In 1977 Pete Willis (guitar) and Rick Savage (bass) and their friend, Tony Kenning (drums), from the Tapton School in Sheffield, South Yorkshire (England) started the band called Atomic Mass. 18-year old Joe Elliot met Pete Willis after missing a bus and auditioned to play guitar with the band, but instead was brought on as their lead singer. Atomic Mass played their first show in a dining hall at Westfield School in Mosborough, Sheffield. Elliot suggested a new name he had made up for the band "Deaf Leopard", and Kenning modified the spelling to be Def Leppard. In 1978 Steve Clark (guitar) successfully auditioned for the band playing Lynrd Skynrd’s hit song "Free Bird".
The band began recording a 3-song EP. Kenning quit the band in November 1978. By the end of the month 15-year-old Rick Allen joined the band as the new drummer. The EP, Def Leppard EP, received a lot of airplay after famed BBC radio DJ John Peel, known for making and breaking bands, gave their song "Getcha Rocks Off" a lot of airplay on his radio show. Throughout 1979 the band played gigs and gained a loyal fanbase. Their popularity earned them a record deal with Phonogram (in the U.K.)/Mercury Records in the U.S.
Their first album, 1980’s On Through the Night was released in March. It was a hit in the U.K. and reached #51 in the United States. The members of Def Leppard were barely out of their teens when their debut album came out. Singer Joe Elliot was the oldest member of the band at 19 years old, and drummer Rick Allen was the youngest at age 15. They toured Britain with Sammy Hagar and AC/C, as played the 1980 Reading Festival in England. In the United States they toured as the opening band for Ted Nugent, Pat Travers, Judas Priest, and AC/DC. They did a second tour in the U.S. opening for Blackfoot, Ozzy Osbourne, and Rainbow. Between all the touring they were doing and all of the press they were getting in America Def Leppard's fan base grew there.
The band caught the attention of producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange who agreed to produce their second album. In 1981 the band’s second album, High ‘n’ Dry, was released in July 1981. Def Leppard’s video for "Bringin’ on the Heartbreak" was one of the first heavy metal videos played on MTV and brought the band even more visibility. A European tour followed the album’s release.
The band entered the studio in 1982 to record their third album. Halfway through the recording process the band fired guitarist Pete Willis due to his excessive alcoholism on the job. They hired Phil Collen as their new guitarist. Their other co-guitarist Steve Clark was also beginning his slide into alcoholism at this time, as well. He entered treatment in 1982 for the first of many times. Their album Pyromania came out in January 1983. It became a monster hit, selling over 10 million albums. Their videos were in heavy rotation on MTV, especially the lead single "Photograph" which knocked Michael Jackson’s "Beat It" off the rung of the most requested video. Other hits from the album included "Rock of Ages" and "Foolin". The band started touring in March as the opening band for Billy Squier (see 80’s Quest post), but as their album gained popularity, they ended up headlining their first world tour.
The band moved to Dublin, Ireland in 1984 to write the follow-up album to Pyromania. Mutt Lange was unavailable to produce their next album, so Def Leppard chose Jim Steinman to produce. He was most known for his work with Meatloaf. In the end, the
band felt he was incompatible, so they fired Steinman and hired Nigel Green. There were other problems. Guitarist Steve Clark’s drinking had become so bad that Phil Collen had to do most of the lead guitar work on the recording for their next album. One month later on New Years Eve 1984, drummer Rick Allen was attempting to pass another car at a high rate of speed in the hills outside of Sheffield, when he went off the road on a sharp curve and crashed his Corvette through a stone wall. Allen lost his left arm in the accident. Surgeons reattached his limb, but when infection set in, it had to be amputated. Def Leppard’s future was uncertain.
Allen was determined to continue his drumming with Def Leppard and the band supported him. They did not want to find a replacement drummer. Allen started performing with special electronic equipment and pre-recorded tapes of his drumming for some parts, but by 1985 Allen was learning to play the drums again using a specially adapted Simmons drum kit that allowed him to play the drums using both legs and his one remaining arm. (By 1995 he was back to he was back to playing a regular acoustic drum kit with customized foot pads). In August 1986 Allen performed for the first time since the accident at the European Monsters of Rock Tour.
By this time Mutt Lange was able to come onboard and produce the album which the band had been working on recording over the past 3 years. At the beginning of 1987 the band finally completed the recording of their long awaited fourth album, Hysteria. It was released in August 1987 and spawned six Top 20 hits: "Animal", "Hysteria", "Pour Some Sugar on Me", "Love Bites", "Armageddon It", and "Rocket". Some of the band’s early fans found the band’s style to be too pop-ish and were alienated. But the accessible sound also earned them a lot of new fans worldwide and the album sold over 16 million copies. The band embarked on a 15-month tour that they performed in the round. At the 1989 Brit Awards Def Leppard was a nominee for Best British Group, and at the 1989 American Music Awards they won Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Artist and Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Album.
Def Leppard immediately began working on their fifth album, in an attempt to avoid another long gap in time between albums. Clark’s drinking had become so bad that in 1989 he was found comatose in a gutter and admitted to a psychiatric hospital. He seemed beyond help. In mid-1990 the band encouraged him to take a six-month sabbatical from the band. Clark was in and out of rehab. Tragedy finally struck when died from a fatal mixture of drugs and alcohol on January 8, 1991. The band decided they would soldier on as a 4-piece with Collen mimicking Clark’s style on the parts he would have played.
Adrenalize
By this point in time, record companies were courting grunge bands, more than their heavy metal predecessors. Retro Active, an album of covers, B-sides, and rarities was released in October 1993. The band also contributed the song "Two Steps Behind" to the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, "Last Action Hero". In 1995 the band released a greatest hits album, Vault – Greatest Hits 1985-1990The band wanted to explore new musical directions for their next album and included some industrial music, darker lyrics, and elements of soul on their next album, 1996’s Slang. The album did not do as well as previous albums.
In 1998 the band came to the forefront of people’s minds once again when American music television channel VH1 featured Def Leppard on an episode of the show "Behind the Music" to high ratings.
Def Leppard returned to their tried and true pop-metal style on their next album, 1999’s Euphoria. In 2000 Def Leppard was inducted into the Rock Walk of fame on Hollywood’s Sunset Boulevard, In 2001 VH1 produced and aired a biopic film called "Hysteria – The Def Leppard Story". Def Leppard’s tenth album, X, was considered more pop-ish than a traditional hard rock album, and became the band’s least successful release. In 2004 another greatest hits album was released called Best of (and Rock of Ages – The Definitive Collection in North America).
In 2006 the band released an album of all cover-songs called Yeah! Including songs originally recorded by Blondie, ELO, Sweet, Badfinger and The Kinks. In 2008 they released their Songs from the Sparkle Lounge album. The first single "Nine Lives" was co-written by country music singer Tim McGraw, and he appeared on it as a guest artist. The band went on a U.S. tour in support of the album with Styx and REO Speedwagon.(see 80’s Quest posts on both bands). Def Leppard also played numerous European rock festivals and did an arena tour of the U.K. with Whitesnake and Black Stone Cherry.
In October 2008 Def Leppard taped a show in Nashville, Tennessee called CMT Crossroads with teen country star Taylor Swift. She had been a fan of the band since childhood and chose them as the band she wanted to perform with for the show. They did a crossover version of Def Leppard’s song "Photograph". The song was nominated for Performance of the Year and Wide Open Country Video of the Year at the CMT Music Awards of 2009.
In 2011 Def Leppard went on a 2-month summer U.S. tour with Heart, and later toured Australia, Japan, and in the U.K. they co-headlined with Motley Crue. Unfortunately Joe Elliot's father passed away, and there were numerous cancellations to the tour due to the sad event. It has been announced that Def Leppard will tour with the band Poison during the summer of 2012.was released in March 1992. The album entered both the U.K. and U.S. charts at #1. It spawned numerous hits such as "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad", "Let’s Get Rocked", "Make Love Like Man" and "Stand Up (Kick Your Love into Motion). The band performed "Let’s Get Rocked" on the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards and was nominated for Best Video of the Year. Def Leppard embarked on another world tour and Vivian Campbell, a guitarist famous for his work with Ronnie James Dio and Whitesnake, among others joined the band on tour as their new guitarist
Lyrics:
Gypsy, sittin' lookin' pretty
A broken rose with laughin' eyesYou're a mystery, always runnin' wild
Like a child without a home
You're always searching, searching for a feeling
But it's easy come and easy go
Oh I'm sorry but it's true
You're bringin' on the heartache
Takin' on the best of me
Oh can't you see?
You got the best of me
Whoah can't you see?
You're bringin' on the heartbreak
Bringin' on the heartache
You're bringin' on the heartbreak
Bringin' on the heartache
Can't you see?
Oh
You're such a secret, misty eyed and shady
Lady how you hold the key
Oh you're like a candle, your flame slowly fadin'
Burnin' out and burnin' me
Can't you see?
Just tryin' say to you
You're bringin' on the heartache
Takin' on the best of me
Oh can't you see?
You got the best of me
Whoah can't you see?
You're bringin' on the heartbreak
Bringin' on the heartache
You're bringin' on the heartbreak
Bringin' on the heartache
Can't you see?
Can't you see?
No! no! no!
You got the best of me
Oh can't you see?
You got the best of me
Whoah can't you see?
You're bringin' on the heartbreak
Bringin' on the heartache
You're bringin' on the heartbreak
Bringin' on the heartache
You're bringin' on the heartbreak
Bringin' on the heartache
You're bringin' on the heartbreak
Here is another video of the song "Photograph" which was so popular at my high school in 1983:
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