Tom Petty/Heartbreakers: 40th Anniversary "Damn The Torpedoes" Red Vinyl

For those fans interested in collecting colored vinyl, Geffen announces that on November 22, 2019 they will be issuing Tom Petty/Heartbreakers classic 1979 release "Damn The Torpedoes" on 180 gram red translucent vinyl to celebrate the album's 40th anniversary! Per UDiscovermusic.com:


Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers’ much-loved third album Damn The Torpedoes will be reissued to mark its 40th anniversary on 180 gram translucent red vinyl on 22 November. It was first released on 19 October 1979 and became the next step in the band’s commercial breakthrough.

The album went on to be placed at No. 313 in Rolling Stone‘s critics’ list of the 500 top LPs of all time, published in 2003. In a revised list in 2012, it showed its staying power by landing at No. 315. It came in the wake of the band’s first two releases, a self-titled set and You’re Gonna Get It!, both of which went gold.

Co-produced by Tom Petty and Jimmy Iovine, the set was recorded in 1978 and earlier 1979 at Sound City in Van Nuys and at Cherokee Studios in Hollywood. Damn The Torpedoes went gold and platinum in the same week in 1980, advancing to double platinum in 1984 and triple platinum in 2015. It peaked at No. 2, where it stayed for seven weeks, held off the top spot only by Pink Floyd’s The Wall.

Key to the album’s lasting, mainstream appeal was the success of two singles from the set that became anthems for Petty and the Heartbreakers. ‘Don’t Do Me Like That’ was released in November 1979 and was a song that Petty had demoed with his previous band Mudcrutch, as early as 1974. It climbed to No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

January 1980 saw the appearance of the second 45 from Damn The Torpedoes, the rocking ‘Refugee,’ a No. 15 US hit co-written by Petty with bandmate Mike Campbell, who later told Songfacts: “That was a hard record to make. It was a four-track that I made at my house. Tom wrote over the music as it was, no changes, but it took us forever to actually cut the track. We just had a hard time getting the feel right. We must have recorded that a hundred times.”

The album produced a third Hot 100 single in ‘Here Comes My Girl’ and contained other celebrated tracks in the band’s armoury such as ‘Shadow Of A Doubt (A Complex Kid)’ and ‘What Are You Doin’ In My Life?’.

For pre-orders please visit: Damn the Torpedoes (LIMITED EDITION)

 

I’ll stick with my still lovely original black vinyl, thanks. Some albums haven’t survived the test of time well, however good they were back in the day. Damn the Torpedoes grows in stature in my book, and remains one of the best rock albums ever. A classic then and now, and for me still the highlight of Tom’s career. Saw him tour it in London back in the day.

 

And cut from?....Oh, no source info provided!

Another lazy, money grab.

 

I would imagine the same stampers used for the earlier reissues.

 

McCool:

Do you know if there are any plans to release Full Moon Fever on colored vinyl?

I know it has been pressed already.

I am pretty sure it will it will also be coning through Sound of Vinyl when it is
announced.

I think it was announced last year, and then removed shortly afterwards.

Rebel007

 

No thanks, the 2010 2 LP Chris Bellman is all I'll ever need for the vinyl.
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - Damn The Torpedoes

 

The actual original flat master tapes are apparently missing or not useable for the first two albums. Unless they’ve discovered them since 2015 (and also re-cut them since the previous cutting - both of which is unlikely IMO) what they are terming “original analog master tapes” are 2nd generation EQ’d cutting masters.

Having said that, the previous deluxe edition limited red vinyl (and black vinyl) pressing sounds great.

 

Torpedoes is their third album.

 

Duh. You’re right. 100% brain cramp.

But the previous red vinyl edition does sound great. I have it...Damn The Torpedos...the THIRD Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers album...

 

Why would they revert to a single disc? Is the one in the vinyl box 1-LP as well?

 

Were the tapes in the recent fire?

 

The 2LP version is the deluxe edition. The 2nd LP is just the bonus tracks.

 

The fire wasn’t that recent.

And if you read on after the quoted post, I actually brain-cramped in that post and got my albums confused.

 

Probably burned up in the Universal vault fire

 

For the first 2 albums maybe but not Damn The Torpedos. See above.

 

I'm familiar with the singles and have some Petty in my collection but am just now listening to this album from start to finish for the first time ever (thanks to finding the 2010 2-CD deluxe version in the wild *).

Hard to disagree. No excuse why this album wasn't in my wheelhouse in 1979. I may have been a child but was buying music and remember this album even then. It wasn't really on my friend's radar either. Better late than never, I guess.

I'd buy this new red vinyl reissue in a heartbeat.

* Also found Long After Dark and Hard Promises. It was a good day.

 

The Blu Ray Deluxe Edition and the original vinyl for me. Too bad the Blu Ray is OOP and very pricey these days. Easily one of the best albums of 1979.

 

Too bad the could not, or didn’t want to issue a 79/80 concert with the studio album as it’s bonus. The tour was also great. The King Biscuit from London is am audiophile grade recording and mix job, and shows off the band & material in a very complementary way.

 

Recent information suggests that NO Tom Petty/Heartbreakers material was lost in the Universal vault fire.

The 1979/1980 tour is the stuff of absolute legend. For my money's worth the concert they performed at The Whisky A Go-Go on 01-21-1980 ranks up there with some of the best rock concerts ever performed and was one of the last intimate shows Tom Petty/Heartbreakers would perform until they starting performing residences at such venues as The Fillmore West beginning in the late nineties. Unfortunately, the idea of issuing complete unedited live performances to market is one that fell out of favor with TP. He vastly preferred the concept of selecting the best performances from individual concerts and compiling them together as a cohesive whole much like 2009's "The Live Anthology". But if you want my humble opinion, a 1979/1980 "Damn The Torpedoes" show would fair very well on the open market and given that at least eight individual shows were taped for broadcast (although only two were [partially] transmitted) allows for several different shows from which to chose from.

 

My holy grail is a 1981 show. From the classic years, there are FM broadcasts circulating of just about every tour. I would love a recording of a full 1981 show from multitracks, preferably with Stevie Nicks guesting.

 

Recent evidence does suggest a few master tapes are missing however.

 

I bit on the new 40th Anniversary Translucent Red vinyl. I think I read somewhere that it had CB in the dead wax and was the same mastering as the 2010 ORG (Disc 1) and the current issue that is widely available. I will confirm this when it arrives.

 

Please do.

 

The Sound of Vinyl should change their name to The Color of Vinyl because I feel most of their releases are somewhat common records just pressed on color wax.

However, if this is the same as the 2010 ORG, I'd highly reccomend it. I have the black release of that and it sounds great - plus I love the bonus material on Disc 2 (which isn't on this reissue of course).

 

Discogs wiki currently states both the 2019 US and Europe pressings use the 10 year old ORG plating. I have the red ORG from 10 years ago and it's fantastic.