10 Things Tom Petty Hates
Although he recently told Rolling Stone that he's "not nearly as angry as people think," Tom Petty sure has expressed strong dislike for a great number of things during recent interviews in support of his new album 'Hypnotic Eye.' From hotel room views to popular music and television and even the Catholic church, here are 10 Things Tom Petty Hates:
Bonus Tracks on Greatest Hits Albums
'Mary Jane's Last Dance,' from Petty's 1993's 'Greatest Hits,' is the rare bonus track that actually earned its spot on a best-of album. But he sure hated having to include it on there, telling Radio Q that "it irked me no end that I had to do [that]." Why? "I kinda hate it when you get those greatest hits albums, and there's all hits and then... 'what's that?,' you know, at the end. There is no 'bonus track,' it's the end of your record... I don't want it on the record unless it's supposed to be there."
DJ-Based Music
"Watch people play records?" Petty incredulously asked USA Today. "That's stupid. You couldn't pay me to go. I don't think it would be any fun without the drugs. It's a drug party." Besides, he'd prefer everyone learn to make their own sounds. "There's a lot of people who are in so much of a hurry to be, I guess to be famous, that they don't want to take the time to learn to play and do all that," he explains to Radio Q. "They'd rather just knock it down off a computer and maybe get on a game show and get famous."
MP3s and Streaming Music
"I hate MP3s," Petty told USA Today. "You hear exactly 5% of the record I made. The CD is not as good as it can be, but it's 100 times better than an MP3. The good news is vinyl is coming back." Oh, and don't get him started on how great free streaming music is, like Q Radio did: "There are artists far less fortunate than me that make their living (making music), and I think it's a slap in the face to them to think that you can take their work for free."
Modern Country Music
Petty made headlines -- and a couple of enemies -- last summer when he said that most of modern country "reminds me of rock in the middle ’80s, where it became incredibly generic and relied on videos." As he explained to Rolling Stone, "I hate to generalize on a whole genre of music, but it does seem to be missing that magic element that it used to have."
Televised Singing Competitions
Thank goodness, it's a safe bet you won't see Petty pulling a Steven Tyler and judging 'American Idol.' "If they had tried to offer my generation someone that had won a game show, it would've been hysterical," he told Rolling Stone. "You would've been laughed out of the room. We were suspicious of people that had hit records, it was that different a time."
Hotels, Travel, Harbor Views
After declaring to Q Radio that he's "had enough" of traveling in general, Petty told Men's Journal that hotels "make me think of work" and declared himself "completely unimpressed" by even the fanciest accommodations: "'Here's a beautiful view of the harbor...' I don't care about the f---ing harbor! Get the f--- out of my room!"
Several of His Own Albums
Petty's clearly one of those guys who's just as hard on himself as he is on others, telling Rolling Stone he was no fan of his 1999 album 'Echo.' "I had just gotten divorced. My family was in complete upheaval. [Former bassist] Howie [Epstein] had really bad problems. But there was a record due." He also cites 1982's 'Long After Dark' -- which, we remind you, features the amazing 'You Got Lucky' -- as "another one that felt like treading water." But he saves his harshest words for his 1996 soundtrack to the movie 'She's the One.' "I hated that record -- the whole idea of it offended me," he told Men's Journal. "I only did it because I didn't have anything else to do. I liked [director] Ed [Burns], and thought he was pretty sharp, so I wrote him a couple of songs. And then it kept mushrooming... I took some stuff I hadn't used on 'Wildflowers,' really crummy versions, badly mixed, and put them on there. It was terrible, really. I'm disappointed I did that."
The Catholic Church
Let's be clear -- as Petty told Billboard, it's not all Catholics he's angry at, but instead those who seek to cover up the sex abuse scandals that have plagued the church. “If I was in a club, and I found out that there had been generations of people abusing children, and then that club was covering that up, I would quit the club. And I wouldn’t give them any more money.”
Reality TV
It's safe to say Petty isn't keeping up with the Kardashians. “I’m old enough to have lived in a country where, if you were willing to work hard, you could have a fairly nice life," he declares in a recent interview with the Sun. "You could support a family and even get a shot at owning your home, but you never thought you’d get a swimming pool. Now the culture has hypnotized people into thinking they’re really nothing if they’re not wealthy and a Kardashian.”
At least, he's hopeful that many of these reality stars will go away soon. "A lot of people get famous now very quickly," he explains to Q Radio, "and then they seem to have a turnover where they're not famous for that long, but someone else steps in to fill the slot. They're sort of disposable famous, I suppose."
Alcohol and ALMOST ALL Drugs
Petty swears he's abstained from most of the traditional drink and drug excesses of many of his peers. Cocaine? Sure, a few times, but "the first thing it does is freeze your vocal cords," he explains to Rolling Stone. Alcohol? "I didn't like the taste or the buzz," he tells Men's Journal, "and I can't stand being around drunks." So what's left? "I'm mostly just a reefer guy." Oh, and of course, there's the dreaded cigarettes. "I'm an addict, man. I'm a sick f---. But I don't understand why I can't light up in a bar or park. I think that's yuppie s---."