For some guys I know, it’s been Springsteen. For others it’s the Beatles, or Buffet, or Van Halen, or Zeppelin, or the Stones, or the Who.
Since 1981, it’s been Tom Petty for me.
I had heard “Breakdown,” “American Girl,” “Refugee,” and “Don’t Do Me Like That” plenty on the radio and thought they were good. But then I heard “A Woman in Love (it’s not me)” and thought this guy really knows a thing or two about being me: a slap-hitting, weak-armed 17-year-old now former ballplayer who was hoping sometime before he left high school he would have an actual date with an actual girl. Then I read how Tom had fought his record company to keep the price of his “Hard Promises” album $7.98 instead of raising it to $8.98 and it was off to Record Bar at the Southglenn Mall in my 1964 Buick Skylark to pick up a copy.
For some reason I still cannot explain, the songs on the record just clicked, each one, and after listening to it probably 20 times in two days, I felt like I had made a cool new friend. I used some of my hard earned summer job money to go buy Tom’s first two records. My mom bought me “Damn the Torpedoes” to cheer me up the day I had my wisdom teeth removed so I now proudly held his entire catalog.
Starting with Tom’s fifth studio record, “Long After Dark,” it has been a tradition to pick up his new record on release day, which has continued all the way through “Hypnotic Eye,” his last album in 2016.
The first time I saw Tom live was on the “Long After Dark” tour in spring of 1983 at the CU Events Center. I stood the whole show (to the chagrin of the people around me) and knew all the words to every song. Later that summer, the tour blew back through Denver and Tom played Red Rocks. Of all the shows I have seen there, it is still my favorite – my cool friend Tom at the top of his game.
Since then, I lost count how many times I saw Tom. Tucson Arena, McNichols Sports Arena, Fiddler’s Green, Red Rocks, Pepsi Center – each show was awesome and I always knew all the words. I did not go see Tom when he came through Red Rocks this summer for the Heartbreakers' 40-year celebration tour – it felt like a farewell I was not prepared for, so I stayed home that night and listened to “Hard Promises." Twice. I love those songs as much as ever.
As the years flew by and life always changed, Tom writing great songs and putting out records I loved was a constant. If you want to ask a question impossible for me to answer, ask me what my favorite Tom Petty song is. Not sure I could whittle it down to a top 10. Some great thrills I have enjoyed later in life as an immature adult have been playing a few Tom Petty songs with my garage band in front of people.
Even though Tom passed too young (WTF, Keith Richards is still alive, but Tom’s heart gave out?), one of my band mates reminded me he had a helluva run. He has brought me countless hours of joy and I will miss him dearly.
Thanks for it all, my cool friend, I dig rockin’ around with you.
