Lifestyles of the Poor and Educated: One of the Greatest: A Tribute to Tom Petty (with tons of songs and videos)

I haven't posted anything in awhile but I've been meaning to write about this; Tom Petty. In this current age of music everything is digitized and altered, making music all sound the same. The singers are fake, their voices are fake and the current music scene just plain stinks. What happened to the days of true talent? Hell, even I could sing like an angel given I had a crap-load of technology to make my voice sound good (I really can't sing to save my life).

That being said, I've always been a huge fan of 70's and 80's music. The singers HAD to have talent because the technology wasn't there to make the singers sound sny better. One of the items on my bucket list was to see Tom Petty in concert before I die (or more realisticaly, before he died or retired). So in 2007 my sister and I flew across the country to Toronto to see Tom Petty and Steve Winwood live. To this day, it is one of my fondest memories. Of all of Tom Petty's songs, there is not a single one I dislike and there is no other artist I can say that about either.

Tom Petty had a complex start to his career, having to choose his original band over fame. In the mid 70's Petty started a band known as the Epics which later gave way to the formation of Mudcrutch. The band featured future Heartbreakers Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench. Through little success with Mudcrutch the band split up and Petty sought out a solo career. While struggling with a solo career Petty and Campbell collaborated with Tench and fellow members Ron Blair and Stan Lynch which became the catalyst for the beginning of the Heartbreakers.

In 1988, Petty became a founding member of the Travelling Wilburys along with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne. Two of their major hits included "Handle With Care" and "End of the Line". It was only in the late 80's when Tom Petty became mainstream and his hits topped the charts.

One of my favorite current songs is "The Last DJ" which was written to attack the music industry for its greed and releasing digitized pop music by scantily clad you girls. Tom Petty continues to pump out hit after hit, even today. He recently re-joined his original band Mudcrutch which has become a huge success and was bitter sweet for the original band members who lost their claim to fame when Petty joined the heartbreakers.

Although this is a brief and vague biography, the best, in-depth biography can be found by watching the dvd "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Running Down a Dream". This multi-disc package includes over 12 hours of Tom Petty's life in depth and portrays the lengths he had to go to reach fame. Most of the material on the dvd is original footage from the 70's and 80's which includes interviews, band practises and his rise to stardom. I highly recommend watching it if you're a Petty fan. His rise to fame is far more complex than any biography describes online.

And without further ado, here are my favorite Petty songs in no particular order (it was hard not to put them all on here!).

1. The Last DJ