1980s
The Petty Archives

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.