Don't believe anybody was upset about it being Huey? Seemed more to be the tone and attitude of Petty. Granted, it turned out to be brought up by the interviewer, but he did seem to have excessively strong feelings. My own personal opinion is that Tom isn't nearly as important as others pegged him, but that's obviously also a divided opinion. Daniel Day-Lewis was a fine actor!
I agree 100% with Petty. When I was a teen and it was in MTV it reminded me of old man music it something the Golf Club jammed to. Even now at my age I cannot even listen to it. It’s just regurgitation of many styles without any type of personal slant into it.
I knew I didn’t delete that post fast enough Let me alter my thought to something about people in glass houses because Petty ain’t all that.
I don't know that anyone has gotten "intensely upset," but to the extent that's true maybe it's because people have brought back Petty's clip in order to disparage Huey Lewis fans today. I have no use for Tom Petty at all and virtually no use for HL&TN (only really like a single song of theirs), so I have no horse in this race. I just don't know why anyone cares who was supposedly more "cool." If you like one or both or neither of these acts, so be it. Enjoy or not.
Love, hate or don't care about Petty, he enjoyed a long career at or near the top. His albums sold consistently well and he played large venues to the very end. Lewis was much more stuck in one era. HL&TN had a few nice years and then landed on the oldies circuit. To reiterate what I've said - or implied - earlier: sales/success doesn't connote quality. I prefer TP to HL, but I will never argue than more sales = better artist. But his continued popularity over a long span makes him "important". Hardly anyone tags Petty as a seminal figure in rock, but he had a nice career that puts him in the upper echelon...
Honestly, I still can't figure out why TP's comments are so outrageous or offensive. Musicians criticize other musicians all the time. When did Huey Effin' Lewis become a sacred cow???
"Intensely" is in the eye of the beholder, but I just sense a lot of apparent anger/hurt feelings because 35 years ago, Tom Petty said he had no use for Huey Lewis's music. We're on page 17 of this, so SOMEBODY must be pretty pissed off!
I have nothing against Tom Petty. I just don't like when musicians criticize other musicians . I just find it a bit unprofessional. I also think that these negative comments can potentially lead to public "feuds", and it often can make the musician the center of controversy. This is just my opinion.
Given that it took the folks here at the SHF 35 years to find these comments, they don't seem to have done much damage in that time!
Who'da thunk that an off the cuff dissing of Huey Lewis ,how many years ago?...would set off a 2021 multi page heated discussion ...."oh wait" .....the deeper one delves into this thread one has to resort back to page 1 to remember what the topic was on about.
The topic wasn't asking who had a longer career or more hit albums, like you tried to make it out to be. Doesn't alter the fact that Petty was extremely limited as a singer and guitarist himself, while he was backed by a glorified bar band. That didn't put him in such a strong position to pop off as much as he (apparently) did...and I'm not particularly fond of Jethro Tull either.
Why was Tom so angry back in the 80's with Joe Piscopo and Eddie Murphy?..... "Give 'em all some place to go".......
It's not just about his voice or his guitar chops as you're trying to make it out to be. Tom Petty was a great songwriter. And all the Heartbreakers guys are great players. Hardly a glorified bar band.
Dont forget about that scamp Vanessa Redgrave I believe they were all on The cover of People when he was writing it.
Dude really? Benmont and Stan are brilliant session musicians to this day and Mike was certainly no slouch. Howie was a legit sideman. You said it wrong this time my friend. .
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, including Petty, but look- I worked in CHR radio for the entire decade the 80s, and there were few artists that were locked in with the feel good, pop rock vibe much as Huey was. Maybe Phil Collins. His output was -amazing.- Petty comes off here as, well, petty, cynical and acerbic. Not the first time.
No, but there was a lot blowback against Tom Petty when Eddie Murphy got angry over the song Jammin' Me. I like the song, but I never understood why they mentioned Murphy, Joe Piscopo or Vanessa Redgrave. Murphy is just a comedian, and the media was not really shoving Piscopo and Redgrave down people's throats. i just don't agree with that practice . It doesn't matter if it is Elton John, Pete Townshend, Ginger Baker, Keith Richards, David Crosby or Lou Reed doing the criticizing. By the way, I prefer Petty's music over Lewis' music
I like Tom Petty more than Huey Lewis, but something like “Free Fallin’” is about as middle-of-the-road and basic as it gets. I would concur that Petty had more of a personal slant to much of his writing, but, I dunno, I could think of far worse crimes against music to get upset about than Huey Lewis.
As with the thread a few weeks ago about Christgau or some other 70s Rolling Stone hack ripping the Osmonds a new one in the Rolling Stone Record Guide, what’s the point of punching down like this? Ooh, you don’t like the Osmonds, and you don’t like Huey Lewis? Wow, what a daring aesthetic judgment. Tell me why Pink Floyd or some sacred cow are awful and you might get my interest.
in other words. you worked within the commercial mechanism for the dessemination of the product produced within the "soulless production line" of music - which petty reasonably referenced - as he honestly answered a question put to him wherein he referenced huey lewis' music. in ways that the 60's and 70's barely hinted at. petty in that short clip never spoke of HL himself, beyond finishing his brief commentary by saying "i'm sure he's a nice guy". the 80's made me wistful for TOP 40 and their DIVERSITY - and petty spoke to that in his estimation and characterization of HUEY LEWIS' MUSIC. his music, not the man himself, per se. but you think huey lewis music was "amazing"?! that might give us an inkling as to why CHR doesn't needs dj's. just computerized playlists of 17+ cuts lol. or perhaps it was phil collins you deem "amazing"? was hard to tell when you said "maybe phil collins" lol phil collins made beer commercials
People are free to make their own determination about him and his music in kind. If you think he's this all time legend, fine. He should've been comfortable enough in his own skin not to have to be concerned with what others were doing.
