Tom Petty left his heart in San Francisco

[Refugee 7]

Ben Fong-Torres

Friday, April 30, 2010

Last Sunday, I had a cover story in Parade magazine, with an interview with Tom Petty, who has an album coming out in June with the Heartbreakers ("Mojo"). During our visit, in his beach house in Malibu, the 59-year-old rocker waxed nostalgic about radio and San Francisco.

His first album came out in 1976 and included songs like "American Girl" and "Breakdown," but couldn't catch a break - except in two cities. "I wouldn't exist without FM rock," said Petty. "They were totally behind me. KSAN really was the first place ... SAN and WBCN in Boston. For a while, they were the only people playing our first album. They were open-minded. ... I think those guys, Tom Donahue and people like that, were truly pioneers."

When Petty ventured into the Bay Area, he found "a whole vibe of music, a lot of young bands," he said. "It seemed a healthier scene than L.A." Petty remembers playing alongside groups like the Greg Kihn Band. Now Kihn is a DJ on KUFX ("The Fox") in San Jose, while Petty hosts the eclectic weekly radio show, "Buried Treasure," on Sirius/XM (Thursdays, 5 to 6 p.m. on the "Deep Tracks" channel, with two repeat airings). He picks the music and records his DJ bits in a home studio at his beach house.

"I have an enormous library of music," he said. "It's all on the computer. During the week, I'll come up with four or five things I'm listening to. So, I'm digging Wilson Pickett, and we'll start there. 'Let's try to make little sets that groove together,' and I go through and pick stuff out." A producer then helps edit the show. "It's a labor of love," said Petty, whose show is in its fifth year. "The feedback I get is so rewarding; I get such nice mail, people remembering things or discovering things. A teenaged girl wrote me saying she'd never heard Chuck Berry. I couldn't believe it. And sometimes I'll play something new, and it's proof that all these things can live together." At least outside of commercial, terrestrial radio ...

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/30/PKFJ1D1OEP.DTL#ixzz0mfX5zeKv

[PumpkinBumpkin 1]

Thanks for this Linda!

[emmie 2]

He's looking good there, very healthy and trim looking. Nice.

[Magnolia 171]

^ He is, He's looking real good there. Nice article. Thanks for posting it.

[wild1forever 152]

"They were totally behind me. KSAN really was the first place ...

I actually remember those early days, but I could have sworn it was KSJO rather than KSAN playing the first album. At any rate, Bay Area FM radio was definitely supportive of them back then.

[SingsInFrench 262]

Thanks Linda. Veeerrrrry nice picture.

[weird monkey 0]

Thanks Linda, great article and it's nice to see some new pictures, he is looking good.

[LizzieB 0]

I enjoyed the article, and the picture. Whoever his "stylist" is right now, he should keep them!

[dreamgirl 7]

I just love how he talks..."so I'm digging Wilson Pickett, and we'll start there..." and how he looks!!!

Thanks Linda. Fun to read!

[Marion 1,411]

That is a very nice picture. I am still enjoying his radio show. He is a very good DJ.

[WildflowerNJ 136]

Thank you so much for this, Linda....great picture of Tom :heart:

[emmie 2]

I've always loved Wilson Pickett myself.

[Marion 1,411]

I wish Tom would help out more new bands once in a while. He has on occasion but it's been awhile. He introduced me to Jet and Kings of Leon.

[surfnburn 5]

That's a sweet little article. He's looking good in the photo! Yeah, there were a lot of bands in bay area. The music culture has been around since the 60s. Stevie Nicks mentioned it at a couple of concerts. I think the bay area has had a philosophy that it's about the music and the experience (maybe that's what he means), but when bands get hungry ($) they go to LA...lol.

[KansasPettyFan 1]

Thanks for sharing this. He does indeed look great!