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Hey, Petty people.

So here's the first weekly wrap-up of 2019. Let's get things started with our weekly newspaper article (an interview!):

"It taught me some big lessons: It's never going to be in order. You just have to take each day."

As for other updates, I've got the Tour Dates and Setlists page done up to 1987 and put up several setlists for the 1985 Southern Accents tour. I'd also started work on typing up some more magazine articles, but a migraine (still recovering from it) put me out before I could do much on it.

See you next week,

- Aimee (listening to the Traveling Wilburys - End of the Line)

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Hey Petty people,

Well, this is the last news post for this year. Been quite a ride. Of course I had to go and catch a cold...

New concert review for you:

 "The chords begin to sing out of the instrument, and the rest of the band chimes in, Pulsating rhythms vibrate through the air, and chill the spectators to the bone."

Just one update this week:

  • Tour Dates and Setlists: Added the 1982-1983 Long After Dark tour dates. As well, I added weekdays to all the existing dates on the page. (I'd like to give a special thanks to the developer of Calendar 2000, a tool that helped me with the process.)

As promised in the last post, here's my thoughts on Tom Petty And Me.(Go read Liberty's review, if you haven't already.)

First and foremost, this book is about smoking weed. I lost count of how many times that marijuana was mentioned, either directly or indirectly, but after a while I fully expected the smell of it to start emanating from my eReader. (Since my budget is rather tight and shipping costs to Canada are high—no pun intended!—I went with a cheaper digital copy.)

Aside from that, the book was short—almost too short at times. There were parts that I wish were elaborated more on (live cougars at radio stations?) but what was there was pretty great. I especially loved Chapter 25, "Tom's Big Heart," which is exactly what it sounds like. And I absolutely cracked up at other parts, especially the radio show quoted in chapter 24. Yes, Depeche Mode is a pretty lousy name for a dog. 

Overall? The book was definitely worth what I spent on it (and I'd definitely go for the physical copy if I could spare it), and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone interested in Tom Petty or music promotion in the 1970s/1980s.

Anyways, see you next week,

 - Aimee (listening to Alice in Chains - No Excuses)

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Hey Petty people,

Final interview for this week, published in British music magazine Mojo in 2006. In it, Tom Petty (and his Heartbreakers) talk about their early tours in England, escaping from wild parties through bathroom windows, and the time that he walked off stage. (There's also a few confusing factual errors; extra points if you're able to pick them out.)

"The first two records, we just kind of made them. Damn The Torpedoes, for some reason, was much harder to make. It just went on and on and on. A lot of the difficulty was in the sound. We played gigs and we played fine, but they wanted this big thing."

I'll be skipping next week's Weekly Wrap-Up, but I do plan to work some on both the tour dates and the subject index. I also bought an eBook copy of Tom Petty and Me for Christmas, so I'll post my thoughts on it sometime. 

Merry Christmas! Or happy holidays, if you're not the Christmas sort. 

- Aimee (listening to Tom Petty - To Find A Friend)

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Hey Petty people,

In today's interview, published in Sounds magazine less than a month following the 1985 release of Southern Accents, Tom Petty talks about his odd friendship with Dave Stewart, the censorship of one of his music videos, and why it was important that the album broke some new ground:

"It was a good thing for the band, too, having new people around after all these years of the same five faces. Having somebody new there sparks everybody."

Keep an eye out for tomorrow's article,

- Aimee (listening to April Wine - Comin' Right Down On Top Of Me)

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Hey Petty people,

Today's offering isn't an interview, but a review of Hypnotic Eye, appearing in Rolling Stone magazine just three and a half years ago. Need I say much more? 

"Yet there are few, if any, attempts to re-enact Petty's vintage hits. This is the Heartbreakers four decades and a million shows later, deepening their attack with study reliability."

I have an appointment with my neurologist tomorrow morning, so tomorrow's interview will be a little late. It'll be well-worth the wait, though.

As always, enjoy,

- Aimee (listening to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - You Tell Me)

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