#9 Tom Petty, Full Moon Fever vs. #120 Negativland, Helter Stupid
Good morning!
Today we’re taking a look at records from Tom Petty and Negativland
Note: As many of you know, I recently wrote about a Best Record of 1989 challenge and noted that I’d be occasionally writing some of these up.
I’ve started doing some quick hits of each matchup and posting them directly to the page. Some will be longer, some won’t, and some might just be a handful of sentences. There’ll probably definitely be some typos.
Check ’em out and let me know your thoughts! Chin wags & hot takes welcome! Sharing and restacks are always appreciated.
KA—
Tom Petty has never backed down from a fight.
In 1979, Tom Petty found himself a million miles away from Gainesville, Florida, in Los Angeles Superior Court right in the heart of a legal battle with his record label. While recording his third album for Shelter Records, the label’s parent company was acquired by MCA. When Petty tried to opt out of his contract, he found himself in court. Petty threatened to scrub his forthcoming record, and MCA petitioned to seize the tapes from the band’s sessions.
After each session, Petty had an engineer hide the recordings as a preemptive strike. Refusing to back down (heh), he even filed for bankruptcy, forcing MCA to open his contracts to renegotiation.
Years later, while recording Full Moon Fever, his label informed him that they didn’t hear a single and wouldn’t release the record. This time, Petty recorded a Byrds cover, “Feel a Whole Lot Better,” as a concession.
His label might’ve thought it didn’t hear a single, but the public sure did. Working with ELO’s Jeff Lynne behind the boards, this is the record that gave us “Free Fallin’,” “Runnin’ Down a Dream,” and, of course, “I Won’t Back Down.” Anyone of these would’ve carried a lesser record, but Full Moon Fever also gave us the seething “Love is a Long Road” (this writer’s fave track on the record).
That it’s considered something of a deep cut tells you all you need to know—both about the strength of this record and how far off the mark label execs were.
As I scream into middle age, one of the things I find myself enjoying is college football—the pomp… the tribal identity…all of it. I also love how certain schools have adopted songs to play at specific points during the game, electrifying the crowd and rallying the team. My beloved Oregon Ducks play the Otis Day & The Knights’ version of “Shout!”. The Wisconsin Badgers play House of Pain’s Jump Around, and the crowd’s reaction has shown up on seismographs.
And in 2017, 90000+ Florida Gators fans sangTom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.” It was a moving tribute to their hometown hero who had passed away days earlier and never left in many ways. I don’t know what Petty would think of all that, but I like to think he’d flash that trademark half smile of his and nod approvingly.
Negativland has had its own share of battles, but theirs have been more of their own doing than anything else, including media stunts like linking one of their songs to a real-life murder— which they ginned up to get out of going on tour. Okay then.
On the surface, Negativland feels like an art-school version of Consolidated. Both put out screeds against the establishment. Consolidated wove in bits of audience commentary from their shows; these guys used news clips and other media. Neither pulled any punches with the establishment, and both records are a harsh commentary on society’s bloodlust. The former leaned much more towards politics (and particularly at the global level), but both used records as a mirror held up to a society largely high on its own supply.
“Helter Stupid” (the song) stands out for its deft weaving of bits and beats together. It’s a sonic collage, and anyone who’s ever done a mashup owes a tip of the hat to the Bay area trio. If executives couldn’t hear a single on Full Moon Fever, what would they make of the 18-minute title track here?
Reviewing ‘The Myth of Rock’ last year, I noted that its relevance was also its biggest bummer. I had hoped by now that the points made in 1990 would seem quaint, something that would make kids glance askance when they learned about them in history class. Instead, it was as timely as ever. Empire building and crass consumerism are still in style, it would seem.
Helter Skelter (the song) is no different. If anything, in this era of deepfakes and disinformation, it might be even more relevant now than it was in 89. We love us some tawdry headlines and a delicious scandal. The names might’ve changed, but the mindset has not. These are not tracks that will ever be sung in the stands, but it would be nice if 50000 Gator fans (or whoever) at a time could take these lessons to heart.
The rest of the record is a series of tracks, all titled “The Perfect Cut (something).” Seven more tracks of taking seemingly a bazillion different songs and sound bites, throwing them in a blender, and then pouring whatever resulted into the recording. It’s a fun exercise in what’s possible with both mashups — and now stitching — but it becomes tiresome at a point. Brilliant doesn’t always equal beguiling, and gamifying “name that sample” is good for about a track-and-a-half. After that, I lose interest. If this were an EP, this would be a much tougher call to make. As it is, I’m happy someone got their pet pick into the bracket, but also happy that I won’t have to write up this record again.
Bottom Line: Maybe it’s just my cargo shorts talking, but Petty’s got a leg up on Q-rating, strength of the record itself, and more. Negativland’s message is timely, but Full Moon Fever sounds timeless. This was never going to be a fair fight.
My vote: Bracket and Vote will both go to Gainesville’s favorite son.
Any thoughts on either of these records? Agree/disagree with my takes? Which one of these would you vote for? Sound off in the comments!
Check out the full bracket here.
Info on the tourney, voting, and more is here.
As always, thanks for being here.
KA—
Kevin Sent 