Oh, Manchester, So Much To Answer For

swung by barnes & noble tonight, and picked up the new ish of magnet with tom petty on the cover. really, how can you lose? whether you care for petty musically or not, he's one of the last rock stars who actually stands for something; it's refreshing as hell to see him on the cover of a mag which usually features indie stars such as bob pollard and spiritualized (they're good too, don't misunderstand me). now personally, I also happen to think that over the last 25+ years, petty (and his merry band of heartbreakers) has created a true canon of rock'n'roll which we'll still be listening to in a further quarter-century: "the waiting." "free fallin'." "you got lucky." "I won't back down." "mary jane's last dance." I could go on (catch me in the right mood, and I will) - my point is that no other bigtime american rocker (solo division), save springsteen and mellencamp, has had such a solid string of gems over the same amount of time. classic american rock is what he is. chevy should've used petty, and not bob fucking seger, for their endless ad campaign. the beauty is that he would've turned 'em down flat.