Tom Petty

Two dudes I slept on for years; one was Bruce Springsteen and the other was Tom Petty.

Petty is easily among the best American song writers of all-time; the amount of hits and the depth of his material is truly astounding; yet he still has somehow flown under the radar for about 30 years now, popping up only now and then on the mainstream grid before going back under again.

The dude is prolific. An amazing rock n' roll song writer.



A new documentary about Petty & The Heartbreakers debuts next week. Depending on your attention span and your level of fandom, you may choose to see it on the big screen and/or buy the DVD.

"Runnin' Down A Dream" directed by Peter Bogdanovich traces the history of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers with interviews, concert footage, celebrity appearances, rare performances ... pretty much everything a Petty fan could ask for. And if you're still a Petty novice, nows the time to get on board. This dude is legit and always has been. Pick up a Petty Greatest Hits CD at a store and check the track listing; he's another one of these dudes that you forget how many songs he's done that you've committed to memory simply by osmosis over the years.

I guarantee you know all these tunes, whether you realise it or not...
American Girl, Breakdown, Listen To Her Heart, I Need To Know, Refugee, Don't Do Me Like That, Even The Losers, Here Comes My Girl, The Waiting, You Got Lucky, Don't Come Around Here No More, I Won't Back Down, Runnin' Down A Dream, Free Fallin', Learning To Fly, Into The Great Wide Open, Mary Jane's Last Dance


The documentary runs more than four hours which is why most theaters are screening it only once, next Monday October 15. Here's a list of cities that are showing the film, and here's a trailer. The DVD will go on sale October 16 exclusively at Best Buy as a three-DVD/one-CD box set. Fucking Petty MANIA, Bro!

Petty has been honoured with 17 Grammy Award nominations since 1981. Petty has had the same manager, Tony Dimitriades, since 1976 .