YOU RANK ME BABY, YEAH YOU RATE ME 1-2 - ILM Artist Poll #71 - Tom Petty (results)

lol @ that mustache

AGH. Too low. My number one, by a wide margin.

BABY EVEN THE COUGARS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhnic4kZFs0

dude we get it

simmer down, only 1 of the top 3 has a Cougar Town episode named after it

"Cougar Town" sounds like a Mudcrutch title.

Regardless, can we talk about Even The Losers? The bridge (two cars park...) is the greatest moment in Tom Pettydom. It's the song with his most evocative lyric, strongest melody, best use of "oh oh oh oh" on the outro, most melodic chorus and more. Holy mackerel what a song!!!

lol @ that mustache

"Straight Into Darkness" made it to both "Playback" and "Anthology," so clearly he rates it. As far as album track obscurities go, I'd be curious to see what songs didn't make it to the first three discs of "Playback."

I'm glad ILM thinks "Losers" is better than 'Refugee"

kornrulez, apparently it's futile but fwiw i was one of the #1s.

if I had to explain Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers in a single track, there's another one i'd choose. but "even the losers" is the one i listen to more often.

the story goes, he had the whole song written except for the chorus and just said f it, let's roll tape, and what came out when the chorus rolled around is what we got, and he feels like he owes the muse one on that one.

tip of the hat to The Gaslight Anthem for covering multiple Petty songs AND namechecking him in an original

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL81lD8RHpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PXsfaH8_JA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfDGyXb5XnM

Every time we claim Petty is a singles artist, an album track refutes this notion

i don't think i've ever said that. imo he's a "half a great album" artist :D

http://i.imgur.com/FTUYcoj.jpg

3. Here Comes My Girl – 394 points (15 votes, three #1)
http://youtu.be/n4nPa35CZPI

OTM. He's more than a singles artist but all of his albums have what the kids used to call filler. He's more of a body-of-work guy.

In 1999, my friend bought a CD burner, I had never seen one before. First CD I burned was a Tom Petty best-of.

loooove that one, was starting to get my hopes up that it was #1

so long, Cougar Town!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRCYowgonj0

Here Comes My Girl. Great song.

So it's down to the final 2. What will finish on top, American Girl or Spike?

Zombie Zoo, obviously

Yeah, it's a funny contradiction. He's more than a singles artists, because all of his albums have good album tracks. And not many outright clunkers, at that. And yet, very few of his albums would be considered great albums, imo.

CORRECTION: "So Long, CougarTown" sounds like a Mudcrutch song.

Regardless, can we talk about Even The Losers? The bridge (two cars park...) is the greatest moment in Tom Pettydom. It's the song with his most evocative lyric, strongest melody, best use of "oh oh oh oh" on the outro, most melodic chorus and more. Holy mackerel what a song!!!

― kornrulez6969, Thursday, December 17, 2015 11:49 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Cosign all of this, it was my #1 too.

2 Cougar Town episodes actually were named after Mudcrutch songs!

"Even The Losers" really is a song that sums up Petty in a nutshell. he wasn't an outright weirdo, but he had an underdog quality that central casting-looking natural rock stars like Springsteen and Mellencamp didn't have, and yet he managed to have so many triumphant moments.

he's about as weird as a traditionalist can be

^^ that's it right there

xpost Eh, natural or no, Bruce was a big dork for a long time. Skinny, bad skin, beatnik style, underbite. He grew into his stardom. But if by your comment you meant more that Tom Petty kind of looks like a human chicken crossed with a goat and ergo makes an odd rock star, that's for sure.

Robert Christgau--who is not a fan--summed it up nicely. "Grant him this--he's a hooky sumbitch"

It is interesting that of that era he doesn't and never did seem even the least bit interested in or influenced by punk. He just skipped over it straight to new wave. Sort of like Dire Straits, I guess.

i never end up singing at karaoke on the rare occasions i go to a karaoke night but i always think i'd probably do some Petty. "Don't Do Me Like That" has long been my imaginary go-to but listening now i think maybe "Here Comes My Girl" would be more fun.

here comes my girl would demand some practice runs imo

probably true but i feel like you could get away with lightly crooning the chorus if you have fun with the verses

There's some quality in Tom Petty's spoken vocal in "Here Comes My Girl" that chills me out every time I hear it. Like, "Sure, Tom, I'll have a seat. What's on your mind? Oh damn, I feel you, man."

i feel like we're not going to get the top 2 until someone says that age-old line, so i'll just say it...

the anticipating is the most difficult part

(And then Tom steers the conversation toward his girlfriend. Typical.)

Stan, if you could tear yourself away for a sec...

http://www.stanlynchmusic.com/Pic3.png

we could use a drum roll...

http://www.drummercafe.com/images/stories/artists/StanLynch2.png

http://i.imgur.com/dAoI2Yw.jpg

2. American Girl – 422 points (16 votes, two #1)
Old Grey Whistle Test: http://youtu.be/12_RbUfdpW0
Live, Santa Monica, New Year's Eve 1978: https://youtu.be/QnS8577gBNc?t=29m55s

that song is fuckin' lightening in a bottle. last week i worked an event where "American Girl" was one of the music cues and every time it started up i was so happy to hear it again.

the bridge of "American Girl" is one of the all-time great funky licks. you'd think it'd have been sampled a hundred times, but the only time i can think of is the Fun Lovin' Criminals saying "I got supermodels on my d" over it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6PUncMEtdI

He IS one of the great singles artists--in that he has a lot of great singles, and his singles are among his best songs (which this list seems to show)--and that he has never made a consistently great album. (I own 'em all--I can say that.) And one of my favorite non-singles didn't make this list, so EXPLAIN YOURSELVES, When The Time Comes. #readytoargue

"american girl" is pretty indisputable. almost impossible to fathom that it's nearly 40 years old.

great intro. great bass. great drums. great backing vox from stan and benmont. great lyrics, great melody, great little rock'n'roll solo... it reaches back to the 50s but doesn't feel dated musically or lyrically. still hits hard if it catches me when i'm not looking.

sugarlips, fwiw when the time comes got some votes but faced tough sledding as a deep cut off maybe his most slept-on record

i have some love for the title track from that one too... not a perfect song but an interesting road not taken

I voted for a #1! this has never happened before!

can I just say that I love the Heartbreakers? Every player was gold. Not even the E Street Band had so many of its members have outside writer and producer credits. Listening to Through the Years, I noticed how every song had a different Campbell guitar tone or pedal, Lynch drum pattern, Tench melodic or contrapuntal keyboard part. I just love the sensation of listening to them.

great lyrics, great melody, great little rock'n'roll solo... it reaches back to the 50s but doesn't feel dated musically or lyrically

Petty said somewhere--presumably after hearing the Byrds soundalike thing for the umpteenth time--that the bands real aim for the track was to update vintage Bo Diddley.

and years later...Bo opens up for them, and stays on to jam!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVRtQUTd7Gk

re: the Heartbreakers, no doubt. without implying any comparisons, they're up there with the MGs and The Band for me. just a bunch of kids from Gainesville...

was it Petty or someone else who said that his greatest strength as a musician was talking people out of going to college?

xpost I hear Buddy Holly too, but i suppose that's redundant QED

Yeah the classic-era Heartbreakers were a heckuva unit. And bringing Howie in for Ron Blair made them even stronger on the harmonies. Between all of their extracurricular work, you could put together an impressive degrees-of-separation map.

and playlist. I knew Howie had produced those exquisite early '90s John Prine records, but not Carlene Carter's 1990 comeback.