Saturday September 24, 2022 “The Last DJ” Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

Yeah, it just seemed appropriate to end radio week with Tom Petty’s “Last DJ”

Today’s radio song gives us the wonderful jangly guitars of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers whose sound frequently referenced the music of the 60s that Tom and those Heartbreakers grew up listening to. The band was composed basically of Tom Petty,  Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench (one of the great rock & roll names) and a revolving group of additional musicians.

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers had a long string of hit singles including "Breakdown", "American Girl", "Refugee", "The Waiting", "Learning to Fly", and "Mary Jane's Last Dance", among many others, that stretched over several decades of work.

“The Last DJ” is a commentary on the corporate takeover of radio stations and predictably it got very little radio airplay, a comment Tom Petty frequently referenced when he played this song in concerts.

Stay safe and well…and don’t worry,  I can tell you from personal experience that there are still DJs who play what they want to play.

The last DJ

Well you can't turn him into a company man

You can't turn him into a whore

And the boys upstairs just don't understand anymore

Well the top brass don't like him talking so much,

And he won't play what they say to play

And he don't want to change what don't need to change

 There goes the last DJ

Who plays what he wants to play

And says what he wants to say, hey hey hey?

 And there goes your freedom of choice

There goes the last human voice

There goes the last DJ

 Well some folks say they're gonna hang him so high

'Cause you just can't do what he did

There are some things you just can't put in the minds of those kids

 As we celebrate mediocrity all the boys upstairs want to see

How much you'll pay for what you used to get for free

 There goes the last DJ

Who plays what he wants to play

And says what he wants to say, hey hey hey?

 And there goes your freedom of choice

There goes the last human voice

And there goes the last DJ

 Well he got him a station down in Mexico

And sometimes it'll kind of come in

And I'll bust a move and remember how it was back then

 And there goes the last DJ

Who plays what he wants to play

And says what he wants to say, hey hey hey?

 And there goes your freedom of choice

There goes the last human voice.

And there goes the last DJ