Pardon going AWOL for two weeks. Billboard temporarily put their old charts behind a paywall. Wisdom has seemingly prevailed and they’re once again accessible to the public.
Stevie Nicks With Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around”
#100 the week of December 12, 1981
What was #1? “Physical” by Olivia Newton-John in the middle of ten straight weeks at #1.
Now what’s a hit song like you doing in a place like this? For the first time in this column, we’ve encountered a genuine hit as it makes its way off the charts and into the Valhalla of classic rock radio. “Stop Draggin’ My Hear Around” peaked at #3 back in 1981 and was the biggest hit for both Nicks* and Petty’s Heartbreakers.
*Solo career. Fleetwood Mac went to #1 with “Dreams” in 1977, their only American #1.
Co-written by Petty and guitarist Mike Campbell, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” was originally intended as a song for Petty and the Heartbreakers. However, producer Jimmy Iovine was also working with Nicks and made the bright suggestion that they record the song with her. The track became the lead single for Nicks’ first solo record, Bella Donna. While they never recorded a duet album together, Nicks and Petty would team up twice more, on “Insider” from the Heartbreakers’ 1981 album Hard Promises and “I Will Run to You” on Nicks’ 1983 LP The Wild Heart.
Although not written as a duet, this song had to be one. A Heartbreakers only demo version was eventually released on the Heartbreakers 1995 box set Playback and it doesn’t work as a solo vocal. The song’s dark melody and mood makes the solo Petty vocal sound snide and, pardon the pun, petty. Turning the song into a she said/he said duet, makes it more interesting, turning a one sided snarl into an argument over who’s more co-dependent. It’s one of the best divorce songs.
10/10