Get the latest gossip
Cameron Crowe on Making the Lost 1983 Tom Petty Rock Doc ‘Heartbreakers Beach Party’ and Being Told by the Star: ‘Congratulations, You’re a Director’
Cameron Crowe describes discovering a love for directing while making the 1983 rock documentary 'Heartbreakers Beach Party,' in theaters this week.
Never publicly available for viewing since its lone showing on MTV in February ‘83, the rock doc is an illuminating lark, catching Petty and his bandmates as they ride out the crest of their first big swell of success, with the group’s fifth album, “Long After Dark,” just about to come out. Crowe is happy not just about the film being revived but the chance to add an outtakes section, in which he talks anew with Petty’s daughter, Adria, and brings up some never-before-seen clips, like a surprisingly tender acoustic performance of the Elvis Presley classic “His Latest Flame.” (It was the star’s reverence for Elvis and his sometimes cheesy movies and soundtrack songs that led the band to record the goofy song “Heartbreakers Beach Party,” a B-side that gives the documentary its name.) You close the outtakes section now with him saying, “I’d love to get old and still hear these records on the radio.” He’s not saying that it would happen for certain, but here we are with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers maybe being the most-covered band in either rock or country, so he’s being a little prophetic there.
Or read this on Variety
