A Brief Stint with Synth: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: “You Got Lucky”
Similar to disco in the ‘70s, which had just about everyone, including a brief stint by The Rolling Stones (“Miss You”), “disco-fying” their sound, this new-wave MTV era now had a rock group synthesizing their sound to fit into the musical landscape. Florida rockers Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, known for ‘70s FM-radio hits embraced adaptability with 1982’s “You Got Lucky.”
Whether you were already a fan of their car-radio favorites or discovered the band via the Mad Max-inspired music video for “You Got Lucky,” it was this openness to explore that introduced the group to an even bigger audience. However, the band’s visit to this alien land of synth was (intentionally?) ephemeral. In the apocalyptic video, the Heartbreakers play rough, yet wary space cowboys, stumbling upon a lost desert station, presumably on Earth, filled with technological artifacts and fads. Note at the end that the only item they take with them is the electric guitar, which Mike Campbell loads into his shuttle. They leave behind the jackpot of coins, the arcade games, TV sets and the cassette-tape player; the guitar the only real thing of value, interest and relevance, symbolic of the band’s loyalty to their traditional rock lineage and the only necessary instrument for where the band was headed… back home.
It’s also noteworthy that Petty’s futuristic character, ironically wearing old-west attire, almost takes the tape player, yet decides to leave it behind, not only foreshadowing its obsolescence, but perhaps serving as another indication of Petty’s affinity for the traditional, i.e., the vinyl record. The band did manage to welcome one important innovation: the music video. They continued to embrace the marketing tool, becoming one of the most creative bands to push the concept forward, so much so, their videos became short four-minute films. Three years later “Don’t Come Around Here No More” became one of the best, albeit surreal and disturbing, videos of the MTV ‘80s. Just as the Stones followed up “Miss You” with their return to form, “Beast of Burden,” Tom and the gang soon issued the familiar-sounding “Change of Heart,” an aptly titled release, considering from where they just came.