (nine years ago)

yeah runaway trains does sound like boys of summer II ...
another fave is "all mixed up," which suffers a little from the blaring faux horn keyboards, but is such a catchy tune.

tylerw, Friday, 9 October 2015 14:11 (nine years ago)

"My Life/Your World" is my other jam, which they played in 1989, I see.

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 9 October 2015 14:14 (nine years ago)

Wait, wasn't this heroin thing kind of an open secret? I distinctly remember reading a RS cover story on him in 2006 (sitting in my parents' hotel suite waiting for my wedding ceremony to get underway!) in which he was all but admitting he'd been struggling with heroin sometime after his shitty LA riots song where he just kinda went dark for a while.

Naive Teen Idol, Saturday, 10 October 2015 04:35 (nine years ago)

This heroin thing is fucking up my worldview

Comme Si, Kamasi (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, 10 October 2015 05:32 (nine years ago)

one month passes...

The Petty poll is what, three or four polls away? Just in time for the 50th anniversary reissue of Damn The Torpedoes.

― kornrulez6969, Thursday, October 8, 2015

lol

resulting post (rogermexico.), Sunday, 22 November 2015 02:56 (nine years ago)

one year passes...

Well shit

http://www.tmz.com/2017/10/02/tom-petty-found-unconscious-full-cardiac-arrest/

Ned Raggett, Monday, 2 October 2017 19:07 (seven years ago)

Holy shit. I always have a bad feeling when threads like this pop up, but to have that bad feeling apparently affirmed ...

Josh in Chicago, Monday, 2 October 2017 19:11 (seven years ago)

Update: "We've been in touch with numerous people from Petty's camp and they are clearly upset but not talking."

Ned Raggett, Monday, 2 October 2017 19:11 (seven years ago)

oh my god

nomar, Monday, 2 October 2017 19:11 (seven years ago)

this is some bullshit

nomar, Monday, 2 October 2017 19:13 (seven years ago)

Oh no.....

"Celebration" encourages the listener to celebrate good times. (Dan Peterson), Monday, 2 October 2017 19:16 (seven years ago)

fucking hell

Οὖτις, Monday, 2 October 2017 19:16 (seven years ago)

Update: We're told after Petty got to the hospital he had no brain activity and a decision was made to pull life support.

Ned Raggett, Monday, 2 October 2017 19:26 (seven years ago)

gotta be fucking kidding me.

to quote a friend of mine, "there was a time when we'd have a day that wasn't shitty, right?"

nomar, Monday, 2 October 2017 19:28 (seven years ago)

damn

President Keyes, Monday, 2 October 2017 19:28 (seven years ago)

what the hell

tylerw, Monday, 2 October 2017 19:35 (seven years ago)

oh no

kornrulez6969, Monday, 2 October 2017 19:37 (seven years ago)

Oh no
I love him

harbinger of failure (Jon not Jon), Monday, 2 October 2017 20:09 (seven years ago)

FUCK

fact checking cuz, Monday, 2 October 2017 20:10 (seven years ago)

four years pass...

Apparently Stan Lynch will be sitting in with Mike Campbell's new band through June 26. This may be the first time they've played together in nearly 30 years!

birdistheword, Saturday, 23 April 2022 00:34 (three years ago)

Ah, forgot about the HOF induction...still pretty great that it's more than a few songs.

birdistheword, Saturday, 23 April 2022 00:36 (three years ago)


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