“That’s all I had for weeks… People started banging on the wall – ‘Don’t play that anymore!’” Tom Petty wanted to turn a catchy riff into a much-needed hit. He didn't stop playing it until he did

Tom Petty performs onstage in 1981.

At the dawn of the 1980s, Tom Petty was on top of the world.

His third album with his trusty sidekicks the Heartbreakers – 1979's Damn the Torpedoes – was his breakthrough, one of those blockbusters of the era where virtually every song either was a hit single or could have been one.