The Motown classic that kick-started Tom Petty’s obsession with collecting music
For Tom Petty, records were deemed a luxury item when he was growing up, with him working tooth and nail for each 7″ vinyl in his collection as a teenager.
When his luck changed and he became a household name, Petty could buy the whole of Amoeba Records if he really wanted, which was a financial position that he did not take for granted. But, in his mind, although it was only loose change to him, it was still an investment in money and time.
As much as he did treat himself to vintage Ford Mustangs and historic pieces of art, Petty placed equal weight on bolstering his precious record collection.
During a 2004 interview, when vinyl was about as popular as CDs are in 2026, Petty said of his lifelong love affair with collecting, “I buy anything that strikes my fancy. That’s one of the nice things, the nicest thing, really, about being wealthy in a way, is to do that.
Because that’s such a luxury. Because I grew up pretty poor. I used to go to the dumpster and get bottles out to cash them in, any way I could, to buy an album. And now I can afford it. And I think it’s a good thing, because you’re putting money back into the industry. I think it’s a good way to support the industry, and it’s so much fun. So I love to do that.”
Petty also explained why records that he’d been gifted never quite hit the same as those he’s purchased with his hard-earned money, “I’ve always had the feeling that free records don’t sound as good as the ones you buy. Because you’re not rooting for them. If you bought it, you really want it to be good. So you’re sitting down and really rooting for this thing. Whereas if somebody sends it to you, or gives it to you, which is something that happens in the music business, I don’t really like to get them that way. I’d rather buy them. I often say, especially with my friends, “No, I’m going to the store and buy it.”
As Petty said, he’d get his hands on records by any means necessary when he was younger, which instilled in him a deep-rooted belief in the value of music. Thankfully, he also had a kind neighbour growing up who donated vinyl records to him, which got his collection going.
Going down to the record store for the first time and exchanging money for a record would act as the start of a lifelong ritual, which never stopped bringing him joy. Although the song itself didn’t lead to him picking up a guitar, forming The Heartbreakers and writing ‘Learning to Fly’, it helped forge the man who did.
Petty was 12 when he finally bought his first record, which was among the first building blocks put in place to design his future. During an interview with Sound & Vision, Petty revealed the first record he purchased: “Well, I inherited a lot of records from a neighbor. I had quite a few 45s. I think the first one I actually bought myself was the Four Seasons, ‘Walk Like a Man’. I paid, like, 98 cents for it. The good old days.”
He then corrected himself, revealing it was actually a Motown hit that made him fall in love with buying records, adding, “Wait, it wasn’t the Four Seasons – it was ‘Playboy’ by the Marvelettes.”
The Marvelettes were an all-girl vocal group signed to Tamla, an imprint of Motown. They rose to prominence in 1961 with their debut single, ‘Please Mr Postman’, which got their career off to the perfect start, becoming the first Motown record to reach number one.
While they never had another number one, with ‘Please Mr Postman’ representing their biggest hit, The Marvelettes had relative success throughout the ’60s, even if the same grand heights evaded them.
However, the end became clear when Gladys Horton left in 1967 to focus on her family, with The Marvelettes never quite the same without her voice at the forefront of recordings.
Their story is like many pop groups of that era, who got a taste of what it was like at the top, but didn’t quite stay there long enough to leave a permanent mark.
Nevertheless, The Marvelettes will always be the first Motown act to score a number one single, and kickstart Petty’s lifelong obsession with buying records, which is still one hell of a legacy.
