That same spirit is alive and well on Petty's latest album, The Last DJ, which takes a hard look at the lack of moral grounding in the music business. The title track has kicked up considerable controversy, with some radio stations seeing the song as a slap in the face and banning it. But Petty is not just biting the hand that feeds him. Music is only the beginning of what's pissing him off these days. "The Last DJ is a story about morals more than the music business," he says. "It's really about vanishing personal freedoms."
1 Radio is not even worth listening to
"I don't really give a flying fuck about any of it. I've tuned out.
But I was elated when my song was banned. I mean, nothing could
have complimented me more than to hear they just banned it at
such-and-such a station because it's anti-radio. Now, in 2002 to
have a song banned that doesn't have a dirty word, doesn't advocate
violence -- it's fascinating, you know. Like, what are you afraid
of? No record has ever been made that was more pro-radio, you
know.
"I remember when the radio meant something. We enjoyed the people who were on it, even if we hated them. They had personalities. They were people of taste, who we trusted. And I see that vanishing. I thought it was a good metaphor to start the album."
2 All anyone thinks about is money
"You don't hear any more of, 'Hey, we did something creative and we
turned a profit, how about that?' Everywhere we look, we want to
make the most money possible. This is a dangerous, corrupt notion.
That's where you see the advent of programming on the radio, and
radio research, all these silly things. That has made pop music
what it is today. Everything -- morals, truth -- is all going out
the window in favor of profit.
"I don't think it's a good attitude in your life to feel that you have to be rich to have self-esteem. You know, I saw a billboard in New York I wish I had photographed. It was for the TNN network. It said three words against a patriotic background of red, white and blue - BIGGER, YOUNGER, RICHER. Now, I find that fascinating: 'Bigger, younger, richer.' This whole idea of being wealthy has gone too far. I never ride in a limousine, you know. I feel gross if I get in a limousine. One good thing about the Sixties was it sort of was the opposite back then. You looked silly trying to appear rich."
3 It's ridiculous to make people pay twenty dollars for
a CD
"It's funny how the music industry is enraged about the Internet
and the way things are copied without being paid for. But you know
why people steal the music? Because they can't afford the music.
I'm not condoning downloading music for free. I don't think that's
really fair, but I understand it. If you brought CD prices back
down to $8.98, you would solve a lot of the industry's problems.
You are already seeing it a little -- the White Stripes albums
selling for $9.99. Everyone still makes a healthy profit; it might
get the music business back on its feet."
4 Only a complete greedhead would charge $150 for a
concert ticket
"My top price is about sixty-five dollars, and I turn a very
healthy profit on that; I make millions on the road. I see no
reason to bring the price up, even though I have heard many an
anxious promoter say, 'We could charge 150 bucks for this.' I would
like to do this again and maybe come through and not leave a bad
taste in people's mouths. I was at one of our gigs recently, and I
was just stunned driving in that it cost thirty dollars to park
your car. It's so wrong to say, 'OK, we've got them on the ticket
and we've got them on the beer and we've got on everything else,
let's get them on the damn parking.' You got to care about the
person you're dealing with."
5 Record labels don't care about artists
"An act like ours wouldn't even be around today if someone hadn't
brought us along and let us make mistakes and grow at our own pace.
Today it seems that if you don't have a hit -- or even if you do --
they have no use for you the next time. It's like, 'Well, why wait
for these guys to come back with another hit when we can bring in
somebody else?' It's an asinine way to conduct yourself. These
people are looking at balance sheets, not music. Most people
involved in putting this music on the air or bringing it to us
aren't really listening to it."