Tom Petty Is Critical of “Game Show” Stars, & “Plastic Computer” Music
Tom Petty has been known to speak his mind from time to time, including in August of 2013 when he criticized modern country as “Bad rock with a fiddle.” Now in a new interview with Canada’s CBC news organization, Petty has relayed some pointed opinions about what he characterizes as stars that have “won a game show” and that make “plastic computer music.”
Speaking to reporter Jian Ghomeshi of CBC about his past, Petty said that discos and DJ’s presented a problem for Petty’s first band Mudcrutch when they first came onto the music scene.
“Now if you’re a band it’s really tough to find places to work, places to play,” Petty says. “This changed so much. I remember when we were a working band, when Mudcrutch was just a working band, we had to work all the time in order to eat, you know? And disco suddenly changed over to cats who just played records, and the bands were out of work. And we were so insulted. Like, ‘What? You mean, we’ve been fired for a guy that plays records?’ But that was the first wake up call that wow, there’s a lot of gigs being taken away. And if you want to keep working, you’re going to have to get better and better.”
When talking about his influences, and how Petty saw Elvis, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones, and eventually onto what rock music would become, Petty said, “Nothing was any worse than corporate rock. Nothing worse has come along, though there is a lot of popular kind of plastic computer music that’s not that interesting. I don’t feel like somebody … like the artist did that, you know? You put your name on it, but you didn’t do that. But nevertheless, how a record’s made isn’t important to the audience. What’s important to them is what they’re hearing.”
When the idea of fame was brought up to Petty, he replied, “As far as getting famous, I don’t know nothing about getting famous … A lot of people get famous now very quickly, and then they seem to have a turnover where they weren’t famous for that long, but someone else steps in to fill the slot. They’re sort of disposably famous I suppose. But I can’t keep up with who’s famous anymore … I know in my time, in my generation, if you had come, if they tried to offer my generation music by someone that had won a game show, it would have been hysterical. You would have been laughed out of the room. I mean we were suspicious of people that had hit records. I mean it was that different of a time.”
The interview happened at Tom Petty’s Woodshed Recording studio in Malibu, where Petty is getting ready for the release of his latest album Hypnotic Eye on July 29th; his first album with The Heartbreakers since 2010’s Mojo. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers also have a massive tour planned to begin on August 3rd.
Petty is given credit by some for sparking off the Season of Discontent last summer and fall that saw artists from both the country and rock worlds coming out in record numbers to criticize the direction of country music. “Well, yeah I mean, I hate to generalize on a whole genre of music, but it does seem to be missing that magic element that it used to have,” Petty said at the time. “I’m sure there are people playing country that are doing it well, but they’re just not getting the attention that the shittier stuff gets. But that’s the way it always is, isn’t it?”
Later Florida Georgia Line responded to the Petty quotes with a petty “U think we care?” Country songwriter Chris Stapleton also took Petty to task for his comments.
The 63-year-old Gainsville, FL native has shown his appreciation for country over the years, including covering the Conway Twitty / George Jones song “Image of Me”.
READ: Season of Discontent: A Timeline of Country’s Recent Artist Criticism
July 17, 2014 @ 7:52 pm
Tom is totally right and as a ” real” musician
it must sicken him to see/hear what’s going on
in music & how it’s changed.
Tom Petty Rocks 🙂
July 18, 2014 @ 2:08 am
@FGL LOL! The fact you don’t care is the fucking point and pretty much sums up all that has been said.
July 18, 2014 @ 2:57 am
Pretty hard to disagree with a single detail he mentions here.
What Petty says here has been echoed by countless other musicians but, at any rate, is on-point. I do like, however, how he specifically phrases the standard fame cycle today as “disposably famous”.
There are some current artists and/or entertainers that will effectively transcend that junkyard, however. Adele will definitely enjoy some scope of longevity. Coldplay will enjoy longevity. Taylor Swift may implode with her fifth album but she’s never going away entirely. But aside from a small handful of others who have enjoyed massive commercial success………..there’s really no guarantee everyone else will leave a measurable, impressionable footprint on future generations.
Drake, for instance, has netted a record-tying thirteen #1 hits on Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs chart and has had three strong-selling, critically-acclaimed albums. But can you really close your eyes and envision ten years from now hearing “Hold On, We’re Going Home” or “Started From The Bottom” on the airwaves, or hearing friends say: “Oh yeah, ‘Started From The Bottom’ and ‘The Motto’……..those were the days!” Somehow I have my doubts, in spite of his single chart dominance this decade thus far.
Or, take Luke Bryan. I actually am a little more confident here than I am with Drake in that he is going to be remembered as part of the Spring Break/summer soundtrack to the lives of many younger women who listen to mainstream country radio because, like it or not, as limited as his vocal range is, he can emote rather well with it and his onstage charisma and personality will work to his advantage too. That said, however, can you really envision Luke Bryan being a legacy act of a similar pedigree as Alabama, Brooks & Dunn, or even Kenny Chesney? I’m highly inclined to doubt that. But, time will tell.
July 18, 2014 @ 5:32 am
Petty’s right on all accounts. I really hope he and The Heartbreakers make an appearance on the Marty Stuart Show sometime soon.
July 18, 2014 @ 5:50 am
So what did Stapleton say? I loved that dude with the Steeldrivers but the last I seen of him they were trying to turn him into some pop/soul/country crooner and it made me sad.
July 18, 2014 @ 7:45 am
if I remember correctly, he basically said to petty (indirectly) “if you don’t like how the music is now, do something about it” and put out an open invitation to record together. something along those lines anyway…
July 18, 2014 @ 11:34 am
It was posted at the bottom of the first Tom Petty “Bad rock with a fiddle” article:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/tom-petty-slams-modern-country-as-bad-rock-with-a-fiddle
”
Dear Tom Petty,
I think it”™s safe to say most modern country artists, including me, would list you as an influence. Your recent comments lead me to believe you see room for improvement in modern country music. I, for one, would like to see you put you money where your mouth is in a tangible way. So, in the interest of making Country music less “s”“tty” (your words), I suggest a collaboration. I”™m extending an open invitation to you to write songs with me, produce recordings on or with me, or otherwise participate in whatever way you see fit in my little corner of music. In the event that you actually read this and are interested, look me up.
Sincerely,
Chris Stapleton
July 24, 2014 @ 11:28 am
When Chris Stapleton writes songs like ” free falling” , ” I won’t back down ” , ” even the losers ” , and ” breakdown ” BY HIMSELF then he can start talking. Otherwise just keep your mouth shut. We’re not scared of his beard and long hair ha. Zakk Wylde wanna be, minus the metal haha
July 18, 2014 @ 6:46 am
Funny how FGL assumed Petty was talking about them when he mentioned shitty music.
July 18, 2014 @ 8:14 am
Oh, didn’t you hear? Tom Petty prophetically had Florida-Georgia Line in mind when he settled on the title for a song off of his “Full Moon Fever” solo album………….”Yer So Bad”. 😉 😉 😉
July 18, 2014 @ 7:03 am
Tom Petty gets his thumb right on your prostate and makes you like it. There is no fucking around in his music, or in his words.
July 18, 2014 @ 8:05 am
As a boy, he was verbally abused by his father so he developed the burning determination to succeed, disdain for authority and the need to speak his mind.
July 18, 2014 @ 1:25 pm
After reading this comment I’m very confused about my collection of Tom Petty CDs
July 18, 2014 @ 7:04 am
It isn’t even a conversation if what Petty is saying is true or should be debated. Mainstream music today is completely shit. Sure, there are some new sounds coming out due to the invention of new technology, which technology isn’t always a bad thing…but all you have to do is put a guy like Petty side by side with a group like FGL (or even Coldplay as someone mentioned above).
It is amateur hour compared with true professional talent. Petty was influenced by guys like Roy Orbinson for gosh sakes. Who influenced FGL? Hot Topic and Affliction?
I’m not, but if you are a true musician, in the league of a Petty or even a Garth Brooks (some hate him on here I know), but you have to just be in utter shock as to what is considered a hit these days.
And Petty is so right about the famous part. If you can get famous for just, literally, 15min., that satisfies everyone.
July 19, 2014 @ 5:21 pm
“In the future everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” – Andy Warhol
Kind of funny how that sentiment now applies to the present.
July 18, 2014 @ 9:11 am
Everything he says is right on and needs to be heard, and often. Cue all the “old fart” responses from idiots…
July 18, 2014 @ 11:19 am
Being an ‘old fart’ myself, I try to remember what it was like when ‘my’ music became the mainstream (late 60s, 70s) and how my parent’s generation harrumphed and gnashed their teeth at the decline of society because of a bunch of long hair freaks and hippies. I’ve tried to not be my parents or those ‘squares’ from the olden days…but try as I might, I find myself harrumphing and gnashing my teeth. But then I realize it’s not the same as back then. The music now is plastic, the performers flash-in-the-pans, and whole genres of music ruined by corporations. Mr. Petty is correct in his assertions, and gives me confidence to keep gnashing my teeth.
July 18, 2014 @ 12:44 pm
I know some might dismiss Petty’s remarks as an old fart bitching about changing times, and I can almost see where they’re coming from. The phenomenon of getting older and bitching about the way things are now vs. the way things used to be back when they were younger is probably as old as time itself. But what those folks who dismiss Petty on those grounds seem to forget (or intentionally dismiss) is that there are trends that indeed did not stand the test of time. I’m sure there were those who defended disco as a natural evolution of pop music or whatever, but here we are, 35 years later and people look back on that and laugh and wonder what the hell they were thinking back then. Same thing with glam metal and what it had become by 1992. It’s as if they don’t know history or think they’ll defy it.
July 18, 2014 @ 1:28 pm
Speaking for myself, when I complain about the way things are, I’m more pissed at the business side of it (dudes my age) than the young musicians coming up. There are plenty of young talented musicians out there, no shortage of that in my opinion. The music industry is broken, and I count the consumer as part of that problem. When I go to my daughters band concerts, I see better music than I hear on the radio, so I know the talent is there. Not to mention all the talented bands out there on the touring circuit that you’ll never hear, not even a single song, on the radio.
July 18, 2014 @ 1:25 pm
I know this is sacrilege in some quarters, but Rickenbacker guitars are ugly as sin.
July 21, 2014 @ 12:47 pm
Rick guitars are like Keith Richards – they may be ugly, but it’s how they sound, not how they look that makes the difference.
July 19, 2014 @ 10:45 am
Thus speaks the man who wrote “Southern Accents”, a sublime country song. A song that so perfectly encapsulates what it is to be from the American south that you’d have to be made of stone not to weep when listening to Johnny Cash’s version of it. The repudiation of everything bro/faux/corporate country in one song from the wayback times of 1985. You tell ’em, Tom.
July 19, 2014 @ 10:58 am
I could watch his Gainesville, FL concert….over and over and over.
I love the way he talks, sings, plays, walks….everything about Tom Petty.
July 19, 2014 @ 11:54 am
Funny thing is, I’ve been to at least a half-dozen “country” concerts in the past year where Tom Petty songs were covered including George Strait’s and Martina McBride’s concerts.
July 19, 2014 @ 4:41 pm
Petty is someone you have to pay attention to because he’s been playing major-league ball, as it were, for so many years and has stayed true to himself. The first Heartbreakers record came out in 1976 — 38 years ago. I’m guessing that the lads from FGL won’t be producing anything worthwhile in 2050, 38 years after their first record.
July 20, 2014 @ 5:04 pm
Tom Petty very diplomatically , I think , sums up what a LOT of industry folk are feeling but cannot speak too loudly about . They have mortgages and families and careers ( engineering , production , studio owners , label people etc… not artists , in particular ) dependent upon the industry whatever its state.
I’ll throw this out to the troops here. Just came back from a weekend of incredible bluegrass at a huge festival in Washington state ….my faith in music is rekindled each time I attend these kinds of festivals . Not only is everything you hear totally honest ( pickers actually picking , NO background tracks , no auto tuning , no effects pedals or vocal embellishments of ANY kind …) but the response from an all- ages audience is indicative of how the REAL stuff can still move people . There were so many great musicians and singers I won’t begin to list them ….but in light of what we are exposed to commercially ( talent shows , ‘doctored’ productions in EVERY genre of music ) these kinds of festivals are , I think , progressively more important as time goes on and commercial music becomes less and less real and less and less substance( lyrically ) and emotionally-driven. I haven’t even talked about the songwriting and the timeless staying power and inspiration of a GREAT song no matter the era. Totally refreshing and totally entertaining and inspiring . Think I’ll give Tom Petty a call and let him know where it’s REALLY happenin’ these days .
July 21, 2014 @ 3:41 pm
Wonder how Petty feels about this latest “honor” from CMT? I’m sure he had a couple of these interviewees in mind when he made his comments. One of them even used the official Country Music Checklist to describe TP’s influence.
http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1729355/cmt-all-time-top-40-tom-petty.jhtml
August 9, 2014 @ 8:31 pm
All Chris Stapleton of Florida-Georgia Line needs to do is listen to this, then he will understand. Or maybe not:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-4-sT2KFdo