Today in The Music of New Coke, Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker’s “Don’t Come Around Here No More, a song written by Dave Stewart (of Eurythmics fame) about Stevie Nicks final words to him after a one-night stand they shared shortly after her break-up with Don Henley (or Joe Walsh, depending on who is telling the story).  And just to make it that much more rock-incestuous, when Stewart starting writing the song he turned to producer Jimmy Iovine for help on the single, who had been another one of Nicks’ former lovers and had produced her 1981 solo release, Bella Donna. 

Even though “Don’t Come Around Here No More” only peaked at #13 during the New Coke era, the song and the video have aged much better than most of the hits we’ve covered so far from the spring of 1985.   A credit to Petty’s strong musical personality combined with Jimmy Iovine’s — who would later go on to found Interscope Records and give the world Eminem and 50 Cent — sense of timeless sound, as also heard in his work with U2, Bruce Springsteen, and Patti Smith among others.

(The other day Chromeo posted some great Fleetwood Mac footage on their blog.  Be sure to check out around 5:50 when Stevie looks like she’s about to throttle Lindsey Buckingham.  God I love her.)

Share →

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *