American Girl
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
1976

It’s hard for me to put into words how I feel about the one and only Tom Petty. The earliest memory I have about Tom is when I was on a scout hike when I was around 13 years old, and that ninny Brian Burns was talking about how great Tom Petty was. And because Brian Burns was a ninny and I was 13 years old, I immediately revolted and responded that Tom Petty was terrible, even though I had never listened to him before (that unfortunately was a pattern I used too many times in those teenage years). But Brian Burns was right on this front. Tom Petty is amazing.

Separate Tom Petty memory: I hate the Los Angeles Dodgers, as every good Giants fan should, but I do have very fond memories going to many games at Dodger Stadium growing up (back when the “yellow” field box seats cost $11, which is crazy). I have a vivid recollection of cruising in my friend Buxton’s T-bird down the 110 (yes, you’re supposed to insert a “the” when you’re talking about specific freeways) after a Dodger game, blasting this song (also blasting Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic on that occasion, but The Police did not make the cut for this list). Now this was the T-bird, not Buxton’s dad’s truck that was used for stakeouts. What are stakeouts? Oh I’m glad you asked: stakeouts were an activity whereby we drove around the city throwing ketchup and other condiments at each other’s cars. As one does! Who needed smartphones when you had ketchup packets? Sadly, the truck suffered a broken door on one occasion when Buxton leaped out of the truck, with it running, at Fatburger to throw some ketchup. Sadly for Buxton, sadly for Buxton’s dad, and sadly for the truck, Buxton left the vehicle unattended, and it rolled down a hill and collided with my friend Derek’s car. That pretty much spelled the end of a long run of stakeouts. (Stakeout was good stakeouts until that moment.)

Now you may think that that story about stakeouts really has nothing to do with American Girl, but whether it was Dodger games or activities throwing condiments at each others’ vehicles, Tom Petty was the definitive soundtrack of my youth. And what a glorious run it was.

How do you pick just one Tom Petty song?? How do you choose between American Girl or Free Falling or Wildflowers or I Won’t Back Down or Refugee or The Waiting or You Wreck Me or any of the other hundreds — yes I said and I meant hundreds — of amazing Petty tunes? Well, you start by picking what remains a timeless classic to this day. It starts with that classic riff from Mike Campbell and then it leads to that joyous “make it last - make it last all night!” that we all know and love and sing along to as one of many, many roadtrip Tom Petty songs (seriously, the man was built for roadtrips).

And then you follow your own rules and remember that you may just be able to take a second Tom song on your list. 😊

Other Songs Considered:
See #2.