Guitars take a back seat to synths on “You Got Lucky,” the lead single from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Long after dark. The legendary singer-songwriter continued to focus on the futuristic theme with the “Mad Max” music video. “You Got Lucky” was a bold creative move in a career full of them, and remains a fan favorite seven years after Petty’s death. Recently, Heartbreakers Mike Campbell and Stan Lynch talked about how the song came to be.
How “You Got Lucky” was created from the drum loop
Last month, Tom Petty’s estate released an expanded deluxe edition of the ’80s Long After Darkincluding 12 new and previously unreleased live tracks. Recently, Heartbreakers Mike Campbell and Stan Lynch, along with music producer Ryan Oliatt and Petty’s daughter Adria, provided some behind-the-scenes insight into Record Life Podcast.
After four records with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Lynch says he was ready for just about anything. “You know,” he said, “I’m like, ‘Man, if you want me to play the drums, that would be fun.
“I think [the drum beat] “It was created from a 24-track loop, which we didn’t even know you could do,” he said. “We’re like everyone else with spindles and broom handles.”
Campbell added that Petty suggested that the song’s guitar solo “should sound like Clint Eastwood, like Ennio Morricone.”
“So I played the keyboard line on the guitar with the kick drum. “And that’s why it has that sound,” he said.
[RELATED: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Guitarist Mike Campbell Releasing Memoir, ‘Heartbreaker,’ in 2025: “It’s a Labor of Love”]
Tom Petty has been nicely edited for MTV
Tom Petty has earned a reputation as someone who rises above the influence of pop culture. However, his daughter says the “Won’t Back Down” hitmaker was actually quite skilled in that department.
MTV was less than a year old when the Heartbreakers released “You Got Lucky.” Music videos became a marketing necessity whether artists liked them or not. Adria Petty remembers watching MTV with her father “all the time.”
He knew what Americans liked. Adria said: “He knew what genuinely connected with the audience and what didn’t.” “And I think he thought MTV was very sexy. He thought anything that took music seriously was exciting.
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