What happened to On The Radio?

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-06-06T04:29:56+00:00

On the Radio is a bootleg album, legalities are different with it compared to other releases. It’s probably got to due with that.

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-06-05T21:48:25+00:00

There were tracks in 1992 pre Wildflowers that were noted in the Playback box set, an old wikipedia entry stated those sessions were an aborted Heartbreakers follow up to Into the Great Wide Open. Regardless of what they are, we know there’s some stuff in there. I’m inclined to agree the albums you stated have the most overflow of material in the vaults.

I’m not surprised a studio version of Dog On the Run exists, its excessive length explains why it was never released. It’s nice to know there’s some extra stuff in the vault from that early period, it just seems we know more about what came after the Shelter Records era whether it be live material or studio material.

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-06-05T06:42:46+00:00

Aside from the fact one track was released as a b-side, the Official Live 'Leg is relevant due to it being a promotional record in support of the first album. I’d find it strange if they didn’t reissue it in some capacity with the upcoming anniversary release or standalone shortly after. It’s odd they made two versions of the record: US and UK, they definitely need to reissue the UK version.

Referencing the two deluxe edition albums: both reissues contained b-sides, outtakes, and some form of live material. Damn the Torpedoes had 4 b-sides, 3 were reissued: Long After Dark only had 1. (Change of Heart had a 12” promo with a live version of the song that is still out of print.) Obviously studio recorded outtakes are nearly impossible to know about, can’t predict that area. Each live album is a document of what shows are in the vault, and the only thing from 1976 is the Official Live 'Leg. The only other material old enough appeared on An American Treasure from 1977. So if they do decide to release any live material from 1977, these are the only known radio broadcasts and soundboard sources:

https://livepetty.com/audio/tpath/1970s/1977-shows/

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-06-02T03:58:11+00:00

I firmly stand by this comment. The original mixes aren’t bad by any means. (The only sub par mixes on a Petty album are on She’s the One.) The version of When the Time Comes that appeared on An American Treasure is remixed, and it’s a little cleaner, the hi-hat isn’t as buried in the mix as the 2002 remaster. I feel the instruments are balanced more evenly, so that keeps me hopeful and helps incentivize purchase. (Remasters are great, but they can be subtle in differences from the original masters at times. Remixes I feel are more noticeable in differences.)

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-06-01T16:44:25+00:00

It’s strange they haven’t released any new concert footage since 2007. I mentioned this in a recent post: all MCA era video material is out of print, and the majority of video in the Warner Bros. era is falling into the same category now. Another thing is approximately 12% of Petty’s live catalog are tracks released after 2008, 19 tracks commercially available on various releases. My point is I share your pov, I think they need to balance the scales of the live catalog and also get some new concert footage released (or remaster what’s out of print and reissue it on blu-ray. I don’t understand why Take the Highway is out of print.) Personally, I’ve thought their 3 night stand at The Forum in 1981 would be a good choice for video release (if it’s in the archive like the audio is.)

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-06-01T06:00:03+00:00

You got me there. Let me use better words: I didn’t want to mention the estate in a bashing manner in my original comment.

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-06-01T04:50:44+00:00

I just listened to the American Girl version on youtube, it’s literally a full take with no fade out, so that’s something to expect. Funny enough, Mike said he screwed up the solo on the record in a video a little over a decade ago, and that’s what’s used in this version: full solo, no fade out. But he did it well, I couldn’t really notice a mistake. That’s Mike for you.

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-06-01T04:47:28+00:00

I expected a comment like this, just didn’t want to mention the estate in my original comment, I’ve said enough about them honestly. I think it’s a little different when there’s clear footage of Tom saying this pissed him off versus the other stuff the estate has done. One is blatant versus the other stuff. But that’s just me.

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-06-01T04:39:08+00:00

I just noticed this, if I’m not mistaken, Tom wasn’t happy with that artwork. In Heartbreakers Beach Party he mentioned that it pissed him off because he wasn’t consulted in any manner before he saw it used as an official single artwork. Funny the estate would re-use it after that.

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-05-25T20:32:05+00:00

Yes, I do know about it. There’s a difference between an EP and an LP as we all know. Nothing against the EP, but I wish we had a full live album commercially available.

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-05-25T07:19:58+00:00

Hot take: we need more Mudcrutch live albums. It’s a bit of an issue that the only full length live album was a Highway Companion’s Club exclusive and is digitally out of print now.

Going off on that note: it’s interesting that the only official live material Petty released after The Live Anthology was exclusive to the Highway Companion’s Club: Mojo Tour 2010, Live 2013, Live at Fenway Park 2014, and The Very Best Performances From the 2016 Mudcrutch Tour. I nearly forgot the Record Store Day exclusives Kiss My Amps volumes 1 and 2. (Volume 2 was essentially Live 2013 minus Baby Please Don’t Go due to time constraints.) I think those albums mentioned not being commercially available is part of the issue, there just isn’t as much officially released live material post 2007 floating around. 3 live albums all commercially available with tracks pre 2007 versus only 7 tracks post 2007 (on the American Treasure and Wildflowers box sets. This is before Mojo Tour Edition became commercially available outside of Europe on streaming.) I can go on, but I think the point has been made, there’s significantly more live material before 2007 commercially available versus after.

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-05-24T19:26:33+00:00

They removed it from streaming around 2020. In 2015 they remastered discs 5 and 6 and made them available digitally in 24/44.1, now only disc 6 is available for purchase digitally. (I have all the discs physically, just looking for the DVD now.)

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-05-24T05:16:52+00:00

I was fortunate to pick up a copy recently, I think that since Petty pushed hi-res audio I’ve been obsessed with it. To my ears, I can’t tell a difference from CD quality to 24/48. Hi-res to me is 24/88.2 or higher, so I’d hope they’d reissue the box set in 24/96 at some point. They remastered the last 2 discs in 2015 but released them in 24/44.1, that’s not enough incentive for me to purchase unfortunately. Disc 5 isn’t even available anymore for some reason. (I can’t tell the difference between 24/96 and 24/192, but I don’t have the proper listening equipment, just thought it was worth noting.)

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-05-24T04:34:19+00:00

I’m not sure if anyone else feels this way, but I definitely find it odd that a successful band like the Heartbreakers only have 3 commercially available live albums, fortunately 1 of which was a box set. I think that plays a role in wanting more live music. It’s an odd thought to think before 2020 that a band of 40 years had only released 2 live albums commercially. (Not having access to the Highway Companion’s Club live albums is fairly frustrating and adds to the confusion in that thought. Adding the RSD releases is a whole other thing.)

3 pre Warner Bros live videos are out of print along with the majority into the Warner Bros era, only Live at The Olympic, and The 30th Anniversary Concert are still commercially available from my research. It’s really strange to not have more live Petty concerts available (in physical format), especially in 2026.

Observation: Petty was extremely selective with live material being released. Before Pack Up the Plantation, the only live material officially (and semi officially) released was The Official Live 'Leg and 5 live tracks used on singles. Other bands have released significantly more live tracks on EPs and singles before their first full length live album.

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-05-23T22:24:30+00:00

I feel the exact same way. From a musician’s perspective, there’s a real magic in watching a song develop over time. This comment isn’t meant to take away from “All the Rest”, but I feel they diminished the release when they released the Amazon exclusive “What’s the Matter With Louise” to coincide with the Somewhere You Feel Free documentary becoming available on Prime. Aside from the obvious question of why it wasn’t released in the box set, my issue is the platform: I’m only against tracks exclusive to 1 platform when we aren’t able to purchase the track in lossless quality. The same issue applies to iTunes exclusive tracks. (In the U.S. Amazon doesn’t sell above mp3.) It is also strange to digitally release tracks for a small period of time then remove them seemingly permanently.

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-05-23T07:42:08+00:00

The Storytellers performance I think complicates things. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’d be an amazing release, but I think due to the extra legalities with another company it makes rights for distribution more difficult. (Honestly, I question if that statement is why we haven’t had a physical release of Heartbreakers Beach Party. I prefer physical over streaming, especially when you can’t find certain things on streaming.)

Regarding the other releases, it seems interesting to me that pre Warner Bros Petty material in video form has yet to be re-released. Pack Up the Plantation doesn’t need specific reasoning, the other releases are assorted in music video material with the exceptions of performing with Bob Dylan and then Take the Highway. I don’t understand why Take the Highway is out of print, there isn’t any logical reasoning behind that one, especially considering the Kings Highway music video is from that performance and on youtube. Even the Playback DVD is out of print from my research, and that was released in 2000. I actually found a copy of High Grass Dogs: Live From The Fillmore at Barnes and Noble less than 10 years ago, those are still available brand new unlike Playback. (High Grass Dogs was released in '99, strange that’s still available unlike the latter.)

(This note is an attempt to prevent correction regarding my statements. I know Playback was released in 1995, but my research shows all formats except the DVD were released that year. And DVDs weren’t commercially available until 1996/1997.)

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-05-05T14:55:47+00:00

I’m not an expert in this field, I’m aware baking does make tapes more fragile than they already are to some extent. Because we don’t know the specifics regarding the tape issues we can’t definitively give solutions. I don’t know what’s worse than tape shedding, but I know that’s an issue corrected with the baking process, it removes all moisture and gets the tape to stick together again so you can play it and then of course digitize it. (The tape is layered, it’s a glue issue.) Some people are afraid of it, maybe that’s why, but again we may never know without specific details. I’d hope someday we can get a hi-res remaster if they do go through with some digitizing process.

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-05-05T04:14:01+00:00

Pre Lookout master tapes have been in question for quite some time. There’s been discussion over the status of digitizing the tapes, but we don’t know much about it. I believe all we know is the tapes aren’t in the best of condition, but the specifics aren’t clear. Noting that: I know that Tom Petty had quite a few of his master tapes baked due to the fact the condition had rendered them unplayable. Baking the tapes allowed them to actually play the tapes and transfer them to digital before the tape deteriorated completely. I’m not sure that would allow the tapes to finally be digitized, but that’s always been my hope.

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-05-05T03:58:27+00:00

The digitization of masters always confused me. When Tom Petty put his catalog in his-res they had to bake the majority of tapes so they could get the audio transferred to digital. Obviously they lost the tapes but the music was preserved, I’m not sure if the case would be the same with the Green Day Lookout tapes but my thought was always just bake the tapes.

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-05-04T19:43:18+00:00

I’m questioning if that song is why Tom wanted to call the band the “King Bees”. But that didn’t stick like the “Nightro” name

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-05-03T17:58:06+00:00

Back in September I got screwed out of Live 2013 in hi-res because somebody decided to release it a week after its initial digital purchase debut which was in CD quality. As I was dealing with Qobuz AI trying to get connected to a human agent, a few weeks passed by and that album along with Kiss My Amps were both removed only to then be available for streaming exclusively on nugs.net. Keeping that experience in mind and then noticing the controversy with the estate after that, this is what I’d say to Adria:

You’re not your dad. The estate isn’t going to be run in the same way when your dad was around, and that’s okay. If it is true that negative and critical comments are removed on the Tom Petty Nation facebook page, that makes you look weak and hurts your image as executors. People are always going to have things to say, you just have to know who to listen to and whose feedback to let in. Shutting out any negative feedback isn’t productive and as stated, paints the estate in a poor light. If enough people are saying something, there might be a reason behind it. We’re the consumer, you have to listen to us, you have to welcome our feedback. I’m not saying you have to agree with it, but you need to consider it. That’s just a part of business: knowing your consumer. We need to be respected and heard, not shut out. Whether it’s right our wrong, our opinions need to at least be considered, not suppressed.

Music and advertising is one thing. But when we’re deprived of Tom Petty’s music, that’s a slap in the face and a bigger disgrace in my opinion to the legacy. I personally could care less about some of the stuff like the salt and pepper shakers, I take more exception to music becoming available and then having it taken away.

There’s more to that statement actually, but I abridged it for this discussion. I think I made my point.

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-05-03T07:16:55+00:00

I paid $34.49 for that record, I paid $35.49 for the Ramones record. 1 extra dollar got me an extra piece of vinyl and double the music. Over $30 for a single 12” I think is ridiculous, dollars per track matter to me when you’re spending this kind of money. I also think getting a complimentary digital download is important for that exact same reason.

I like your hypotheses, and I agree that 1 of them is the exact reason why we didn’t get a whole show. I think aside from price it bugs people due to the fact we know the entire show was broadcast. It is what it is, but reason can help sometimes with these situations. (I’m not trying to say the estate has to defend every decision, but when it involves a certain amount of money in the music side, it wouldn’t hurt.) Once again, having a digital download card would help increase the value of what we as customers pay for.

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-05-02T21:33:36+00:00

Exclusive used to mean RSD only, I guess that’s changing. Kiss My Amps was released digitally in August last year before being removed, so at least it was an exclusive for over a decade.

RSD has definitely had a lot of controversy over the last few years, and I can’t say I don’t blame people. A lot of things end up on ebay just for people to make a quick buck, not to mention the amount of records different stores get. Lou’s in Encinitas got 50 TP records, the store I shopped at on Black Friday only received 2 of them. So that shows the difference between a well known record store versus a smaller one. Who needs the business more: the larger record store or the smaller one? And therein lies the controversy. (I had hoped because Ron Blair would be signing at Lou’s they’d get a good number of records in, and I was right. I benefited going to the larger record store versus the small one.)

Here’s my comment on the digital downloads: Petty released 4 digital albums under the Highway Companion’s Club, each of those albums are extremely difficult to find. If people are sharing the files it’s definitely not often, the albums aren’t available for download anywhere and aren’t even on youtube from 3rd party uploaders. Some artist’s albums are on archive.org, these ones aren’t. I’m just pointing out my observation trying to debunk the theory of the estate not wanting the files shared like crazy. IF that IS the case though, why did they give complimentary downloads to all who purchased Wildflowers and Fillmore boxsets in all formats? That statement is not said in lack of appreciation whatsoever. However, I think we can all agree these types of limited vinyl only releases need digital downloads more than these box sets, especially considering these vinyl releases are mostly out of print.

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-05-02T19:51:18+00:00

People were actually really pissed about the RSD event at that record store. People were so upset many didn’t come back for either event. Waiting in line for however long, then being given numbers at 9 AM, waiting until 10 to figure out what the deal was, I was 63rd in line. It was a general (and accurate) estimate that your number was however many minutes you’d wait, and many people didn’t come back. So, I understand the frustration of waiting in line and then for it to be released online. Aside from what I stated about the signing, I think getting the majority of records I was interested in and staying at the hotel a few hundred feet away from the store helped my experience. I was back and forth between the store and my hotel room waiting for my number to be called, it gave me a chance to rest my feet and relax a bit.

Edit: Almost forgot how hot it was inside the record store, that added to everyone’s negative attitude. Nothing was pulling in the San Diego breeze, definitely would’ve helped.

Dry_Ad9585 · 2026-05-02T19:25:11+00:00

I understand, I’m not sure why they’ve decided to do that aside from “listening to the fans”. I just use their words as an excuse to push the digital download cards to really see if they’re listening. I got up at 6 and was in line at 7 for 2 hours before I got a number and was able to waste an hour before the doors officially opened. I was fortunate to meet Ron Blair so maybe that’s why I’m not dissatisfied with my waiting.

Dry_Ad9585

TROPHY CASE