He duetted with Stevie Nicks. He’s pioneered stoner animation videos. He’s run the gamut of styles from pop to country rock to, well, just about everything. And he was a Wilbury. But, how well do we know the guy who wrote Mary Jane’s Last Dance, Refugee, American Girl, and countless other classic rock staples? Well, I don’t know him nearly at all. Hence the latest Listening Post. Let’s dive in.
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Southern Accents – 1985 (Buy It)
Ah, the 80s. What can be said? It was a time when all rock music seemed like it was slathered in lotion or vaseline. When drum machines or electronic drums made everything sound “so fresh!” and immediately dated. No one was immune. Not even, it would seem, Tom Petty and his Heartbreakers.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard “Don’t Come Around Here No More” when it wasn’t accompanied by that surreal Alice in Wonderland video. How much did we enjoy watching Alice the cake get cut into? And, since smoke machines were the rage in the 80s, all the videos had that vaselined look, too. Without the images, though, it’s just another hokey 80s electro-rock track.
In fact, most of the album sounds like that. The “Southern Accents” of the title are not really indicative of a sound as much as they are just a title left over from some not-completed concept album.
I was really kind of hoping that this album, with that monster hit, would have held secrets to the success and long-lastingness of Petty but, I was mistaken.
Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart was employed as producer and co-songwriter and I am at a loss to understand why. All he seems to add is a flat and sounds like leftovers from his own band.
It should be noted that the only song I even “kind of” like is “Dogs on the Run” which is co-written by the real genius of TP&tH: Mike Campbell.
Grade D
A Side: Don’t Come Around Here No More, Make it Better
BlindSide: Dogs on the Run.
DownSide: Spike, Mary’s New Car
