Tom Petty's pissed

I had no idea Tom Petty was such a righteously cranky dude: Tom Petty Is Pissed [Rolling Stone, via Rebecca's Pocket]

...in 1982 Petty recorded Hard Promises with the Heartbreakers, only to find that his then-record company had plans to use his name to initiate a new, higher $9.98 list price for albums. Petty withheld the tapes and threatened to retitle his record $8.98 in protest.

Petty's latest album, The Last DJ .. 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. ... "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?"

"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.

"My top [concert ticket] 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."

"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... 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."

Refreshing stuff from somebody who's actually done it all. Worth reading the whole thing.  

 Simon & Garfunkel together again

Time for some music-themed posts.

Simon & Garfunkel To Perform Again [CBS News]

The folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel are expected to reunite Sunday night at the Grammys. The two are receiving lifetime achievement awards from the Recording Academy during the show. A source close to the Grammys told CBS News Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel will perform.

It's also reported the two are talking about a tour...

Coool. Guess we'll be TiVoing that.