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  • This one hurts.

    One of the most unlikely MTV-era stars and one of its greatest!

  • ...He was originally critically described/promoted as " New Wave ", you know. In the original sense where the rocking Ramones/60s-poppy Blondie/svant-noisy Pere Ubu all that term applied to them, though I doubt
    bt he applied it to himself much if at all
  • A favorite of mine as well.  What a punch in the gut.  Great, great musician.

  • I was a big fan early on - had the first three albums and saw the band in concert in the summer of 1980. One of the better shows I had seen in that era. Re-discovered him a few years back with the Mudcrutch project which I really enjoyed. Sad to see him pass at only 66.

  • Saw him in concert twice. This is truly a gut punch.

  • One of my favorites. Came from the redneck end of Florida, always looked it and sounded it, but made good without changing a lick out of sheer talent. Roughly same age as my brother, and seemed like he really could be one of our Arkansas relatives. When some of his songs had a sameness to them -- nobody's perfect -- it was a familiar sameness, a comforting one. That nasal whine is how a lot of my relatives talk.

    The Traveling Wilburys are down to two now. Petty was the youngest of them. 

    Tough, tough blow.

  • I've always liked his music, even though it's not the genre I spend most of my listening time on. I think he was marketed as New Wave for a minute early in his career. But he always tapped into classic rock stylistically, which made a lot of it sound timeless. I expect it will have a good long life for as long as there is rock radio, or whatever succeeds it.

  • Damn the Torpedoes was one of the first albums I ever owned, given to me for Christmas by my older cousins. I can't tell you how many times I listened to it. It's known for its hits -- "Refugee," "Don't Do Me Like That," but the album tracks are just as good. "Here Comes My Girl," sounds like it could be a sweet love song -- and it is, in part -- but it's also about someone grappling with hopelessness, only buoyed by the presence of his sweetheart. 

    Needless to say, I played it several times yesterday. Needed it.

  • This is happening way too often these days.  Walter Becker a couple weeks ago and now this.

    IMO, Petty was one of the great rock songwriters of all time.  I remember the songs from Damn the Torpedoes being played 24/7 on the radio when it came out.  That record has a HUGE sound. Still sounds great today too.

  • I remember when Tom Petty took a stand against his record label for price-gouging when it wanted to charge a dollar more for his latest album than what it charged for his previous album:

    "The Time Tom Petty Went to War Against His Record Label Over $1"

    Now there's an artist who really appreciated his fans.

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