What's the album with a heart and a guitar on the cover

A.� The album in question is Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, the eponymous debut from one of America's most enduring rock bands, still rocking�25 years on from this release at the height of punk rock.

�< xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Q.� But Tom Petty isn't a punk!

A.� Absolutely not, but his music was seen as rough end raw enough to be slotted into the same punk ethos as bands like The Ramones, although the record is nothing like their work, and the band is even less so!

�

Q.� What's the first album from this band all about

A.� In this instance, you really can judge a record by its cover. The famous logo of the heart split by a guitar, Petty's slightly sardonic grin, and his biker jacket, all give ample clues as to the content of the album. If Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had teamed up with The Byrds, or Roger McGuinn had ever had a say in the musical sound of The Rolling Stones, Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers would not have needed to make this album. Fortunately, for music lovers in 1976, those two circumstances had not taken place, but you can hear what the results would have been by listening to this collection of songs. It is a hybrid of Stones' swagger and storytelling, mixed with the distinctive Rickenbacker jangle of the Byrds' material.

�

Q.� What are the standout songs on the album

A.� It's hard to pick individual songs from such a strong selection -�there are no weak songs here -�but some do grab the attention more than others. The story goes that the band had almost finished the album sessions when they went to see comic metal gods Kiss in concert. Kiss memorably sang about the ideal lifestyle�- rocking and rolling all night, and partying all day, and Heartbreakers guitarist and fellow songwriter Mike Campbell reckoned to Tom that if you used the words "rock and roll" in a song, you could have a hit with it. Tom duly obliged, creating Anything That's Rock And Roll, a teenage anthem about a boy telling his girl that rock and roll is what's really important in life. When you hear the two guitars exchanging their clanging riffs from each of your speakers, it's pretty hard to argue with that sentiment!

�

Petty's ability to pin down the frustrations and anguish of teenage love are demonstrated on Fooled Again (I Don't Like It), which sees his voice roaring and cracking with the force of his tale, backed by the guitar feedback and drum crash that make a sinister noise behind him.

�

The strongest Byrds influence is on the final track, American Girl. Roger McGuinn heard the song on his car radio, and was convinced it was a Byrds song he had written and forgotten about. Having discovered that it was Tom Petty's own homage to his songwriting hero, McGuinn recorded the song himself, and although he wasn't able to enjoy a hit with it, the kudos afforded to Petty did the album's sales no harm at all.

Q.� So this must mean that Tom Petty was a star from the word go.

A.� It would be nice, but life is rarely that simple. The album was released on Leon Russell's Shelter Records label, and was virtually ignored in the US. Undeterred, Petty brought the band to England as support act to Nils Lofgren, later to be the guitarist in the E Street Band, but enjoying a successful solo career in the mid-Seventies. Even though the show tickets advised 'Nils Lofgren Plus Support', the 'Plus Support' part took the shows by storm, and within a few months Petty was returning to the same venues as the headline band. Word spread back to America, and Breakdown was released as the first single from the album, and Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers' long and hugely successful career finally took off in their home country.

�

Q.� Was the album a sign of things to come

A.� It was indeed. A string of successful albums, singles and videos has followed, as well as a stint as Bob Dylan's touring band. Most impressive of all is the Greatest Hits package from the band, which has remained in the Billboard Top 200 Albums since its release seven years ago. When you look at Tom Petty's sardonic smile on that debut album cover, you wonder if maybe he already knew just how good his first album was, and just where it was going to take the musicians who created it.

�

Got a musical question � Click here for an answer.

�

���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������By:� by Andy Hughes

�