Damn The Torpedoes/Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Damn the Torpedoes is the third studio album by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, released this very weekend in 1979 … Making “Damn The Torpedoes” was not an easy album for Petty to complete … Petty was in the middle of trying to free himself from a major label contract that bankrupted him … Amazingly, through all of the anguish and trouble, the Heartbreakers delivered a breakthrough lp …. Arguably their masterpiece.
The album was a breakthrough for Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was their first top 10 album rising to #2 where it sat for seven weeks and was kept from #1 by Pink Floyd’s The Wall, an album that we will feature in an upcoming On The Turntable program … The album was co-produced by Jimmy Iovine, most notably Springsteen’s producer, and delivered a clean and timeless production … The lp also delivered two top 15 hits … “Don’t Do Me Like That” and “Refugee”
Notable Tracks – “Refugee” “Don’t Do Me Like That” “Even The Losers” “Here Comes My Girl” “Louisiana Rain”
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
This is the Heartbreakers debut lp, released on November 9, 1976 … This is an album that took a while to gain some legs … After nearly a year and many positive reviews, the album reached the U.S. charts, where it peaked at No. 55 in 1978 and eventually went Gold. It delivered two of The Heartbreakers signature tunes … “Breakdown” which cracked the Top 40 in the US and “American Girl”
This lp delivers my two favorite TP songs …. “Mystery Man” … and “American Girl” … these two songs, along with Breakdown still illustrate how refreshing Petty & the Heartbreakers sounded in 1976 … Best Ever Albums Dot Com considers this lp as the 40th best of 1976
Notable Tracks – “American Girl” “Breakdown” “Mystery Man” “Strangered In The Night”