![]() The band became one of the most popular acts on MTV, feeding the network with cinematic productions for songs like “Don’t Come Around Here No More” and “Free Fallin’.”ĭuring a Twitter Q&A in December 2011, Petty disclosed that Melissa Etheridge doing “Refugee” was the best cover of the song he ever heard. This was the only place they thought the video would air, but when MTV launched in 1981, it got lots of play on the network, which craved rock videos from American artists. It did the trick, and the video aired on the show, allowing Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to promote the song without showing up. The band shot a music video for this song because they didn’t want to appear on The Merv Griffin Show in person. The band closed out their Live Aid set at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia with “Refugee.” The massive 1985 benefit concert was also staged in London the same day. ![]() Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers performed this in 1979 on their first Saturday Night Live appearance, where they also played “Don’t Do Me Like That.” If I had to pick one favorite, I’d probably pick that first.” ![]() It always sounds like it really captured a moment. Maybe because it was so hard to get on the tape, there was a time when I thought it would never come out, that we just can’t do it. A hit record a lot of times is more than just the song, it’s the timing, the climate you put it out in, what people are listening to and what they’re expecting to hear and if it touches a nerve at a certain time.”Ĭampbell and Petty teamed up to write many of the band’s songs, including “Here Comes My Girl,” “Jammin’ Me,” and “You Got Lucky.” Mike also wrote the music for Don Henley’s “The Boys of Summer” and “The Heart Of The Matter.” When we asked him what was his favorite song he’s written, he said: “Refugee always makes me happy. You know when it’s good or not, but you don’t always know if it’s a hit. Sometimes you think certain things are surefire and people just don’t latch on to them and other things they do. Mike Campbell: “When we were at the studio mixing it, I remember this one girl who was working in reception, she came in and heard the mix and she said, ‘That’s a hit, that’s a hit,’ and we looked at each other and said, ‘Maybe it is.’ You don’t always know. I just couldn’t take the pressure anymore, but then I came back and when we regrouped we were actually able to get it down on tape.” I remember being so frustrated with it one day that – I think this is the only time I ever did this – I just left the studio and went out of town for two days. We just had a hard time getting the feel right. Tom wrote over the music as it was, no changes, but it took us forever to actually cut the track. It was a 4-track that I made at my house. In a Songfacts interview with Campbell, he told us about the recording process: “That was a hard record to make. Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell wrote the music and Petty added the lyrics. It takes some time usually before you fully understand what’s going on in a song – or maybe what led up to it.” I wasn’t so conscious of it then, but I can look back and see what was happening. I was so angry with the whole system that I think that had a lot to do with the tone of the Damn the Torpedoes album. I wound up in a huge row with the record company when ABC Records tried to sell our contract to MCA Records without us knowing about it, despite a clause in our contract that said they didn’t have the right to do that. Tom Petty: “This was a reaction to the pressures of the music business. The song peaked at #15 in the Billboard 100, #2 in Canada, and #3 in New Zealand in 1980. The album peaked at #2 in the Billboard 100, held out of #1 by Pink Floyd’s The Wall. In the US, Damn The Torpedoes was a big success and helped the band grow a huge audience. The album Damn The Torpedos broke Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to the masses.
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