More than 20 Tom Petty fans gathered at the Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground Friday afternoon to listen to and discuss the late musician’s debut solo album, “Full Moon Fever.”
HTC director Pedro Falci, who organized the event, said the tradition of “album parties” started a few years ago by Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore as a way to share different interpretations of music.
“[Elmore] did it as a chance for students to come together and do something that our generation [doesn’t] do very much, which is listen to an album as a complete body of work, from start to finish,” Falci said before the listening started.
He said that while he didn’t initially plan on a “Full Moon Fever” album party, the timing felt appropriate in light of the singer’s recent passing on Oct. 2.
“I wasn’t planning on doing this one, but then sadly, Tom Petty passed away last week,” Falci said. “I saw him this summer in concert here in Boston, and I’m a fan of his, and I thought this is a good moment to reflect back on his music.”
Previous album party selections have included Lauryn Hill’s “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” Kanye West’s “The College Dropout” and The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” according to Falci.
He added that besides being a way to unwind and to meet new people, gatherings like these can educate students as well.
“It’s good to know cultural touchstones,” Falci said. “So when they hear a reference, or they may hear a song, they’ll understand some more of the story and who the artist was behind it.”
Students listened to “Full Moon Fever” all the way through with no interruptions and then had a discussion about Petty’s unique style, during which students shared personal memories they associate with his songs.
Skylar Shumate, a freshman in Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, said Petty’s album reminded her of memories with her family.
“For me, [my family] listened to this album on the way to ski trips, on the way there and the way home, so that’s what I’m picturing — me and my sister in the back seat, my parents playing this album, going up the ski passes,” Shumate said during the talk.
After the discussion, students watched Petty’s Super Bowl halftime performance and a clip from the documentary “Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin’ Down a Dream.”
Several students said they appreciated the chance to collectively reflect on Petty’s legacy in a comfortable environment.
Ruth Dele-Oni, who attends events at the HTC every week, said she came out to the album party to learn more about Petty as an artist.
“I need to broaden my musical horizons, so I felt as though this would be a good place to start to appreciate someone who meant a lot to a lot of people,” the sophomore in Sargent said.
James Getonga, a first-year graduate student in the Questrom School of Business, said the album party was a way for him to honor Petty’s legacy.
“[It was a] good way to focus on a recent and arguably music legend and give him the respect he deserves in music history,” Getonga said.
Victoria Saeed, a College of Arts and Sciences senior, said listening to Petty’s album with others allowed her to see the power the artist’s music has in bringing people together.
She said the listening session provided her with solace and allowed her to share her grief over Petty’s death with others.
“I feel like listening in a group like this and being able to share memories with other people,” Saeed said, “it makes it less of a crying sad, and more this is something that brings people together.”
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misstated Getonga’s gender. An updated version of this article reflects this correction.
Jennifer Small is a junior in the Boston University College of Communication, majoring in journalism and minoring in media science. She is one of the Co-Campus News Editors for Spring 2023.
