Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Seneca College Field House
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
November 18, 1979
SF Tapes Volume Seven via JEMS

(Likely) Recording Gear: Sony TC-110 and Unknown Microphone

JEMS Transfer: Master Cassette > Nakamichi RX-505 azimuth-adjusted playback > Sound Devices USBPre2 > Audacity 3.1 capture > iZotope RX10 Advanced and Ozone 9 > FLAC

1. Shadow of a Doubt (A Complex Kid)
2. Anything That�s Rock �n� Roll
3. Fooled Again (I Don�t Like It)
4. Here Comes My Girl
5. Even the Losers
6. The Wild One, Forever
7. I Need to Know
8. Don�t Do Me Like That
9. Cry to Me
10. Refugee
11. Listen to Her Heart
12. American Girl
13. Breakdown
14. Too Much Ain�t Enough
15. Shout
16. Anyway You Want It

Known Faults:
-Refugee: start cut

Welcome to The SF Tapes, a series of master recordings made by a friend of longtime JEMS pal ML.

SF hailed from Canada, and after his passing in 2022, ML rescued his tapes from near destruction � salvaged after sitting neglected in a garage for a couple of years. We can�t thank ML enough for recovering SF�s recordings and bringing them to the JEMS Archive for evaluation, conservation, and transfer.

And what a haul it is. SF made hundreds of recordings in clubs, concert halls, festivals, and arenas � not just around Toronto, but also in Western New York (Buffalo, Rochester), Montreal, Ottawa, and beyond. From Howlin� Wolf and Lyle Lovett to Weather Report and Suicide, he captured an impressive breadth of artists and genres.

ML and SF first crossed paths in 1974 at Albert�s Hall, a club above the Brunswick Tavern in Toronto. �I thought, �There he is again � this guy�s been to all three nights!�� ML recalled. They bonded quickly over music, with SF recounting his adventures at early editions of both the Ann Arbor Blues Festival and the Mariposa Folk Festival in the early �70s.

That friendship spanned decades and miles, as ML and SF followed The Who in 1979, 1980, and 1982; Springsteen in 1978, 1980, 1984, 1985, and 1988; and even made trips to Europe � first in 1985 to see John Cale and Pete Townshend�s Deep End, and again in 2019 to catch Cale in Paris. (ML notes that Cale played three straight nights � each with a unique setlist.)

Like JEMS patriarchs Jared and Stan, ML and SF were kindred spirits. SF began recording in 1973 (ML in �71), starting with a Sony TC-110 before upgrading to a series of Sony D6 Professional Walkman recorders and the ever-reliable Aiwa CM-30 microphone.

Their concert nights didn�t always end when the headliners left the stage. Sometimes they�d catch a show at Massey Hall or Maple Leaf Gardens early in the evening, then head to a jazz or blues club for a final set � hence, some of SF�s club recordings are incomplete, having been caught mid-show or near the end.

As the �80s wore on, SF got married and became a family man. He still made it to the occasional show with ML, often letting him handle the taping.

SF had a bit of a mad professor air about him � his newspaper collecting was legendary, and he wasn�t always meticulous about labeling his clippings or his tapes. Recordings could be scattered: unlabeled ones, a part one here, a part two there, or missing entirely. ML often stepped in to label, organize, and preserve what he could.

We�re incredibly glad he did. His generosity of spirit � like that of his great friend Jared � brings us this remarkable SF series.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, November 18, 1979, Toronto, Ontario

Damn the Torpedoes, full speed ahead � it�s Volume 7 of the SF Tapes!

There�s a charm to this historic recording, a 16-song, 76-minute document. It�s the sound of Tom Petty just as things were starting to gel for him and the Heartbreakers. The third record would break them free from both commercial doldrums and litigation with their former label. And SF was there for what appears to be Tom Petty�s earliest known performance in The Six (he�d played Vancouver the year before, in June).
The setlist in Toronto features many songs that would come to define Tom Petty: �Breakdown,� �Refugee,� �Listen to Her Heart.� None of it plays out like a greatest-hits recitation � that would come much later, and damn, what a problem to have!

Rather, this late �79 recording has a slightly punk feel to it: it�s all still pretty raw at this point � I�d forgotten that �Don�t Do Me Like That� was ever a single (in fact, it was the first for the band to crack the Top 10), but here, that�s exactly how Petty introduces it. Along with a few covers (Solomon Burke�s �Cry to Me� sounds particularly effective) and selections from his first two LPs, SF captured a workman-like gig. Near the outset, Petty alludes to being under the weather, but that doesn�t seem to impede him or the performance; neither did the drug-sniffing dog that boarded the band�s bus as it crossed the border! (Probable setlists from around this time, however, indicate that Toronto may have been a song or two shorter than others.)

The capture sounds slightly distant, but it�s clear and gains a bit from a somewhat subdued audience. That�s not to discount their enthusiasm � everyone near the recorder seemed to welcome �Breakdown.� We�re always happy with just enough response to have made the band feel well received � and, nearly a half-century on, for listeners to be happy, too. Scattered hints of sibilance, tape warble and wear are audible; overall, we think this recording makes a fine addition to the SF series and to the Petty canon of ROIO, too. Samples provided.

As usual, there�s a team to thank. Jared�s oldest taping friend and our own highway companion, ML, made that connection, entrusting SF�s master cassette tapes to JEMS for safekeeping, evaluation, and transfer. And mjk5510? As Tom Petty himself used to say, �how about a hand for� mjk5510? Goody made sure playback was timed accurately, and BK himself � damn, 43 years now we�ve been doing this?! � surprised me with this file set, and asked whether I could turn around notes in time for a weekend post. It�s an honor to do so. Thanks to all, and a special shout-out to SF for making the capture.
� slipkid68

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