Song · Tom Petty
“Nightwatchman” by Tom Petty
From the album Hard Promises (1981)
“Nightwatchman” by Tom Petty appears on 1 radio countdown from 1 station in 1981. It was first released in 1981 on the album Hard Promises. Its best result is #84 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1981. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #84 alternative song of 1981.
"Nightwatchman" comes from Hard Promises, the fourth album Tom Petty made with the Heartbreakers, which Backstreet Records put out on May 5, 1981. Petty wrote it with Mike Campbell and produced it with Jimmy Iovine, Shelly Yakus engineered, and the credits add Alan Weidel on piano and Phil Jones on percussion.
Before it came out, the record got caught in a standoff. Petty's distributor, MCA, lined it up as its next album at a new $9.98 list price, a dollar above the going rate, and Petty took his objections to the press. Fans rallied behind him, and with talk of withholding the album or calling it Eight Ninety-Eight in the air, MCA finally blinked. Its working title had been Benmont's Revenge, a nod to keyboard man Benmont Tench.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 84 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1981 | 106 |
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