Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1976)

Cassettes were the thing back then, far more convenient (or so we thought) then vinyl; I used to buy second-hand vinyl for £1 a time, tape them and sell them back for 50p then listen to the cassettes.  I very rarely bought a new one, but this one time I saw a cassette sampler called FM, which featurd a lot of new bands and singers from the new format sweeping America – FM Radio.  It was cheap if I remember and I loved it, especially a track by this band; ‘American Girl’ – which sounded not only great but possibly a new future.  It was rock and roll but with a sensibility and an edge, a somewhat missing element in the year of punk.  Then I saw an advert for this unheard of band playing live at Hammersmith Odeon.  I went and was blown away; I think they only had this album out and played several songs twice.  Hooked I became a life-long fan and bought every record.  The band was fronted by Tom with his somewhat ‘Dylanesque’ voice and clever lyrics, but was backed by Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench and others – a great solid yet complex sound.  This truly was a brilliant debut, best songs – ‘Breakdown’, ‘Strangered in The Night’, ‘Luna’ and of course the song that started this love-affair ‘American Girl’.  Tom unexpectedly and suddenly died of cardiac arrest, brought on by drugs, a few years ago – such a waste.