Long After Dark...

...is when you'll be still be watching Peter Bogdonovitch's exceptional and exceptionally long documentary Runnin' Down a Dream. I saw it yesterday afternoon on the Sundance Channel. Four hours, folks. Just under 240 uninterrupted minutes about Tom Petty in one sitting. For the record, here are...

Other Things I Could've Done in Four Hours

1) Driven to New York City

2) Driven to North Carolina

3) Driven halfway to New York, turned around, and driven back (and still caught the movie's final credits)

4) Watched most of the last quarter of the Super Bowl - including all the time-outs - where Tom Petty is the halftime performer later today (I hope Heartbreaker guitarist Mike Campbell doesn't flash his nips, no matter how tempting)


I did enjoy the movie quite a bit despite or maybe because of its seemingly interminable length (which, to be fair, goes by at a pretty good clip). I especially liked the new interviews and great archive concert footage. Eddie Vedder is one of many luminaries lauding Petty and his decades of achievement. The film features a great version of Vedder with the band on "The Waiting" at a 2006 show:



One of my favorites has always been "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," Petty's early 80s duet with Stevie Nicks. This song did so well on the Billboard chart, it effectively killed concurrent airplay for the actual Heartbreakers single at the time, "A Woman in Love".

One of my earliest and best MTV memories is the 1982 video for "You Got Lucky" fromtheir Long After Dark album. It's got this great, post-apocalyptic art direction, and a new wave synth melody so sturdy that it probably would survive a nuclear exchange. I unfortunately can't embed it here. There's an entire Tom Petty YouTube channel worth checking out, however.

Runnin' Down a Dream has many great behind the scenes moments (and how could there not be with FOUR HOURS TO FILL?). The prolific Jimmy Iovine, who produced the Damn the Torpedos album, is arguing with drummer Stan Lynch on the follow-up recording. Iovine isn't happy with the anemic percussion. Stan, never one to shy away from expressing an opinion, wonders aloud why the producer isn't on "the other side of the glass". While the Heartbreakers chuckle, Iovine blinks, shakes his head, and storms out, muttering "Fine. Well, you're going to sound like the Motels on this album."

I guess that's an effective way to shame one of the most hard-rocking American drummers from the 70s and 80s. For the record, though, I've always liked Martha...