Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - Don't Come Around Here No More

What this video is

Released in February 1985, this video arrived at the apex of MTV's cultural saturation, when the network had transformed music marketing and created a new premium for cinematic video production. The Alice in Wonderland framework allowed the band to translate a breakup song into a shared cultural mythology, amplifying its reach far beyond its rock demographic. The video's darker, psychedelic treatment of Carroll's…

Why it matters

Represents the commercial and artistic peak of the mid-1980s high-concept music video format. The first fully narrative-concept video from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, it demonstrated that American heartland rock could compete with the visual sophistication of British new wave artists who had…

The director

Jeff Stein is an American film and music video director best known for directing The Who's 1979 concert documentary The Kids Are Alright and for his prolific output of early-1980s music videos. He is regarded as one of the foundational directors of the MTV…