L.A. Top Ten Songs: Kings Road (#4)

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Before I begin, WOW, WHAT A GAME!!! That’s why I love baseball. What an incredible game, easily on the list of the best World Series games ever. Now….we continue to celebrate Los Angeles with today’s song. Sorry, John. #4: Kings Road - Tom Petty This was the other Tom Petty song that I had to choose from with the New York City countdown last month. As I ended up with ”What Are You Doin’ in My Life,” this one gets the nod this month And, again, I’m sorry, John. Petty’s breakthrough album was called Damn the Torpedoes. this one easily could have been called “Damn The Record Company.” For you kids: they used to have what they called list prices on albums. If you go in an old record store, take a look at the album spine of some of them. Down at the bottom, below the label number, you might see “0798“ stamped on it. That was the list price. In fact, the way you can tell if you have an early version of Hotel California is the list price. The first pressings released in 1976 had “0698” on them, and the 1977 albums had “0798” on them. By 1981, the list price of albums was $8.98. Then the record companies came up with a bright idea (translation: way to make more money). They labeled certain artists “superstars.” For their albums (also known as the ones everybody was going to buy anyway), they charged a dollar MORE. MCA Records wanted to do this with the new Tom Petty album, given how well Damn the Torpedoes sold. Petty fought back. He considered not giving the label the album. He also considered naming it Nine Ninety Eight. MCA backed down and released it with the “normal“ price. Now you know why Petty sang “I Won’t Back Down.” He didn’t. Anyway, enjoy this rocker from the early 80s. Kings Road Written by Tom Petty Recorded by Tom Petty From Hard Promises, 1981 L.A. LYRICS: Not in New York City, not in West L.A.