His 'no frills' music is a big hit
By Pete Bishop
The Deseret News - April 20, 1983
PITTSBURGH -- You might say that "meat and potatoes" is Tom Petty's bread and butter.
Petty and his band, the Heartbreakers, have built up a following by playing music straight, without the pyrotechnics of so many other groups.
You don't see costumes, props or fireworks when the Heartbreakers tour concert halls, as they are doing now. You don't hear 10-minute songs or self-indulgent solos. You don't hear them on their records, either.
Why the basic approach rather than the "artistic" excesses for which rock performers are notorious?
"Why not?" Petty says. "We never thought about it much, we just do it. We're sort of a meat-and-potatoes band. If we want a solo, we just play one. That's just the way we are."
Editor's Note: This article is a modified version of this one -- I'm not sure why they published it twice (different newspaper editions?) but they varied just enough to warrant posting both.
Petty plays it straight
By Pete Bishop
The Deseret News - Friday, April 22, 1983
PITTSBURGH -- You might say that "meat and potatoes" is Tom Petty's bread and butter.
Petty and his band, the Heartbreakers, have built up a following by playing music straight, without the pyrotechnics of so many other groups.
You don't see costumes, props, or fireworks when the Heartbeakers tour concert halls, as they are doing now. You don't hear 10-minute songs or self-indulgent solos. You don't hear them on their records, either.
Why the basic approach rather than the "artistic" excesses for which rock performers are notorious?
"Why not?" Petty says. "We never thought about it much, we just do it. We're sort of a meat-and-potatoes band. If we want a solo, we just play one. That's the way we are."
Editor's Note: Not only is Phil Jones' name wrong, but poor Howie is rendered as a bunch of question marks.
Band Stand: Heartbreakers - no 'Petty' act
By Valerie Hood
Los Angeles Collegian -- Friday, April 22, 1983
After hearing that Tom Petty had cancelled two previous concerts at the Universal Amphitheatre because of laryngitis, I went to Tuesday's sold-out show not expecting a whole lot.
Petty's voice is rough enough; laryngitis would only turn the travel to sandpaper while knocking out any zip he might have.
As soon as he took the stage and opened his mouth to sing, all concerns vanished -- it was Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in true form.
Needless to say, the show was great. After a bit of trouble at the start (technical difficulties stalled the show for five minutes), Petty lived up to his desire "to be good for you guys."
He proved to be an excellent showman during the 90-minute set, bantering with the crowd and his band. Like the crowd, Petty and the boys seemed to be having a good time.
Heartbreakers take a break
By Bill DeYoung
Gainesville Sun - April 22, 1983
Michael Campbell, lead guitarist with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, says the band had to postpone a few California shows this week because Petty had overextended his voice again, and was instructed to take some time off. The dates have been rescheduled for next week, and Campbell says the band is looking forward to a short break, after the postponed shows. Then it'll be on the road again, for a Rocky Mountain swing that'll take them through mid-summer. "Then we'll really get to rest," he says, adding that the Heartbreakers' vacation plans include a new single and video (probably "Wasted Life," which Campbell says is Petty's favorite song on "Long After Dark") and a possible live album in time for Christmas.
Editor's Note: I'm seriously wondering what became of this.
Scene
By Bill DeYoung
Gainesville Sun - June 10, 1983
Gainesville's hometown hero Tom Petty is about to have his life story immortalized on film. Kevin Bruce Productions of El Segundo, California, a distributor of scripts and documentaries for PBS, is in the process of developing a script on the Hogtown hi-jinks of the Florida rocker-made-good.
Cheryl Fox, a Bruce associate handling the Petty project, says the idea came about during research for the company's upcoming film "Rock College." "Somebody said, 'Let's use Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' and when we started looking into them, we discovered that Tom had a pretty interesting background.
Editor's Note: This article mentions Jim Lenahan, and I thought it was interesting enough to include with the Archives.
Once Talented Children, Today They're Successful Adults
By Eloise Cozens Henderson
Gainesville Sun - Sunday, July 10, 1983
Next to bragging about our children and beaming at a grandchild when he so much as picks up a spoon, I suppose boasting about a student or a protege is one in which we take most pride.
My list of stars who have been a part of my shows for little people during the years is really quite impressive.
Among those whose careers I have followed has been one, Kay Ogle, a beautiful, partially blind young year, who was perhas 14 years when I first knew her.
Kay had to be persuaded to approach the microphone, but once there, her marvelous contralto voice thrilled, and yes, surprised my radio audience, and started a series of engagements for her. Included among them were eventually a scholarship at Julliard School of Music in New York; an appearance at Carnegie Hall and later marriage to an ambassador. Kay and family now live in Paris, France, at least they did the last news I had from her.
On the Records: Only a 'Dim Mirror Image'
By Robert Sledge
The Union Democrat - Wednesday, July 27, 1983
"THE WILD HEART," Stevie Nicks, ★★
I know what you're thinking. How could the mystic Gypsy go wrong?
For one, I would be a bit more cautious in calling her such a name anymore. Between "Bella Donna" and "The Wild Heart," something happened. No longer do we find the "mystic" aura that surrounded "Bella Donna," or the tinge of folk that was "Leather and Lace" or even the smartly-twisted vocals like those on "Edge of Seventeen."
And the country influence on "That's All Right" off the Fleetwood Mac album "Mirage," that got so much critical acclaim? Not much left here.
Cashbox
By George Albert
Spartanburg Herald-Journal - Friday, August 26, 1983
Back on the contemporary scene, rocker Tom Petty recently got a taste of what some concertgoers are routinely subjected to, and he didn't like it at all. Seems that Petty was watching Duane Eddy and Ry Dooder jamming at a local theater when he decided to light up a cigarette. A gruff security guard came over and demanded that it be extinguished due to fire department regulations. Petty complied and then left for the restroom, where he lit up another. A little while later, he sauntered back into the show, inadvertantly carrying the cigarette back into the forbidden zone. The same guard then came over, pulled the cigarette from his mouth and pushed the rail-thin rocker into his seat. A sparring match followed, and soon a fight erupted. After the incident, Petty said he got a better understanding of how kids are treated at concerts and deplored the use of "goon squad" tactics under the guise of "security."
Petty, Heartbreakers at work
By Bill DeYoung
Gainesville Sun - January 27, 1984
Yes, Virginia, there is still a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
This week, MTV splashed a news story across the country stating, in what sounded like quite certain terms, that Petty was "feverishly" working on a solo album and that the Heartbreakers, while not broken up, were indefinitely on hold.
Not true, not true, says Mary Klauzer, spokesperson for Petty's office, Lookout Management. Klauzer relates that the solo story's been getting out of hand since it appeared in the "gossip" section of several rock 'n' roll magazines last summer, and that no one really knows where it came from.
"Tom has a studio in his house, and he's been working on a solo project on and off for several years," Klauzer said Tuesday. "It's something he comes back to when he has the time."
"He and the band are in there right now rehearsing for their new album, and that should be ready for release sometime this year."
Tony Demitrianis, Petty's manager, says that the "live" Heartbreakers album that Michael Campbell and Petty were talking about last tour was, in fact, recorded, mixed, and sequenced, but has been shelved in favor of the new studio release.