When Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers played the half-time show at the Super Bowl, my kids were asking me who he was. As I rattled off a list of his hit songs, they repeatedly shook their heads. Now, I know they’d heard the songs with me in the car, but I figured it was time for some visual aids. Back then, I purchased this DVD, and we watched it together.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Playback is a collection of seventeen videos from 1979 to 1993. The MTV heydays were marked by videos from Petty that were artistic visually, even the ones that are performance videos with the band. The themed ones are some of the better videos from the era as well.

The DVD opens with Here Comes My Girl. This is a performance video by the band. It’s followed by Refugee. It’s a video of the band performing in an alley in a run-down area.

The Waiting is a performance video, reminiscent of Freeze Frame by the J. Geils Band, with the white background and a few bits of color and dripping paint. A Woman In Love is a performance video mostly in black and white. There are outdoor scenes with mist and backlighting. The lighting techniques are excellent, and there is good use of black and white and shadowing.

Insider is a Petty duet with Stevie Nicks. Why this was chosen over Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around is beyond me, except that it might have had something to do with who had the rights to each song and video. It’s a very good performance in the studio.

You Got Lucky marks the start of the concept video era for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. Tom & the band are in a Mad Max-type future. They exit their futuristic motor vehicles and wander into a falling-apart building where they find all sorts of electronics to have fun with. Clothing is excellent as well, with Tom in the top hat. The look is one he’ll modify a bit and become noted for. Overall, it’s an excellent concept piece.

Change of Heart, directed by Cameron Crowe along with Phil Savenick & Doug Dowdle, is a live concert performance.

The song Don’t Come Around Here No More was produced by Dave Stewart, who makes a brief appearance in the video as well. It’s one of their best-known videos where the band re-enacts some of Alice in Wonderland with Tom Petty as the Mad Hatter. Excellent production, probably the best concept video from the era.

Jammin’ Me is a performance video that makes good use of a blue screen behind the band to display various things. It was a time when this effect was just getting widely used, and the novelty of showing these images was capitalized on. There are commercials, newscasts, and just colors and television snow.

With I Won’t Back Down the band returns to their performance video roots, and does so quite well. Jeff Lynne, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison all make appearances in the video.

Runnin’ Down a Dream is a black & white animated video. It’s a terrific use of that medium. Free Fallin’ is another very well-known video by the band. It’s part concept video and part performance. The video was filmed in various California locations, including a mall.

A Face in the Crowd is a performance video with clips of people who are “just faces in the crowd”. Yer So Bad is a concept video where Petty is a bandolier of sorts narrating the story of the events taking place.

In Learning To Fly, the band performs at an abandoned airstrip. The performance is intercut with images that don’t really go together. I would have liked it better if they had just them performing at the airstrip.

Into The Great Wide Open is another instantly recognizable video. Johnny Depp stars as the central character in this video that tells the story of Eddie, who became a famous rock star. Also in the video are Gabrielle Anwar, Faye Dunaway, Terence Trent D’Arby, Chynna Phillips, and Matt LeBlanc.

Mary Jane’s Last Dance (Directed by Keir McFarlane, 1993) – Concept video where Petty falls in love with Kim Basinger. The only problem is that she’s dead. Yes, it’s strange.

There are no extras on the DVD. It’s just the videos. They look good, although I don’t think much was done in the way of cleaning them up for digital transfer. The sound is fine, although only Dolby Digital 2-channel. I like the style of listing the director and year for each of the videos. It shows the consistency of Petty through the years, as many of the same names appear throughout the list of directors.

This was a great way for my kids to get a better feel for just who Petty was, both in terms of his music contributions and his contribution to the world of music videos. I enjoyed the trip down memory lane and would definitely consider purchasing this for my home collection. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers fans should definitely be on the lookout for this, as it’s a good compilation of the band’s work.