Tom Petty , Damn the Torpedos

Album Fun Facts / Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers / 1979 / Backstreet / MCA

Tom Petty and the HeartbreakersDAMN THE
TORPEDOES.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' third album is where the band's lean rock sound met the studio precision of Jimmy Iovine and engineer Shelly Yakus.

Released October 19, 1979 9 Tracks Backstreet / MCA Jimmy Iovine and Tom Petty
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Damn the Torpedoes album cover

Album artwork shown for commentary and historical reference. Cover image source: Cover Art Archive or the linked archival source.

RECORDING PERSONNEL COVER ART CHARTS HISTORY

SEVEN THINGS
WORTH KNOWING.

Recording stories, personnel, physical details and numbers worth keeping with the record.

01

Damn the Torpedoes was released in 1979 and contains nine tracks.

02

Jimmy Iovine co-produced the album with Tom Petty.

03

The record includes "Refugee," "Don't Do Me Like That" and "Here Comes My Girl."

04

Tom Petty's official store identifies the album as the Heartbreakers' third studio record.

05

The album reached No. 2 on the Billboard album chart.

06

It was certified triple Platinum in the United States.

07

The title comes from the famous phrase associated with Admiral David Farragut, repurposed as a declaration of defiance.

WHY THIS
ALBUM MATTERS.

Damn the Torpedoes is the moment the Heartbreakers' directness met a bigger studio sound without losing the attack of the band playing together.

THE
NUMBERS.

9

TRACKS

The album contains nine songs.

#2

BILLBOARD

It reached No. 2 on the U.S. album chart.

3X

PLATINUM

The album earned triple-Platinum certification.

THE
PHYSICAL OBJECT.

Petty's red-shirt portrait against a dark field became one of the defining visual images of the Heartbreakers' early catalog.

RESEARCH SOURCES

Facts are checked against artist archives, release databases, recording credits and established archival sources before publication.

KEEP
DIGGING.

More recording stories, strange credits, cover art, chart numbers and details hiding inside the records.

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