Linda Ronstadt, Jimmy Buffet, and Tom Petty Have This Unexpected Thing in Common

There are some common lines you can draw between Linda Ronstadt, Tom Petty, and Jimmy Buffett. For example, Ronstadt and Petty can both be categorized as folksy country rock. Buffett and Petty both played guitar. And Buffett and Ronstadt both had songs about dolphins (those last two are a stretch but it’ll get better).

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But what connects all three of these musical legends? I’ll give you a hint: it starts with F and ends with M. That’s right, it’s the 1978 film FM, which starred Michael Brandon, Eileen Brennan, Alex Karras, Cleavon Little, and Martin Mull.

While FM was a commercial and box office flop, it had a killer soundtrack, which eventually went platinum. In addition to appearing in the film, Linda Ronstadt, Tom Petty, and Jimmy Buffett contributed to the soundtrack.

The film follows the internal conflicts and mishaps of the Q-SKY FM radio station. When a new sales manager wants the station to run cheesy ads for the U.S. Army, and DJ Jeff Dugan refuses, eventually quitting his job over the conflict.

In response, the other DJs—with on-air handles like Mother, Doc Holiday, and Prince of Darkness—stage a sit-in protest. Barricading the doors of the station, they play music all day without commercials. Eventually, the police arrive to clear out the DJs, who fight back. The whole thing ends with the station owner realizing the error of his ways, firing those responsible for the ridiculous advertising, and insisting the DJs stay at the station.

What Roles Did Linda Ronstadt, Tom Petty, and Jimmy Buffett Play in the Film ‘FM’?

Linda Ronstadt, Tom Petty, and Jimmy Buffett, among others, appeared in FM as themselves. The film had a stellar soundtrack, as it took place against a backdrop of concerts and radio broadcasts. Additionally, REO Speedwagon appeared in the film as themselves, and more artists were featured on the soundtrack.

Steely Dan performed the film’s theme, “FM (No Static At All)”, which became a hit. Two live versions of Linda Ronstadt songs were used as well, “Tumbling Dice” and “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me”. Tom Petty was featured with “Breakdown”, while Jimmy Buffett showed up with “Livingston Saturday Night”.

Additional tracks by artists who did not appear in the film included Bob Seger, the Eagles, Steve Miller Band, Foreigner, Randy Meisner, Boz Scaggs, Boston, Dan Fogelberg, Billy Joel, The Doobie Brothers, James Taylor, Joe Walsh, and Queen.

The soundtrack charted at no. 4 in Canada and no. 5 on the Billboard 200, which is usually rare for a film album. While FM was definitely not a good movie according to critics and regular viewers alike, retrospectively, we can call it a success for its great music.

Featured Images by Tom Hill/Getty Images, NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal, Gary Gershoff