Into The Great Wide Open

I was 25 years old when Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' 'Refugee' came crashing through my car radio speakers and then buried itself in my heart. It happened in my nowhere hometown of Wichita Falls, Texas, near 11:30 PM and never had I heard a song so intense, so driving, so utterly attuned to my life's situation at that time. I was stunned by the music, the vocals and those incredible lyrics... ' You DON'T... HAVE... to LIVE like a REFUGEE'. I was driving the country backroads, chugging beers,  feeling alone and before the song was over I had pulled to the shoulder so to weep like a child. It was obvious to me then that this guy GOT it - he got US - this Tom Petty guy was the real deal and someone who could champion us as we would champion him. Champion him, we did.

I rushed out the next morning, bought 'Damn The Torpedoes', 'You're Gonna Get It' and the self-titled debut. After hearing them, I fell in unconditional love with this supposed 'Gainesville bar band' that could pull pure magic from their vastly underrated talent... the five of them were alchemists, Petty being the Supreme Wizard, who could take the sum of their parts and merge them into an entire world of American Girls, Refugees, stoned Nightwatchmen and an urgent Need to Know then rock it for forty years.

The truth is that this group was never a bar band.
Oh, sure they did the requisite gigging in various night clubs and yes, a strip joint... but Petty's drive and desire were ever-present and he never saw himself becoming anything less than a Rock Star. He begged, borrowed and stole the best musicians he could find and fought record companies all the way to 'fuck you' showdowns and WON.
He went for it, he got it and he's in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I have so much more to say about this band and hundreds of others... and I will... for now?
God be with you, Tom Petty... and thank you for everything.