1989 - April: Tom Petty ”Full Moon Fever”

Despite the fact that he was a household name by 1989, Full Moon Fever is the debut solo album by Tom Petty, since his other albums were as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was a little straining on the members of the Heartbreakers, but everyone but drummer Stan Lynch contributed to Full Moon Fever. It was even recorded in Heartbreaker guitarist Mike Campbell's garage studio. Members of the Traveling Wilburys participated as well (except for Bob Dylan), and Jeff Lynne (ELO) produced it along with Petty and Campbell. Full Moon Fever was recorded at the same time as the first Traveling Wilburys album, and was interrupted to allow time for the Wilburys recording. We hope you enjoy this solo effort from the late Tom Petty, who passed in 2017.   Runnin' Down a Dream This is the second single from the album, following "I Won't Back Down." It reached number 23 on the billboard hot 100. The mention of "me and Del were singin' 'Little Runaway'" references Dell Shannon's Runaway, which hit number 1 in 1961. Check out that outro "Attention, CD Listeners." I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better The Byrds originated this cover song. It was first released in June 1965, and was written by Byrds founding member Gene Clark. Petty's cover starts the second side of the album, was the fourth single, and hit number 18 on the US Rock Chart. It's a nice, tight single, as are many of the pieces on the album. You may recognize this song from the soundtrack of "Dumb and Dumber" A Face In The Crowd Petty and Jeff Lynne wrote this one, and you can readily sense Lynne's influence. It was the fourth singe, and peaked at number 46 on the Hot 100 Chart. This is a rare, melancholy song from what is a mostly upbeat album. Yer So Bad A humorous song also written by Petty and Lynne. "My sister got lucky, married a yuppie. Took him for all he was worth. Now she's a swinger, dating a singer. I can't decide which is worse."   ENTERTAINMENT TRACK: “Wild Thing” from the motion picture Major League This classic was played when Charlie Sheen's character came out to pitch. The song is performed by X.   STAFF PICKS: "Stand” by R.E.M. Brian features the Athens, GA stars, who encourage us to get involved in our local communities and businesses.  Peter Buck came up with what he thought was a "stupid guitar riff," and Michael Stipe decided to "write some stupid lyrics."  The result was nevertheless a hit. “I'll Be You” by The Replacements Wayne's staff pick showcases the biggest hit by The Replacements during a time when alternative music was becoming popular on the hit charts.  The Replacements disbanded in 1991, just before alternative music exploded into grunge. “Voices of Babylon” by The Outfield Rob's staff pick is a lesser known hit than "Your Love," which gets a lot of play at football stadiums.  The Outfield is a trio from Britain, and got their name when their manager objected to their original name "The Baseball Boys."   “Jelly Roll” by Blue Murder Bruce closes out the staff picks with this hair band epic. John Sykes, co-writer of many of Whitesnake's hits, plays the 12 string and electric guitar in this supergroup which also contained drummer Carmine Appice (Vanilla Fudge) and bassist Tony Franklin (The Firm).   INSTRUMENTAL TRACK: “Memphis Train Blues” by R.E.M. The B-side from R.E.M.'s single "Stand" finishes us off for this week's podcast. Thanks for listening to “What the Riff?!?” NOTE: To adjust the loudness of the music or voices, you may adjust the balance on your device. VOICES are stronger in the LEFT channel, and MUSIC is stronger on the RIGHT channel. Please follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/whattheriffpodcast/, and message or email us with what you'd like to hear, what you think of the show, and any rock-worthy memes we can share. Of course we'd love for you to rate the show in your podcast platform! **NOTE: What the Riff?!? does not own the rights to any of these songs and we neither sell, nor profit from them. We share them so you can learn about them and purchase them for your own collections.