Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
By Thom Duffy
Orlando Sentinel - April 26, 1987
★★★ Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) (MCA): They made an eloquent statement of their Dixie roots on Southern Accents. They summed up their musical story to date with a live collection of greatest hits and favorite covers, Pack Up the Plantation. Now, doing what they do best, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have gone back to the garage.
The Heartbreakers have returned to uncalculated basics on Let Me Up (I've Had Enough). They are playing rock 'n' roll uncomplicated by grand ideas yet inspired by classic instincts and arrangements. The Heartbreakers recorded Let Me Up without the help of outside horn sections or keyboardists featured on Southern Accents. But with piano and organ rollicking above thrashing, bright guitars, the band's sound at moments recalls -- on a song such as "Think About Me" -- the brilliant style of Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited.
Nightlife: Petty, Heartbreakers 'come around here' to play gig at Pine Knob
By Lee Thompson
Central Michigan Life - May 1, 1987
Those heartbroken fans who were beginning to think Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers "Don't Come Around Here No More" are in for a thrill.
Pine Knob Music Theater in Clarkston has announced Petty's guitar-slinging gang is scheduled for a June 18 Knob show. Tickets go on sale today at all Pine Knob and Ticketmaster outlets. Call Ticketmaster at (313) 423-6666, or contact the Pine Knob Box Office at (313) 872-1600 for more ticket information.
It has been 11 years between the Heartbreakers' first album in 1976 and their latest -- Let Me Up (I've Had Enough).
The album's first release matches the classic Petty mold. "Jammin' Me" deals with the confusion technology is causing -- such as television, for example. Petty sings, "Take back Joe Piscopo...take back Eddie Murphy" the way only this rebel rocker could sing it.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers In a Jam
By Larry Seel
Orlando Sentinel - May 3, 1987
In their new video, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are in a jam.
But it's a media jam, not a musical jam. The guys appear to be overwhelmed by the flood of newspapers, magazines, radio stations, movies and TV shows that demand our attention. If you've ever had a similar feeling in this Information Age, you'll enjoy "Jammin' Me."
The video begins with Gainesville's favorite sons performing on a stage with a background of television snow. As each chord of the intro is struck, the background image changes to show a page of newspaper advertising.
Then we see drummer Stan Lynch standing at a window looking at a nuclear bomb explosion. He doesn't like that scene, so he points a remote control box out the window and changes the scene to show a smiling cowboy and his horse. If only it were that simple ...
Shy People
By Patrick Goldstein
The Los Angeles Times - May 3, 1987
Outtakes The Sequel
There are plenty of familiar faces in "Jammin' Me," the new Tom Petty video of his current hit that just debuted on MTV. The clip, which offers a nightmarish look at media overload, features news footage of such TV titans as Col. Kadafi, Crazy Eddie, Ayatollah Khomeini, Ronald and Nancy Reagan and the Pope, plus clips of KKK rallies and South African riots.
But guess which celebrities were so publicity shy that they wouldn't give the video makers permission to use footage?
Said Petty's management, evangelists Jimmy Swaggart, Jim and Tammy Bakker and Oral Roberts refused to allow any clips.
"There are a lot of strange rules about getting permission," explained director Jim Lenahan. "We had no problem with the Reagans or the Pope, because they're public figures. But Oral Roberts and the other TV evangelists apparently didn't qualify."
Other holdouts: the producers of "People's Court" and TV used-car tycoon Cal Worthington and his dog Spot.
Tom Petty, With Rougher Edges
By Ken Tucker
The Philadelphia Inquirer - May 3, 1987
There's no looser, goosier superstar rock album around right now than Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) (MCA ★★★★ ) by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Petty has forsaken the earnest but dolorous character studies that dominated his last few albums in favor of fast, rough-edged songs that managed to make the same points as his other records but more effectively. Songs such as "Jammin' Me," "The Damage You've Done" and "Self-Made Man" sound something like Bob Dylan accompanied by the Rolling Stones, and Petty's command of the telling casual details lends his lyrics a power they've never possessed before.
Albums Review
Review by Mike Cowton
The Daily Express - Monday, May 4, 1987
TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS: Let Me Up (I've Had Enough MCA MCG 6014).
Tom has acquired the knack of making it all seem a relaxed, effortless cruise, but this second-nature stuff doesn't wash, because there's a lot more behind the man than he portrays. He still possesses a steely determination to communicate his ideas through a contemporary market with plenty of musical flavour.
Petty album never 'Lets Up'
By Eric E. Heckelman
Ohio State Lantern - Monday, May 4, 1987
I don't want to get up because I haven't had enough, I thought as the stereo arm rose from the final song and title track of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' new album, "Let Me Up (I've Had Enough)."
If the final song's title for some reason doesn't catch your interest, the guitar work that kicks off "Let Me Up (I've Had Enough)" will. Stan Lynch's drumming becomes more and more dominant as the song progresses, while Petty distinctively wails out the vocals. The group brings the song to an impressive ending with quick guitar and drum work that left me hoping there would be another song.
Pop music becoming advertising gimmick
Lodi News-Sentinel - Thursday, May 7, 1987
NEW YORK (UPI) -- Does Ringo Starr's presence in a TV commercial make you want to drink wine cooler or pour it down the sink?
Nobody seems to mind when local jocks fumble their way woodenly through testimonials for automobiles or appliances, but the sight of pop stars doing the same thing sends a lot of people through the roof.
As rock 'n' roll becomes the official music of increasingly middle-aged baby boomers it's being more and more widely used as soundtrack music for commercials.
A current ad for Nike running shoes uses the Beatles' "Revolution" as its soundtrack. "Nike Air is not a shoe ... it's a revolution," the ad claims as the familiar strains of John Lennon's voice and guitar play in the background.
Phil Collins turns a song from his concert tour into a beer ad, telling viewers "tonight's the night for Michelob."
'Let Me Up (I've Had Enough)' says a lot
By Barry Tull
The Paisano - Thursday, May 7, 1987
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers have been around for awhile, since about 1976. This is the eighth relese from the band and they have established themselves as an American institute in a world of rock music.
Petty writes songs with some wicked hooks that creep into your brain. Almost instinctively, you find yourself tapping your foot and singing along to his music. The Heartbreakers are all extremely underrated musicians and a great band. Singles currently being plaued on the air: "Jammin' Me" (co-written with Dylan), "Runaway Trains," and "The Damage You've Done." My favorites are "It'll All Work Out," "My Life, Your World," and "A Self-Made Man.
Tom Petty albums fall into two areas. They either reach out and grab you right away or they grow onto you steadily. Petty's first release and his Damn the Torpedoes album fall into the first area, while all the others including the new LP fit into the second area. Every time I listen to this piece of vinyl, my appreciation of it's music increases. Although there is no new ground broken here, this is good, solid rock and roll music with Petty & The Heartbreakers distinctive sound. If you're a Tom Petty fan, you will want this album for your collection.