![]() The companies tried to persuade Petty to drop the bankruptcy claim, to which he responded: “I’ll sell … peanuts before I give in to you.” To pay for their legal bills, the Heartbreakers went on a short tour, the “Lawsuit Tour.” They wore T-shirts that said, “Why MCA?” So began one of the most epic games of chicken in music-business history. And because he was the first, MCA had to make sure he didn’t succeed. ![]() ![]() Petty was the first mainstream rock star to file for bankruptcy expressly to get out of a contract with his record label. “And if you’re bankrupt, all contracts are void.” “Technically you’re bankrupt,” he later said. Then, when MCA’s lawsuit left him legally unable to do anything with it, he filed for Chapter 11. What did Petty do? Like so many artists do today, he self-funded the recording of the band’s third album, racking up more than $500,000 in debt. But when he moved to act on that premise, MCA and Shelter sued Petty for breach of contract, preventing him not only from negotiating with other labels but also from releasing music or playing live. That clause gave Petty plausible grounds to claim that Shelter had breached their contract, and that he was therefore free to shop for a new label. As part of a previous renegotiation, he had managed to add a clause to the Heartbreakers’ deal stipulating that their label, Shelter, must consult with him before selling the band’s contract to another company. ![]() “I just felt like they sold us like we were groceries, or frozen pork,” he said. When it was announced that the Heartbreakers would be transferred to MCA, Petty balked. And, as is routine, although the record company fronted the Heartbreakers money to make their albums, those costs were deducted against the band’s meager royalties. The Heartbreakers’ record deal was almost as bad as Petty’s publishing deal. He soon managed to get some of those rights back, but it left a mark. Believing that “publishing” referred only to sheet-music songbooks, he had signed over 100 percent of his songwriting rights for a $10,000 annual advance. Petty, a scrappy 28-year-old punk from Gainesville, had been in the business for only a few years, but that was enough time to have acquired a simmering rage. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers had released two hit albums when, in 1978, their label, Shelter Records, announced it was going to be sold by its parent company, ABC Records, back to what had been the label’s original parent company, MCA. Decades before Prince changed his name to a glyph and compared the major-label system to indentured servitude, Petty took on the entire industry, waging a battle for his music rights that changed forever how artists negotiate with record companies. Even in the way that the hours between the false reports and the official announcement allowed Petty fans to imagine that the man who sang “I won’t back down” was, in his last moments, not backing down.įew outside the music business know just how accurate those lyrics were. How the CBS report that he died the morning of Oct. Search for: Follow Anne Dennish – Writer/Author on WordPress.There was something so Tom Petty about the way the news arrived. “Don’t back down” to anything or anyone…stand tall, proud and strong! Show the world how “big your brave is!” What you know to be true is your “truth.” And no one, and no situation, can take that away from you without your permission. You did what was necessary to remove yourself from it, even if you allowed someone else to think they got the best of you. Yes, there are times we feel like we “gave in” to someone, yet you need to remember, you didn’t give in, and you didn’t give up. “Well, I know what’s right, I got just one life in a world that keeps on pushin’ me around but I’ll stand my ground and I won’t back down.” When I find myself faced with someone who’s draining my energy or trying to manipulate me, I hear those lyrics: I have days like that, although as I learn my lessons in life, those days are far and few between. And all that is okay we’re all human and there are just some days that people and situations get the best of us. You’re tired, you’re emotions are running rampant, or you just hit your wall to life. Yet you don’t need to go through an illness or rough patch to understand that song…no one should “back down” to anything or anyone.įinding our strength isn’t the easiest thing to do, and truth be told, even when you find it, there will be moments that you’re too tired to stay that strong. I always loved that song, but while going through breast cancer, the lyrics rang more true than ever.
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