my power pop addiction, no. 6 (78)

I have mixed feelings about Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for reasons I alluded to a few days ago. Damn the Torpedoes, released in 1979, is a fairly decisive move towards arena rock after the nice flashes of power pop we get with their first two records. Petty came onto the scene at a transitional time in the mid 70s and didn’t develop a consistent musical identity until he embraced corporate rock and its FM radio-driven retrenchment and ossification in the 80s. But if you consider the man separately from his context, there’s a lot to like. He loves the Byrds and 60s music more generally. He’s yet another one of those guys who's not a native Angeleno but has nevertheless made Los Angeles an essential part of who he is. He’s written some pretty damn good songs. I even like some of the hesher tunes like Here Comes My Girl, You Don’t Know How it Feels, and Last Dance with Mary Jane. He’s worked with a lot of great people, including George Harrison and all the guys in the Travelling Willburys, as well as Dwight Twilley and Phil Seymour, among others. And as I was saying the other night, American Girl is an archetypal power pop tune. I’ve posted a live version from 1978 tonight because everybody’s heard the studio version a billion times. It’s a pretty cool clip even though we don’t get to hear the great part where Phil Seymour sings make it last all night. The band performs the song well and the clip makes you appreciate Petty’s taste in guitars and guitarists…