You’ve heard a lot of Tom Petty. I don’t care who you are. If you are reading this, his songs have entered your brain through your earholes and have lodged themselves there in one fashion or another. That’s because he writes impossibly catchy songs and he delivers them with relentless skill. He is a consummate professional songwriter and musician. He has a band of conspirators, each of whom is every bit his equal at their respective jobs. This is all a very dry and workmanlike way to do this kind of business. Yet somehow, all of this matters more than it would if we were talking about pretty much any mid-to-late 1970s-era pop musician still making music today. Springsteen? Yeah, he’s okay. Are you really buying what he is selling in his songs and performances? Okay, then. Who else? I can’t even think of anyone who is in the same league, honestly.
