No, their first north american tour was in 1978. Their first date there was on 20-10-1978 at the CBGB in New York City and their last date was again there on 15-11-1978 after around 23 dates in USA and Canada (taken from Dietmar´s synchronology).

Pete Ashdown wrote:
This doesn't fit with the timeline.  The Hatfield show is where it was
first played live and that was right before their first American tour.


José Martín Ramallo López wrote:
  
I received an email from a japanesse TV producer who is making a program 
called "Song to Soul" which is an hour long music documentary to explore 
legendary songs. They are working now on Message in a bottle. He asked 
me if I knew the history behind the writting of the song as when and 
where it was writting. He told me they´ve been told it could have been 
writting in tha back of a bus probably while touring USA for the first 
time. From Lyrics and some interviews I checked I could not find any 
mention of this. Does anybody know something about this story?
Thanks,

  
    

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