Looking for A Landing Star
Gainesville Sun February 11, 1983
Standing in a gentle rain at the general aviation end of the Gainesville airport, these four fans were on hand Thursday for the arrival of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Petty hails from Gainesville and was returning home for a concert date. From left, five-year-old Jeff Linville, Abby Parker, Lisa Linville and Sarah Lyons got the chance to meet Stan Lynch, the band’s drummer.
Review: Tom Petty and group will break your heart
By Michelle Parks
St. Petersburg Independent - Monday, February 14, 1983
No amount of musical creativity, expertise or energy could have changed things for Nick Lowe and his Noise on the Go, featuring Paul Carrack (recently of Squeeze).
Anywhere in Europe, and the situation would have been reversed. But in St. Petersburg's Bayfront Center arena Friday night, it was this:
A sold-out crowd (8,400) of Florida rockers had come to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. No one else, just the most successful band to come out of Florida since Lynyrd Skynyrd.
The audience, though not discourteous, had little interest in Lowe's vague band. Few paid attention to the exceptionally good music, and it must have been quite ego deflating for these musicians so well-respected and capable of energizing audiences elsewhere. Carrack's Squeeze success with Tempted and his Amazing Rhythm Aces' hit How Long were acknowledged, but neither they nor the blatant Stick It, the odd-ball Saint Beneath the Paint or the now, exciting, I Knew The Bride (and she used to rock 'n' roll) drew more than limited response.
For the Heartbreakers, however, the night was nothing short of the proverbial magic.
Editor's Note: Thanks to Cathy Kemer for the newspaper scan.
Petty Delivers Vibrant Show
By Bob Sharpe
Bethlehem Globe-Times - February 17, 1983
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers delivered a vibrant, and not unmemorable, 105-minute Stabler Arena concert Thursday night before a lively audience of 4,563.
Opening with "A One Story Town," his current single, and selecting from his portfolio of five albums, Petty returned the crowd's energetic affection with dazed but knowing grins.
Petty Things
Washington Observer-Reporter - Tuesday, February 22, 1983
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- For Valentine's Day, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers offered record collectors and romantics a chance to say it with vinyl instead of flowers or candy.
The first 100,000 copies of "Change of Heart," the second single from Petty's "Long After Dark" LP, were pressed on red vinyl and packaged in a translucent envelope.
Cleaning up with The Jam, J. Geils, others
By Steve Darnall
Tritonian - Feburary 25, 1983
Funny thing about desks that I learned last week -- mine really has a surface! I realized that I'd left a few albums off the pages until now. This list is by no means comprehensive of new releases of the last two months, but it does enable us to tie up a few loose ends.
First off, a couple of heavyweights:
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Long After Dark.
Petty's new one is sort of his Exile On Main Street, featuring some of his best work ("One Story Town," "Finding Out") and some of his worst ("The Same Old You," "A Wasted Life").
In between we find a few ballads and rockers that Petty did better, for the most part on Hard Promises and Damn the Torpedoes. I still prefer his old rousers like "American Girl" and "Refugee." Judging by some of the lackluster material on Long After Dark, so does he.
Tom Petty: Emotions in the dark
By Jon Marlowe
The Miami Times - Wednesday, March 2, 1983
It's Lady Clairol. She'll do it every time.
Male singer-songwriters who bleach their baby-fine hair blond often have a hard time being accepted as artistes. Sure, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers sell a lot of records, but it seems Petty is constantly overlooked when the conversation turns to blood on the tracks, standing on the ledge and playing for keeps.
The musical theory seems to be that pretty boys aren't capable of walking the high wire -- it might mess up their hair. But throughout five LPs Tom Petty has amassed a magnificent song catalog detailing the love, pain, and defiance felt by both the insiders and outsiders.
Oddly, Petty seems better known for his defiance in fighting his record company -- he publicly nattled and won to keep the list price of his "Hard Promises" LP at $8.98 rather than $9.98 -- than the heartfelt defiance of his music: I'm for standin' up, I'm for breakin' free/I don't want fate handed down to me.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers | Long After Dark
Review by Michael Casano
The Delphian - Wednesday, March 9, 1983
I wouldn't be the first person to refer to Tom Petty as a California version of Bruce Springsteen. Like the Boss, Petty sings of lost loves, driving cars and being on the road, all sung in such a manner that forces you to look at the lyric sheet accompanying the album. Tom Petty's style has brought him much success.
Petty, along with his band The Heartbreakers, hasn't done much to change his sound on his new album Long After Dark. Petty and his co-songwriter, Heartbreakers' lead guitarist Mike Campbell have written songs which stay in the band's usual music themes and music performance. If anything, the songs on this record are more commercial sounding than anything Tom Petty and the boys have released and will certainly please fans of the group.
Night life: Tom Petty stages strong show, doesn't leave fans heartbroken
By Tom Doherty
The Daily Iowan - Monday, March 14, 1983
Playing to a crowd of about 6,000 lusty teen devotees, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers brought two hours of high-velocity 1960s guitar rock to the Five Seasons Center Saturday night.
Petty delivered what will doubtless be remembered as one of the best shows of the season, proving that those who have written him off as a derivative, second-tier artist-performer may have had their perceptions warped by prolonged exposure to New Musical Express and Face magazine.
Opening for Petty were Paul Carrack and Nick Lowe, both stalwarts of the British New Wave scene and both presumably at loose ends in their respective careers. The Carrack-Lowe union seems to be a temporary relationship of convenience, for the only thing they have in common is that neither has enough star power to draw on his own.
Critique: Tom Petty stages one of the best rock shows here in months
By Divina Infusino
The Milwaukee Journal - Tuesday, March 15, 1983
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' 100-minute show at the Arena Monday night left little doubt that this was one of the best major rock events to hit Milwaukee in many months.
Unlike his Alpine Valley performance in 1981, the Florida rock 'n' roller with an affection for Byrds-like folk harmonies exerted himself, trying to make the 5,033 in attendance feel involved with him and his music.
Such caliber of performance is what his fans and even mild admirers should expect from Petty, who has enjoyed the accolades not only of critics, but also of radio listeners and record buyers.
Petty and his five-piece band,m the Heartbreakers, play rock that still has a roll. Musically, his compositions are intense and emotional, without the histrionic overkill of heavy metal. His band, which includes Milwaukee native Howie Epstein on bass, conveys a balance of potency and taste. Lyrically, Petty is capable of depth and moments of insight.