In pop music, the year of veterans and vitality
By Patrick MacDonald
Boca Raton News - Friday, December 27, 1991
Top 10 Albums of 1991:
2. "Into the Great Wide Open," Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers:
After a period of uncertainty, with Petty and his bandmates off doing all sorts of projects, the group reunited to create one of its finest albums. Petty continues to grow as a songwriter, with such gems as the title tune, a morality tale about being corrupted by stardom, and the cooly energertic "Learning to Fly."
Marilyn Beck's Hollywood: Petty Matters
By Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith
The Victoria Advocate - March 5, 1992
Johnny Depp and rocker Tom Petty continue their association March 13 and 20, when Depp hosts back-to-back Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers segments of "ABC in Concert."
You may recall that Depp played the lead role (a mythical rock star) in Petty's "Into the Great Wide Open" video. Meanwhile, Petty and the band are on their latest European tour -- they perform in Sweden today (March 5) -- after a memorable launch in London early this week.
A surprise visitor showed up amid reporters at an interview session with Petty -- his buddy and fellow Traveling Wilbury George Harrison. Harrison called out the question, "What are you going to do when the bubble bursts?" Petty's reponse: "We're going to move into your guest house."
Gainesville Sun - March 20, 1992
"ABC In Concert," which is not aired in Gainesville, is featuring two one-live hour Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers specials in March. This was directed by Julian Temple on the band's most recent tour. In April, MCA Home VIdeo will release the entire program as "Take the Highway."
Pop Eye: Petty's Secret Warners Deal Isn't for Petty Cash
By Chuck Philips
The Los Angeles Times - April 5, 1992
Who says you can't keep a secret in the music business?
In a gossip-hungry industry where the most obscure details of superstar contracts are printed weeks before the deals are even signed, everyone seems to know what everyone else is doing.
So the news that MCA recording star Tom Petty signed a secret deal with Warner Bros. Records three years ago has been the buzz of the recording industry for more than a week. Petty, one of MCA's biggest sellers for years, is still under contract for two more albums to the company that was acquired last year by Japanese electronics giant Matsushita.
The evolution of a rock star
By Bill DeYoung
Gainesville Sun - August 2, 1992
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers are Gainesville's biggest cultural export.
Gainesville's most famous native son never went to the University of Florida. He spent plenty of time on the campus, however, playing loud and raw rock 'n' roll at fraternity parties and hanging out at free outdoor concerts and the few guest lectures that interested him.
For the one and only day job he ever had, he paddled a flat-hulled boat around Lake Alice and pulled up the water hyacinths that choked up the outflow pipes.
Mostly, Tom Petty hung out in music stores and stayed up all hours performing in bars. His father was sure Tom would never amount to anything.
Editor's Note: This is a review of the Mobile Fidelity Lab reissue of Hard Promises.
Silence Isn't Golden
By Bruce Britt
Youngstown Vindicator - Thursday, November 26, 1992
While audiophile and fervent collectors may be the primary buyers of audiophile CDs, the stark differences between standard and audiophile releases of CDs may entice more casual listeners to spring the extra green for the audiophile copy. Here are a few of the high-quality remastered discs now available:
"Hard Promises"
The Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab edition of Tom Petty's "Hard Promises" is filled with cymbals that are crisp and sustained, guitars that actually sound plucked and drums that have a pounding oomph rather than dull thunks. Throughout the disc, the sound is open and airy. Outside of the great sound, 1981's "Hard Promises" holds up as an excellent disc from an equally excellent artist.
A storied career
Rome News-Tribune - December 10, 1992
George Harrison, right, is embraced by fellow rock legend Tom Petty after Petty presented the first Century Award for distinguished creative achievement to Harrison at the Billboard Music Awards Wednesday in Los Angeles.
Scene Around: Tom Petty, INXS to share Homecoming weekend
By Bill DeYoung
Gainesville Sun - September 10, 1993
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will perform in the O'Connell Center Nov. 4, followed by a concert starring Australian rockers INXS on Nov. 6, say sources close to Student Government Productions.
With Gator Growl sandwiched in between on the 5th, it's looking like a Homecoming weekend with serious firepower.
Students start early in Petty ticket quest
By Bill DeYoung
Gainesville Sun - October 1, 1993
Tickets for the Nov. 4 concert go on sale today
University of Florida students began lining up early -- as early as Wednesday -- for tickets to see hometown hero Tom Petty at his O'Connell Center concert, but there was no guarantee that good seats in line would translate into good seats at the show.
Tickets for the Nov. 4 concert go on sale at 10 a.m. today at all statewide TicketMaster outlets. Student tickets are $20.50, which is $4 less than tickets for the general public.
The discounted student tickets are available only at the UF Box Office, in the Reitz Union, which is the only TicketMaster outlet in Gainesville that does not use a lottery system.
With a lottery, the outlet distributes numbers to the people in line, and you're let in to buy tickets based on your number. So getting there early doesn't necessarily mean you'll get a better seat. This method was designed to discouraged hopeful ticket buyers from camping out overnight.