In 1982, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers threw fans a curveball with “You Got Lucky.” A sonic departure from previous releases, “Lucky” found Petty and his band embracing the synth-pop sound of the 1980s. It’s one of the many examples of Petty’s fearlessness as an artist. Though Petty is known for being a ferocious guitar player, with “You Got Lucky,” he took a step back and allowed the technology of the day to take the lead.
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Petty’s co-writer Mike Campbell was crucial in the song’s formation, particularly when it came to the melody. Campbell says they wrote the song to a drum loop that he created, blending real musicianship with modern technology. “The drummer would actually go out and play, then we’d cut the tape and tape the loop together,” Campbell explained to Songfacts about the process. “We ran it around the room over some mic stands and through the tape heads, and then printed that for three or four minutes and then recorded the song over that drum loop.” It was Petty who came up with the song’s signature guitar solo, inspired by the work of Italian composer Ennio Morricone, who wrote the famous score for the 1966 Western film starring Clint Eastwood, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. “It was Tom’s idea to put that approach on there,” Campbell describes of Petty’s “surf guitar with a tremolo arm” idea.
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As memorable as the song is, the video maybe even more so. It took its inspiration from the post-apocalyptic film series, Mad Max. Petty and the band came up with the treatment for the video that opens with Petty landing on Earth in a mysterious spacecraft, traveling through the desert where he stumbles upon a boombox that’s buried in the sand. When he presses play, the song begins and the band explores an abandoned shelter that houses relics from the past including vintage TV sets and recording equipment. “‘You Got Lucky’ was a real groundbreaker,” Petty shared in the book I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution, adding that Michael Jackson called him to praise the video. “That was when we really saw MTV change our daily lives. Not only were teenagers spotting me on the street, older people would spot me, too. We knew it was big.”
But the song almost didn’t make the cut. In a 1999 interview with Performing Songwriter Petty revealed that ” Lucky” was almost left on the cutting room floor for the Heartbreakers’ 1982 album, Long After Dark. “It was almost a throwaway,” he said. “Almost just tossed off. And the next thing we know, it’s the single.” True to its title, “You Got Lucky” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and the Top 20 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100.
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