Remembering When a Tom Petty Single Embraced the Era of Big Production and Even Bigger Videos in 1985
In 1985, Tom Petty deliberately departed from his usual album-focused approach to make “Don’t Come Around Here No More” a standout single. Collaborating with Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart, he embraced more elaborate production and an ambitious MTV-era video, helping the song become one of his biggest hits and giving the album Southern Accents added momentum.
The track emerged after Petty sought to refresh the Heartbreakers’ sound, moving away from an early concept-album idea about the American South. Petty and Stewart spent weeks refining its unusual chord changes, programmed drums and sitar, despite some band scepticism; its Alice in Wonderland-inspired video cast Petty as a sinister Mad Hatter. The single reached number 13 on the US pop chart, his second-highest placing at that point.
- Petty reinvented his sound for a major 1985 single.
- Dave Stewart helped create its distinctive production.
- The elaborate video and song boosted Southern Accents.
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Tom Petty was an American singer and songwriter best known for his work with the Heartbreakers, a rock band whose sound was often built around albums and live performance. By the mid-1980s, music videos on MTV had become an important way for artists to reach audiences, and pop records increasingly featured elaborate studio production.
For Southern Accents, Petty wanted to explore a different sound and worked with Dave Stewart of the British duo Eurythmics. The song’s programmed drums, sitar and shifting chords marked a change from the Heartbreakers’ familiar style, while its Alice in Wonderland-inspired video made the track a major part of the MTV era.
The single’s chart success showed how a carefully produced song and striking video could broaden an established rock act’s audience. It also helped draw attention to Southern Accents, an album that grew out of Petty’s earlier idea to make a record about the American South.
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