How Tom Petty Reckoned With Fame on 'Parade of Loons'

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released their self-titled debut album in November of 1976. In the next year that followed, the Gainesville-bred rockers found themselves facing an explosive level of fame they weren't prepared for.

It's something that Petty wrote about in the previously unreleased song "Parade of Loons," which arrived today (Sept. 16). The track offers a preview of the upcoming box set Origins 1971-1978, due out Nov. 6, celebrating the 50-year milestone for the group.

You can watch a video for "Parade of Loons" below.

The "parade of loons," was the way band members came to describe the increasingly chaotic scene on the road. They were confronted by throngs of people after their concerts in 1976 and 1977 while touring in support of the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album.

The Story of 'Parade of Loons'

Understandably, those early moments still stick with Heartbreakers drummer Stan Lynch nearly 50 years later. But he says the overwhelming nature of those times extended far beyond the '70s.

"It's the boiling frog, man. The water felt warm. The last thing I remember was like, 'Wow, it was cold.' Then it went warm, and then it was 1994," he tells UCR. "It seemed like a very natural evolution, for everybody in the band."

"[But] also, there's sort of an addictive quality to all of success. Where no matter what you have, you always assume you should have more or could have more," he explains. "It's not until later in life you realize, 'Holy crap, that was a lot.'"

As Petty related to author Paul Zollo for 2005's Conversations With Tom Petty, they had a couple of aces in their pocket going in to work on 1978's You're Gonna Get It! He'd written "Listen to Her Heart" and "I Need to Know" and the group had already been slipping the songs into their live set, so they knew they had at least two proven winners, based on the initial audience reaction.

"Parade of Loons," in Petty's telling, got left on the sidelines, because they had the songs they needed for You're Gonna Get It! Plus, he noted, they didn't have a satisfactory capture of the tune. "It was so distorted. It wasn't recorded well, so I didn't want to put that out."

But he also said it "wasn't a bad song" and it was one that captured the bewildering circumstances they'd been dealing with and the dizzying array of people filtering in, "from all different backgrounds with all different motives."

Watch Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' 'Parade of Loons' Video

Thankfully rescued from whatever perceived shortcomings the original recording might have had, "Parade of Loons" is an artifact from the era that Lynch concurs is solid.

"I remember what triggered the writing of the song was the actual 'parade of loons,'" he says. "Honestly, I can't really remember recording it, but I remember at the time thinking that it had a cool groove,"

"Any time Tom was at the mic, it was bound to be a fun experience, you know. Even as a boy and not knowing the level of his ability yet," he adds. "I don't know if any of us knew our abilities yet, but in retrospect, you go, 'Wow, that's great!' It's like reading a diary entry."

The Surviving Heartbreakers Will Reunite Tonight

The legacy of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will be celebrated tonight (Sept. 16) at the Americana Awards in Nashville. Lynch will team up with Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench and Ron Blair for a special reunion performance at the beginning of the event that will also feature Chris Stapleton. The band's later-era members Scott Thurston and Steve Ferrone will join in as well for an additional song.

The drummer was looking forward to being back in the same room with his old bandmates and shared that for him personally, that was what he enjoyed most about being part of the box set discussions.

"I sat with the guys a couple months ago and we got to listen to some of the remastering and remixing [that had been done to the material]," he remembers. "The takeaway for me is that on a personal level, it's always so good to just be with those cats."

"That's the biggest light in the room, for me, is that, 'Wow, they're here and they're still my friends -- and they're cool,'" he continues. "Listening to the music with them, for me, the most invigorating thing is to watch their reaction to the music. Because I love people watching, you know? And they're my favorite people. Watching them react to the music is really a soulful thing for me after all these decades."

Origins 1971-1978 is available now for preorder from the official Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers website and other locations in a variety of different formats, including both CD and vinyl versions, as well as an "uber" deluxe box set.