Illustration by Tanya Bearson
“Take On Me” by A-ha is a great example of a band that only had one hit, and still over thirty years after its release, anyone reading this article could sing along to the chorus. In a time where hip hop dominates the music industry, the only songs from the past that break through the surface on a mainstream level are one-hit wonders like “Take On Me,” or extremely popular songs by incredible artists or bands. The latter is a saddening truth, because it causes millennials who don’t typically listen to older music to associate artists from the past with just one song. When you don’t have to listen to a record to find a particular song it becomes easy for this to happen. For people to identify bands like the Beatles with just “Hey Jude,” or the Clash with just “Should I Stay or Should I Go,” is saddening.
When Tom Petty died on October 2, 2017, I asked students what they knew about him, and a common answer was, “Oh, he was that one guy who sang ‘Free Fallin’ right?” Teenagers aren’t at fault for what the radio plays, or the technology they are given, but often times popular musical platforms fail to provide adequate access to the sounds of the past. It is sad, and it’s important that we know when the world has lost a musical icon. An inspiration to anyone passionate about something in life, Petty was one of the most important, influential and commercially successful musicians of the twentieth century, and is so much more than that guy who sang “Free Fallin’.”
Coming from humble beginnings, Petty was born October 20, 1950, in Gainesville, Florida. He credited his mother, Kitty Avery, as the person who introduced him to music at a very young age. With an abusive and drunken father who regularly beat Petty, music became a safe place for him to express himself. His interest in music grew even more when he got to meet Elvis Presley at the age of ten. According to Petty, he went home after meeting him and asked his Mom to get him a guitar from Sears. From there, his musical interest skyrocketed, and the career of one of the most successful musicians of all time began to blossom. In a 2006 interview, Petty said that after seeing the infamous Beatles performance live on the Ed Sullivan Show, he knew he wanted to be in a band, “I had never been hugely into sports … But I really saw in the Beatles that here’s something I could do.” At seventeen, he made the decision to drop out of high school to formally pursue music, and formed his first band, The Epics, which later transformed into Mudcrutch. While the band was a local success, it received little mainstream recognition. Shortly after the group split up, Petty and a couple members (Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench) came together to form the extremely successful group, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. After moderate success with their first two albums, their third album Damn the Torpedoes went platinum in 1979 and helped the group to establish themselves as an up and coming powerhouse within the industry. With four of their next five albums going platinum, Petty quickly became one of the most popular musicians of the late twentieth century, gaining notorious success. While the band never actually broke up, Petty began doing other projects and solo work after 1987. He helped form the supergroup The Traveling Wilburys in 1988, with other renowned artists such as Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, and Roy Orbison. Both albums that the group created went platinum, as well as two of the three albums Petty made in his solo career, with Full Moon Fever going platinum five times in the U.S.
It is hard to try and put into perspective a lifetime of work that inspired and impacted many. Petty had success, but it was earned, and it wasn’t something he got because he spent time seeking it out, it was a byproduct of his love and dedication to the music and his fans. He was hugely popular because he did everything his way, and his way was special. So special in fact, that the band Foo Fighters, and solo artist Sam Smith both ripped off parts of Petty songs. Upon learning Smith admitted he used similar chords to Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down,” Petty responded on his personal official website, “A musical accident no more, no less. In these times we live in, this is hardly news. I wish Sam all the best for his ongoing career. Peace and love to all.” A typical Petty response, gives a little insight into the artist that will be sorely missed for years to come. Rest in peace.