The Tom Petty Reference

Ok, so I didn't post anything yesterday--I was lazy. But hey, it's my weekend, and I just didn't feel like writing. Except for answering about a million emails--that takes it out of me, too.

Anyhow, it seems that I've got more than a few people who didn't get that Tom Petty reference from my post earlier the other day:

I have piles and piles and piles of Tom Petty

I guess I have to tell a little back story. About five years ago, when I was living in Nashville, I was hanging out with the family, goofing off, I don't know what we were doing, probably just hanging out at Cyndi's house one weekend. My little sister Amy and I were talking about something, laughing it up, but there was a sudden lull in the conversation, like somebody had hit the 'pause' button.

After a couple of seconds, I said Hello CD listeners... We have come to the point in this album where those listening on cassette, or record will have to stand up, or sit down, and turn over the record, or tape...

This of course, is the interlude about halfway through Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever CD, where the music ends and he makes that announcement in a near-monotone voice. It catches you off guard the first time you hear it, but it's kind of funny. After that first line, it goes on for a couple more seconds and then he says, Thank you, here's side two. And then the music continues.

Anyhow, Amy is a huge music fan, and knows more obscure musical references than anybody I know, and as soon as I busted out with my impromptu Tom Petty impersonation, she knew exactly what I was talking about and cracked up. The rest of the family just thought we were weird, Mamasan, of course, rolling her eyes and thinking There they go talking in their code again...

So that's been a running joke between Amy and me for years. Whenever conversation comes to a stop, or if we're watching tv together and the screen goes blank for a couple of seconds after a commercial, one of us will always bust out with Hello CD listeners... and it always gets a laugh. I know, we're weird like that.

Fast forward to this past September when I flew back out to Nashville for five days to hang out with the family. The first night I got there, Cyndi hosted a bbq/party and lots of family and friends were in attendance. And Amy brought me a gift--a CD she'd burned with a bunch of pretty cool, but some obscure, music.

The title of my new CD? Hello CD Listeners...

And the first track in the collection was a tune called Vinyl Records by Todd Snider. It's a country-folk song in the style of Johnnie Cash's I've Been Everywhere, but instead of a litany of towns, this particular song features him singing about his record collection, where he runs down dozens and dozens of artists, and he ends the first verse with the phrase I've got piles and piles and piles of Tom Petty!

So the first time I listened to the CD, it cracked me up because of our inside joke. And since I know that certain family members are reading this blog from time to time, well, I sometimes toss a few of our inside jokes out there for laughs. And two or three people actually knew what I was talking about with this particular one, but now everybody knows the whole story.

Mikey