Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers live at the Spectrum - I Need to Know & Don't Do Me Like That 7-9-1980

0:05 SPEAKER_00: Hey everybody, welcome to the concert room. Inside the Philly Concert Experience. I'm your host, Bob Hill. The Concert Room is a podcast session dedicated to the performances of performers, bands, and artists who played on the stage at the legendary Philadelphia Spectrum Arena. The Spectrum held numerous concerts over its 40 plus years of existence, earning the nickname America Showplace. And I'm uh winding down season two with our next episode coming up, and we'll do a nice recap, but for today, we still have some juice left for season one.

0:40 SPEAKER_00: And to prove it, we're gonna feature one of my favorite artists, Tom Petty. Tom was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was the leader and frontman of the rock band's Mud Crunch, which gigged around his hometown of Gainesville, Florida. And that band obviously turned into Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. And he was also a member of the late 1980s supergroup, The Traveling Wilburri. Unfortunately, uh, Tom passed away on October 2nd, 2017, and he is sorely missed. Tom Petty sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time.

1:21 SPEAKER_00: And uh Petty and the Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Now, as far as the Spectrum, Petty and the Heartbreakers played the Spectrum uh eight times. Some of the dates were multi-nights. And uh he also came back after the spectrum was demolished and played some concerts. Most notably the 40th anniversary tour in 2017, which I was lucky enough to attend. After all the years of missing Tom Petty growing up and uh at the Spectrum, uh, I was finally able to see him on the 40th anniversary tour um in Philadelphia at the big hockey arena here.

2:02 SPEAKER_00: And uh it was just a great concert, a great night of tunes, and uh he was just really on fire that night. And I'm really happy and blessed I was able to see Tom Petty finally live. Um unfortunately he uh did pass away about a week after the tour ended. But hopefully you saw Petty over his long and legendary career in touring, uh, starting with that debut album in 1976. So, because there are so many tunes we could uh play and feature, uh we're gonna do two back-to-back from the same show. Um this show was performed at the spectrum on July 9th, 1980.

2:42 SPEAKER_00: So early party. And the concert was recorded for live FM radio broadcast, although up to now it was n it's not uh released commercially. Um but he would uh also go on to play the next night July 10th, so one of those multi nights uh I was mentioning. Um but this is his first appearance at the Spectrum, uh July 9th, 1980. And um by all accounts, from fans and critics, this is a standout show from the tour. And uh I said it before, and it kind of bears repeating that when it came to concerts at the spectrum, fans were on top of their game because of the uh intimacy of the room.

3:24 SPEAKER_00: Um, we were on top of them, practically on stage. And the feeling inside was uh, you know, the fans and the band were one that night. Just really in sync. And um you can really hear the fierceness and uh upbeat playing by uh Patty and the band uh that night with these recordings. And also the frenzy of the crowd giving back. Um so we'll feature uh cracking the performance of I Need to Know off of their second album. You're going to get it. And also we'll go right into Don't Do Me Like That off of Damn The Torpedoes.

4:01 SPEAKER_00: That album went platinum and catapulted Petty into the mainstream of rock, and then it was just um up and into the stratosphere after that, um through the eighties, nineties, and two thousands. All those great hits, all those great uh songs. And uh so here's Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on the Spectrum stage July 9th, 1980.

4:25 SPEAKER_01: I need to know, and then we'll barrel right into Don't Do Me Like That's the Well, Jack in the streets make your sound out of the middle man, so you live back to the outside, but it's a little bit more step you tell me, don't do it like that Don't do it like that, baby, don't tell me like that Don't do it like that Don't do it like that Don't tell my baby, don't do it like that's a bad kid, you so wild you gonna watch your stout, you can hurt yourself Can you tell us? Don't do it like that Don't do it like that Don't do it like that Don't do it like that's my love Don't do it like that Do you know what you're doing?

9:37 SPEAKER_01: Do you want yourself Don't do it like that Don't do it like that Don't do it like that Don't do it like that I just found a lot of money Don't do it like that Don't do it like that Don't do it like that Don't do it like that Don't do it like that I just find out the face Don't do it like that.

10:43 SPEAKER_00: That sounded great. Wish we had a way back machine to dial on this date and show. Uh Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker's first appearance at the Spectrum. That's July 9th, 1980, and just a great night of tunes. And uh, you know, think about this, it's 1980. Still has a ton of hits to write after this tour and this year, um, all through the eighties, nineties, and two thousands and beyond. Um with all those great albums and those great hits. Um and then the join up with the traveling Wilburries uh in the late 80s.

11:18 SPEAKER_00: Just a phenomenal career, and uh again he is just absolutely sorely missed. But we're thankful for um all the music that he uh left for us to enjoy. Um we'll miss him, but again, I hope you were able to catch him live in your town. And uh if not, uh hopefully this gives you an idea of how exciting he was live in the early days and the beginning of a great um you know, great decades of music to come. Uh thanks again for listening in. Please feel free to leave a comment on any shows and artists you would like featured or discussed.

11:55 SPEAKER_00: Please subscribe, also tell a friend. We'll move on to season two after our next episode, where I have some good guests lined up, more featured performances from the spectrum and surrounding venues inside the concert room.