Scarce original Backstreet Records promotional cardstock display for Hard Promises, the fourth studio album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, which was released on May 5, 1981. The display measures 12 x 18.25 and features Petty as he’s pictured on the front cover, wearing a plaid shirt and leather jacket in a three-quarter-length pose. In very fine condition.
More than 40 years ago, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released Hard Promises after a controversial battle with MCA, his record label at the time, when he fought against ‘superstar-pricing,’ which would raise the list price from the standard $8.98 to $9.98. Petty considered it price-gouging and even threatened to not turn the album over to MCA. Even after winning the battle with the label, Petty considered calling the album $8.98, but instead chose album artwork that shows him in a record store in front bins of albums priced at… $8.98. The album was quite successful thanks to a number of tracks, including ‘The Waiting’ and ‘The Insider,’ which featured Stevie Nicks.
