Petty’s best music videos

Tom Petty, who died Monday at 66, wasn’t the most likely music video star. Skeletal and toothy with a hangdog look and a collection of top hats, he wasn’t the aspirational rock god, driving around in a sports car surrounded by voluptuous, barely dressed women.

But it didn’t matter. Even though he burst onto the MTV scene at a relatively late age, he still managed to connect with a younger generation of rabid video fans who readily consumed the wacky, inventive and occasionally controversial videos that Petty and his band produced.

Here’s a look back at some of the most memorable. “Don’t Come Around Here No More” (1985): The “Alice in Wonderland”-themed video marked the first time the band received a nomination for an MTV Video Music Award. The psychedelic spectacle was up for five, including video of the year, and won one, for best special effects. The effects were certainly special — but also controversial. Starring Wish Foley as Alice, the video became a target for Tipper Gore and her Parents Music Resource Center.

“Mary Jane’s Last Dance” (1993): If parents thought “Don’t Come Around Here No More” was disturbing, then we can only imagine how they felt about the video for “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” which won best male video at the MTV Video Music Awards. It starred Kim Basinger as a beautiful corpse, while Petty played a morgue worker. “Into the Great Wide Open” (1991): Basinger isn’t the only big star to show up in one of Petty’s videos. “Into the Great Wide Open” was an A-list heavy event, with Johnny Depp playing Eddie, the song’s “rebel without a clue,” plus Faye Dunaway as his manager and Gabrielle Anwar as his love interest. In a wry twist, Petty plays himself as the storyteller and also Eddie’s “roadie named Bart.” “Yer So Bad” (1989): Petty seemed to relish playing bizarre characters in his videos, but he was also great here as the droll, top hat-wearing narrator, sitting and watching the crazy personalities around him. The people don’t get much wackier than in “Yer So Bad,” which pretty forcefully conveyed the band’s disdain for yuppies. “You Don’t Know How it Feels” (1994): This was Petty’s second Moonman for best male video. It’s one long take and features Petty in the foreground with a microphone, harmonica and guitar, spinning on a stage while blurry activity unfolds behind him, including a couple getting ready in a bedroom, jugglers at a circus and an armed robbery.

“You Got Lucky” (1982): The band got fairly experimental with this early video, which gave the guys their first taste of fame. It takes place in a dusty post-apocalyptic hellscape inspired by “Mad Max,” and the music starts when Petty presses play on a cassette player. After the video came out, Petty realized the difference music videos make.