"Values: Way to go Tom Petty!"


This evening, I happened upon an interesting quote on a the weblog of a fellow blogger, Rebecca Blood, whose comments I enjoy reading. She quoted the following in her blog from an article written about singer/ songwriter Tom Petty in Rolling Stone ....

Now I can't say I'm a huge fan of Tom Petty, though I am familiar with his work.... It's the quote though that I totally and 100% agree with. See if you don't agree:

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All anyone thinks about is money.... "You don't hear any more of, 'Hey, we did something creative and we turned a profit, how about that?' Everywhere we look, we want to make the most money possible. This is a dangerous, corrupt notion. That's where you see the advent of programming on the radio, and radio research, all these silly things. That has made pop music what it is today. Everything -- morals, truth -- is all going out the window in favor of profit.

"I don't think it's a good attitude in your life to feel that you have to be rich to have self-esteem. You know, I saw a billboard in New York I wish I had photographed. It was for the TNN network. It said three words against a patriotic background of red, white and blue - BIGGER, YOUNGER, RICHER. Now, I find that fascinating: 'Bigger, younger, richer.' This whole idea of being wealthy has gone too far. [....]

My top price is about sixty-five dollars, and I turn a very healthy profit on that; I make millions on the road. I see no reason to bring the price up, even though I have heard many an anxious promoter say, 'We could charge 150 bucks for this.' I would like to do this again and maybe come through and not leave a bad taste in people's mouths. I was at one of our gigs recently, and I was just stunned driving in that it cost thirty dollars to park your car. It's so wrong to say, 'OK, we've got them on the ticket and we've got them on the beer and we've got on everything else, let's get them on the damn parking.' You got to care about the person you're dealing with."
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Way to go Tom Petty!

Sadly though, the same is true of the acting world, at least in the limelight of Hollywood. What happened to this thing called passion, huh? Where are the ACTORS? Where are the actual ARTISTS who are there for the work, not the fame and fortune? Is it a written rule that once you become rich and famous (while usually lacking talent), you are entitled to demand exhorbitant sums of money and countless selfish demands. Come on, people, morals, morals, MORALS. ... GET SOME!

But ok, stepping off my pedestal.... No wonder I appreciate the lives and work of those few who do work to buck the crowd. No wonder I admire Tom Hanks.... (to name one anyway)....

Hey, if you want to read the whole Tom Petty article, please feel free.... In fact, I actually recommend it. It's well worth the read, and, if your a regular reader here, I support his sentiments (most of them anyway).

But, alas, I could probably go on about things regarding this issue, but, tis late, and I'd rather not repetatively ramble. Besides, I just wanted to point you to some of Tom's comments. You know where I stand though, so I guess my point has been made. If you've got a passion, work at it, make it do-able, don't give up, but for Pete's sake, stay humble, honest, and polite about it too. ... And please, there's more to success than the money. If you find that success, don't become stupid.... Share your talent, not your fame.

Until next time,

Your happily blogging friend,
-Jon
posted by Jon at 5:01 AM  I   I  0 comments