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Speaker 1: This is a podcast from Minute Media.

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Speaker 2: Hello everybody, and welcome back to Shirley. You can be

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serious podcasts guys. Today we are doing a special introduction

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of our Patreon exclusive membership episodes. For our Patreon subscribers,

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you get a special exclusive episode that no one else

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gets to hear. So if you want to be a

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part of that family, go over to patreon dot com

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slash Shirley podcast S u r ely Podcast and sign

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up under one of our subscriptions. You can do it

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for as little as five dollars a month and that

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will get you not only an executive producer status on

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one of our episodes, but also access to all of

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those special episodes. So come join our Patreon family.

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Speaker 1: That's right. Once a month, we're going to be going

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into one hit Wonders at the eighties, nineties and beyond.

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And the first one that we did this month, it's

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already out there. You can download it right now is

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Video Killed the Radio Star. Most people know that that

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was the first MTV video ever shown, but there's a

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lot of stuff, like one of the members was called

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the Inventor of the eighties.

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Speaker 2: It's an amazing podcast. You definitely need to go check

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it out. So do that. But if you're not in

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that place right now, no problem. Go leave us a

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five star rating and hopefully a good review. If you

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throw in some tags from one of our prior episodes,

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we'll put you in the running for a custom engraved

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Ozarka tumbler cup. For those of you who aren't ready

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to jump into the Patreon boat, no problem at all.

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We have a special episode one of our favorites from

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season one. This is the first of the two Pyromania

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track by track, and then next episode we cover Hysteria

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track by track and look at the history of def

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Leppard and compare those two incredible albums.

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Speaker 1: You know we're dropping this for two reasons. Def lepperd

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just released new CD like last week, and so it's

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kind of fun to go back and listen to Pyromania,

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listen to Hysteria, listen to the new one, see what

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you like best. But also Hysteria gets us going on

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the Summer of eighty seven track that we're going to

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be spending like the next eight or nine weeks.

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Speaker 2: In Yeah, get ready to jump with us into the

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Summer of eighty seven. This episode we will cover Pyromania,

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which was eighty three, and then we'll jump into hysteria,

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which is, I mean, drops us right in the middle

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of summer of eighty seven. And then we're going to

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jump into all kinds of awesome eighty seven music and movies.

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Speaker 1: So step inside, walk this way, you and me, babe. Hey, Okay,

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it's baseball season right now. Okay, I don't know if

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you know this or not, but baseball's when they're manufactured,

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they actually take river mud and they rub each ball

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with this river mud.

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Speaker 2: They rub mud on their balls.

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Speaker 1: They rub mud on their balls. Why no, because it

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treats the leather of the baseball. Oh yeah, it takes it.

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It smooths it, It crcts the imperfections, it takes care

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of it. Nobody wants leathery balls, that's right. And so

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that leads us right into our sponsormanscape dot com. They

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have some wonderful products for you and your balls.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, guys, As a special treat for all Shirley fans,

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you guys can go to manscape dot com use the

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code Serious twenty and you will get twenty percent off

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of your order. You can start small. You don't have

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to start using the clippers. You don't have to start

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using the razors. They're awesome and you should and your

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lady will appreciate it if you do. But let's just

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say you want to kind of dip your toe in

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the water. They've got lotions, They've got some stuff that

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will make your package smell like a bouquet at flowers

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for your intimate other.

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Speaker 1: And you know what, my friend he says, it's always

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easier to see a diraffe in the planes than it

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is to see a draft in the forest. Exactly, it's

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time to chop some stuff down, boys, wack it.

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Speaker 3: Hello everybody, and welcome to Surely you Can't Be Serious Podcast,

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discussing and debating the iconic and the forgotten of eighties

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and nineties pop culture with your co hosts James d Grades.

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Speaker 1: And Jason Colbin.

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Speaker 2: All right, welcome back, everybody. We are Jason and d

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from the Shirley You Can't Be Serious Podcasts coming to

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you live from Sheffield, England. I am in my Union

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Jack sleeveless shirt and Jason is in his Union Jack

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shorts with no shirt at all. We are here to

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go toe to toe and rock and roll with def

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Leppard and the comparison of the Pyromania album and Hysteria.

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Speaker 1: I'm so excited to do this. This is I've had

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a love affair with these two albums for almost forty

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years now, and frankly, there's only one way we can

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start this podcast. D Yeah, under Leaving Cloud and glory Ow.

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We're going to talk about the history a little bit

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of def Leppard, the tragedy and the blessings that they had,

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and then we're going to go through these two hugely

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impactful albums in the nineteen eighties.

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Speaker 2: I'm super excited.

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Speaker 1: That mean, maybe the most defining sound of the nineteen.

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Speaker 2: Eighties, absolutely, like theyre are a handful of bands that

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defined what rock and roll sounded like in the nineteen eighties,

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and this is one of those one of those bands.

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Speaker 1: Without a doubt, without a doubt. So step inside, walk

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this way, you.

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Speaker 2: And me, babe.

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Speaker 1: Let's start with just kind of a pre story how

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defl was formed and how it kind of came about

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and win and all that stuff.

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Speaker 2: Sure, I mean, there's a big story that leads up

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to Pyromania, and it starts with Joe Elliott as a

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young teenage boy with dreams of becoming a rock star,

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and he decides he wants to have a band. He

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wants the band to be called Deaf Leopard spelled properly,

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and he makes posters and learns how to play the

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guitar and has these dreams. And then one day he

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misses his bus and he happens to meet this guy

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named Pete Willis, and Pete Willis starts talking to him

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and they realize, hey, we both like music. Pete Willis

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had a band called.

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Speaker 1: Atomic Mass right he had been in that band with

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Rick Savage and Tony Kinning.

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Speaker 2: And so they invite Juel Elliott to come and try

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out for the band. Joe wants to play guitar with him.

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When they first put Atomic Mass together, Rick Savage played

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the guitar, Pete Willis played the guitar, and Tony Kinning

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played the drums. Rick Savage said, well, I don't play

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guitar as good as you, so I guess I'll play

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the bass because we have to have a bass. We

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can't have two guitars and no bass. And so he

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started playing the bass. They brought Joe Elliott in. They said, well,

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why don't you sing, and let's see what you got.

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His audition was Stairway to Heaven. Okay, So as he.

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Speaker 1: Sang Stairway to Heaven when it goes up at the end,

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Joe stayed low right, and they were all like, well,

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that was great, except why he didn't go up? What's

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the deal? And so he did really fancy himself as

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singer initially, but he would soon learn right.

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Speaker 2: So they weren't in love with his voice, but they

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thought he had a good voice. They were in love

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with his dream and his passion for becoming a huge success.

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And that's really what got him the job as the lead.

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Speaker 1: Singer in the band, and really what drives Steph Leppert today.

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I mean, he's the engine that makes it go. And

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he doesn't have a terrific voice. I mean he's got

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a good rock voice, right, and I think Mutt Lane

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kind of got the most out of it.

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Speaker 2: So, Jason, tell me, do you remember the first time

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you heard these guys?

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Speaker 1: Yes, I have a very clear memory of when I

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heard these guys for the first time. It was after

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High and Dry, So in nineteen eighty three, I'm bebopping

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in my fifth grade class, mister Hoover's class. If you've

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listened to our episodes before, I was mister Thriller, mister thriller.

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I loved Michael Jackson. I love Thriller. And I had

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this guy that came to my school and he's like,

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Thriller's great, but have you heard these guys? And I

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saw the album cover. I'm like, I mean, it's a

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cool album cover, but I think I'm a stick with

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Michael Jackson.

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Speaker 2: Right.

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Speaker 1: He's like, no, no, no, no, no, you got to listen

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to this song. At least. I'm like, all right, I listened.

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I mean, I'm seriously Michael Jackson. And he's like, no, well,

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you got to listen to this song. So he plays

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Photograph and I'm like, that sounds amazing. Yeah, that sounds amazing.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: And that's how I got hooked in was Photograph. So

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your introduction to the band was Pyromania back in the

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early eighties. Es my introduction to the band, and I

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say introduction, I'd heard them, you know, I had MTV,

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so I had heard bits and songs, but it was

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never an investment for me.

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Speaker 2: I never bought an album. But in eighth grade, I

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went to my first high school dance. And if you

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guys went to high school dances, when you were a kid,

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you can imagine the fear and the nervousness and whether

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you should dance and whether you should not dance, and

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slowly you get your courage up. And that was what

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was happening that night. And I had these girls coming

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up and talking to me, and I was like, this

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is awesome. And then you know, they convinced me to

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come out of dance and we're dancing in a big circle,

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and then it's getting to the end of the night

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and then the DJ says, and now the song that

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you've all been waiting for, and they crank up Pour

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Some Sugar on Me, and the entire gymnasium eruugh and

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people are going crazy. So my first wow, hey, this

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is a band I need to be listening to was Hysteria.

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Was Pour Some Sugar on Me.

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Speaker 1: I think that that was probably a lot of people's

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introduction because I mean the summer of nineteen eighty eight,

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Pour Some Sugar Me own the airwaves. Yeah, and dominated

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that I remember dial MTV you could call and request

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your favorite video. It was like number one for like

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three months.

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Speaker 2: So when we started to do this, what I said

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to myself is I've never never had the album Pyromania.

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I know some of the songs off of it, but

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I'm going to treat it like I'm that kid from

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long ago. I imagined myself, my young self, if I

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had been a teenager listening to this type of music

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in the early eighties. Get the album bring it Home.

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I'm going to put my headphones on, I'm going to

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crank it up. And I gotta say I was blown away.

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I was like, holy crap, this is really really good.

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Even now, what is it nearly forty years later? Yeah, yeah,

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it's still amazing. I was floored.

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Speaker 1: It's a pop metal masterpiece.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: So in January nineteen seventy eight, Steve Clark he joined

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the band. Yeah, he played Freebird for him and they

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were like, oh, this guy's really good.

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Speaker 2: Right, played it from beginning to end. And if you

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don't know free Bird, Freebird is Lynyrd Skynyrd's signature song.

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That is, depending on which version, nine to ten minutes long.

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So you can imagine a young, long haired, skinny kid

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rocking out on one of the most well known guitar

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solos for a solid ten minutes and they were hooked.

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Speaker 1: I don't play guitar, but in guitar hero. Yeah, that

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was the hardest song in that.

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Speaker 2: Well, yes, that's I think I'd say that's an accurate

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reflection of how difficult it is. But they not only

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were amazed by his guitar playing, but he had the

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right look. He came in with no shirt, just a

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jeans jacket on, had long blonde hair slung his guitar

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hung it way too low so that he had to

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pick it up and move it, and there was just

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a motion and a dance to his playing. And then

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of course he had that amazing ability. So there you go.

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They've got their second guitarist, they've got their bass player,

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they've got their singer, and they've got their drummer for a.

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Speaker 1: While, except the drummer decides that hanging out with his

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girlfriend is more important than being in the defining metal

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band of the eighties.

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Speaker 2: He and Rick Stone, I'm sure commencerr.

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Speaker 1: Yeah Rick Stone, Yeah, yeah. If you don't know who

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Rick Stone is, go back and listen to Van Halen

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episode one. Right, But here's a funny story. So there's

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a young kid in the area named Rick Allen, Richard Allen.

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Speaker 2: He's fifteen years old, fifteen. He'd started playing drums when

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he was nine or ten years old, so he was

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a decent drummer, and even at fifteen, had said that

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the drummers around here suck and the bands suck. And

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then after Tony left the band, def Leppard put out

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a one ad and it said Leopard loses skins.

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Speaker 1: And Rick Allen said, hey, look at this, Mom, will

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you call the band for me?

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Speaker 2: And hey mom, hey mom, will you will you call

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these guys?

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Speaker 1: I'd like to play drums. But he's good, he's fantastic,

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and he's right places right time, jumps on the opportunity

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and he becomes their drummer.

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Speaker 2: Right and then just what a few short years later

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they're opening for Ozzy Osbourne and Billy Squire. I mean,

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can you imagine a young kid being involved with that

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kind of star power.

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Speaker 1: At his age? Yeah, it's incredible. Yeah, I have a

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fifteen year old home. I barely let him feed the dog.

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So they rehearse and they rehearse, and they rehearse, they rehearse.

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Speaker 2: Sheffield, England, where they all come from, is an old

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steel town. It's steel factories everywhere. If you live in

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the town, you're pretty well going to be working in

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a factory somewhere and they ended up rehearsing in an

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old spoon factory and we're there for nine months or

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something like that.

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Speaker 1: And finally, Yeah, Steve Clark went to Joe Elliott and said, Joe, listen,

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if we don't play a gig, I'm quitting, right, I'll

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go find somebody else.

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Speaker 2: Right. He's like, we're polishing and polishing and polishing, and

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I could be in here ten years and we're still

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polishing the same songs. So it's interesting because you get

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the impression from the band that they want to be

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perfect before they go out into the world. They've obviously

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got this drive that they don't want to put out

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a bad product. But it's interesting that he's the one

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that says this to them because he's ultimately the one

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that ends up dealing with the biggest stage fright, once

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they get really big.

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Speaker 1: It is interesting. Yeah, So Joe Elliott borrows two hundred

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and fifty bucks from his dad and they create an EP.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, they ended up selling twenty four thousand records, which

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I mean, if you just think about a group of

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teenage kids spent a two hundred and fifty bucks to

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press out an album and they sell twenty four thousand

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of them. I mean, if I could sell twenty four

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thousand songs, I'd be like in even And they get

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an album that's a pretty significant hit.

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Speaker 1: And that leads to their next album, which their debut

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album technically is called On Through the Night Right.

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Speaker 2: This is the first professionally produced album. This is the

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one where they've signed with the record label and the

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record label is producing their album.

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Speaker 1: This is released in March of nineteen eighty. Yeah has

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a song Hello America, which is kind of famous, gave

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kind of a bad taste for the locals in England.

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They didn't like that.

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Speaker 2: It's yeah, it's kind of sad. You know. Sheffield didn't

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really own this band until they were a really big success.

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They had a lot of bad press that they received,

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which is unfortunate, but they had aspirations to get out

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of the town anyway, so it worked out right well.

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Speaker 1: This album On Through the Night caught the attention of

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this guy named Robert John mutt Lang mutt.

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Speaker 2: Lang or if you are from Sheffield, Langa and this.

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Speaker 1: Guy is when he calls them, Yeah, he's a celebrity.

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I mean he had produced Highwaight to Hell yeah, and

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back in Black.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, which I mean, holy smokes right, I mean, come on,

305
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but if you look at his library of work, you've

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got ACDC and def Leppard, but you've also got Shania

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Twain who ended up marrying Taylor Swift. Brian Adams. I mean,

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there's a whole slew of genres that he deals with,

309
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and he is, with that question, one of the biggest

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keys to their success.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely. If I took you and I said, all right,

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grab acdc's entire catalog, pick their best album, it's going

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to be produced by mut Lane.

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Speaker 3: Yes.

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Speaker 1: If I said, take the entire cars catalog, yeah, pick

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their best album Heartbeat City, yes, Mutlane. Okay, So when

317
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they get in the studio with Mutt Lane, they produce

318
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an album called High and Dry. So it's their first

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commercial effort. I mean it does pretty well, sales two

320
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or fifty thousand copies.

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Speaker 2: Again, I mean it got into the top twenty albums

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in the UK and top fifty in the US, I believe.

323
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But the way of music back then, even after all

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that success, the band wasn't making enough money to have

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being a band as their only job.

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Speaker 1: I mean, Joelie, it talks very publicly about having a

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top fifty album in the United States and having to

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work at a construction site.

329
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Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, we don't have any money left. You're going

330
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to have to go do some real work.

331
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Speaker 1: So that's crazy. So High Dry is released July eleventh,

332
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nineteen eighty one.

333
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Speaker 2: Just before the inception of MTV. Then another key another

334
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it's huge in their in their career.

335
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Speaker 1: Yeah, they're spot on ready when MTV hits.

336
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Speaker 2: Right, So Joe Elliott is working construction jobs after having

337
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this big album. But as it turns out, they recorded

338
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a video for one of the songs off of High

339
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and Dry called bringing On the Heartbreak. I'm sorry, I

340
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cannot imagine a guy who's singing like that, band playing

341
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like that, who is now working construction because they don't

342
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have enough money. It's crazy. But the video that they

343
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had fell right in where it needed to because MTV had.

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Speaker 1: They needed videos.

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Speaker 2: They said it over and over. They had about two

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hundred and fifty videos when they're on their first year,

347
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and so that Bringing On the Heartbreak made it into

348
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the rotation and they played it and played it, and

349
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everybody at that time had started to watch MTV and

350
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people started to go, who is this def Leopard band.

351
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Speaker 1: That's right. Timing is everything.

352
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Speaker 2: Yeah.

353
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Speaker 1: Now they're going back in the studio to record their

354
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third album, Pyromedia.

355
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Speaker 2: Right, and they kind of enter a really specialized deal here.

356
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Mutt Lang had produced that first album and it was

357
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all a regular style of production. He was meticulous about things.

358
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But you can still on high and dry hear the

359
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edginess that they had at that time. And they had

360
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been placed in this category called the new wave of

361
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British heavy metal. But listening to even their early stuff,

362
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I wouldn't describe it as heavy metal. I don't think

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they ever saw themselves as a heavy metal band.

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Speaker 1: And I've heard Joe Eliot say that we have a

365
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lot more in common with Duran Durant right than we

366
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do Quiet Riot, ACDC or whatever.

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Speaker 2: Right. He really admired the band Queen, and he really

368
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admired David Bowie and the Hoople Mota hoopl, thank you,

369
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Mota Hoopl and Queen. He loved Queen and that was

370
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kind of the sound that they were going for, kind

371
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of a ACDC meets Queen kind of sound. Never really

372
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again what I would describe as metal.

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Speaker 1: All right, So as the recording Pyromania, they start to

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have these personal problems within the band, right that ultimately

375
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they've got to deal with.

376
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Speaker 2: So they entered this deal with Mutt Lang where he

377
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basically had complete control over the sound. The first album

378
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that they recorded they had done in thirty days. The

379
00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:39,079
second album that they had recorded, they had done in

380
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twelve weeks. They had been recording on Pyromania. At the

381
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five month mark, five months of recording, they had not

382
00:19:47,319 --> 00:19:51,319
committed one single song to table. It's incredible right, Mutt

383
00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:54,599
Lang had a definite vision about what he wanted to happen,

384
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and the mixing board became an instrument for the band.

385
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This is what Mutt Lang did for def Leppard, and

386
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he was the ultimate perfectionist, which for the band meant

387
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agonizing hell. And at some point they said to Steve Clark, hey,

388
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you need to go dry out, buddy. So Steve went away,

389
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which left only Pete Willis to do the guitar parts

390
00:20:16,599 --> 00:20:19,640
for a time. Well, Pete also was a drinker and

391
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didn't handle his liquor as well as Steve Clark did,

392
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and one day came into the studio after a night

393
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of heavy drinking and was still under the influence and

394
00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:34,359
could not could play couldn't play with a flip.

395
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Speaker 1: I've heard joyli to talk about how in the early days,

396
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Pete Willis, after getting a little bit too much of

397
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the drink, would readily go into the ring with Mike Tyson.

398
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He was that type of sort of angry drunk Steve

399
00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:48,960
Clark drink twice as much. What was half the a

400
00:20:49,079 --> 00:20:51,960
hole that Pete Willis was, apparently, And so when he

401
00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:55,400
couldn't play, and they're trying to impress this guy.

402
00:20:55,559 --> 00:20:57,599
Speaker 2: They had said, they had told him over and over

403
00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:00,720
and over, hey, you can't do this. You know, we'll

404
00:21:00,759 --> 00:21:03,480
let you drink during our stage shows, but you cannot

405
00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:06,519
come into the recording studio drunk. When he does this,

406
00:21:06,599 --> 00:21:08,680
and you got to think about how long they've been

407
00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:14,039
working their tailoff, long days killing it, frustration tears. And

408
00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:17,359
then Mutt Lang comes to Joe Elliott with this sad

409
00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:20,839
attempt at a guitar solo by Pete Willis, and he says,

410
00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:23,599
listen to this, and then he just starts laughing, laughing

411
00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:26,759
to tears. Mutt Lang is laughing to tears at this,

412
00:21:27,359 --> 00:21:31,319
and Joe Elliott isn't laughing at all. He just has

413
00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:35,000
to say, we can't do this. We can't take the

414
00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:37,000
chance that Mutt Lang is going to walk out on

415
00:21:37,079 --> 00:21:39,720
us after all of this work. We can't take the

416
00:21:39,839 --> 00:21:42,480
chance that Pete Willis is going to destroy this album

417
00:21:42,839 --> 00:21:46,440
because of his alcoholism. We have to let him go.

418
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Speaker 1: He said he didn't want Mutt Lang to think they

419
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were a bunch of losers. They only had one loser, right,

420
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So they gave him the old get out. Yeah, but

421
00:21:54,839 --> 00:21:56,759
Phil Colin they hire the same day.

422
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Speaker 2: Yeah, Joe Elliott made a call. Phil Colin had been

423
00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:02,559
he played for several bands, but at the time that

424
00:22:02,599 --> 00:22:05,319
this occurred, he was playing for a glam rock band

425
00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:10,039
called Girl and they called Phil and he came over

426
00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:12,680
and they said, hey, you know, we've already got the

427
00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:15,839
bulk of these songs done. We just need some guitar solos.

428
00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:17,880
Why don't you go listen to this one for an

429
00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:19,799
hour or two and you know, make up a guitar

430
00:22:19,839 --> 00:22:22,079
solo and let's see how it goes. And he came

431
00:22:22,079 --> 00:22:26,240
back in thirty minutes and executed a perfect guitar solo.

432
00:22:26,519 --> 00:22:28,599
And those are the words of Mutt Lang. And if

433
00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:31,240
Mutt Lang says it's a perfect guitar solo, you can

434
00:22:31,279 --> 00:22:50,799
rest assured it is a perfect guitar solo. By the

435
00:22:50,799 --> 00:22:53,000
time we get to the point that Pete Willis gets fired,

436
00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:57,680
Rick Allen hadn't been playing the drum for months because

437
00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:00,519
Mutt Lang said I don't want to use a drummer.

438
00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:04,640
I want to use a drum machine. That's insane. I mean,

439
00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:07,119
in nineteen eighty two to say I want to use

440
00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:11,240
a drum machine for a rock album was crazy. So

441
00:23:11,279 --> 00:23:14,640
they would take samples of particular drum sounds to find

442
00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:19,279
the perfect pitch. And then, of course the timing was mechanical,

443
00:23:19,319 --> 00:23:24,279
it was precise, it was uninfluenced by human error. So

444
00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:27,480
Rick Allen hasn't played in several months. They get rid

445
00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:32,160
of Pete Willis, they bring in Phil Colin. They finally say, okay, Rick,

446
00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:33,839
come back in. We're going to record some of your

447
00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:36,400
drums now. He's like okay, and so he plays for

448
00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:40,200
a few minutes. They're like, okay, hold on, okay, yeah,

449
00:23:40,279 --> 00:23:46,920
just hold on, man, okay, just listening, still listening, Yeah,

450
00:23:47,079 --> 00:23:49,799
just a minute more, Rick, hold on, And finally he

451
00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:52,279
just says, hey, guys, you know, why don't you have

452
00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:54,559
me listen to it? And maybe I can give you

453
00:23:54,599 --> 00:23:58,079
my opinion on it, and Mutt Lang says Rick, when

454
00:23:58,119 --> 00:24:00,480
I want your opinion, I'll ask for it, at which

455
00:24:00,519 --> 00:24:06,680
point Rick lost his mind and took an entire set

456
00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:11,000
of drumsticks and chunked it at the recording studio window. Yes, yeah,

457
00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:11,799
he was not happy.

458
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:13,599
Speaker 1: Rick Allen got a little bit of a temper.

459
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Speaker 2: I think he does. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I won't say

460
00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:21,039
any more about that, but I could. I mean, I

461
00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:24,640
could see myself losing it in that scenario as well. Yes,

462
00:24:24,799 --> 00:24:26,839
I haven't played for months. You bring me back in.

463
00:24:27,559 --> 00:24:30,079
Then I'm sitting here waiting on you to do something

464
00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:33,480
that I'm the expert at. And when I offer my help,

465
00:24:33,559 --> 00:24:37,119
you say, essentially, why don't you go outside and played? Hi,

466
00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:38,039
didn't go screw yourself.

467
00:24:38,799 --> 00:24:43,920
Speaker 1: I'd go screw your all right. So Pyramania is released

468
00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:47,680
January twentieth, nineteen eighty three. So the opening track of

469
00:24:47,759 --> 00:24:50,279
Pyramania is a song called Rock Rock Till.

470
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Speaker 2: You Drop.

471
00:24:52,119 --> 00:24:52,400
Speaker 3: To Me.

472
00:24:52,599 --> 00:24:56,960
Speaker 1: This is a great entry song, kickoff song, kind of

473
00:24:56,960 --> 00:24:57,920
like lay your Hands.

474
00:24:57,680 --> 00:24:59,240
Speaker 2: On Me for a bunch of his new Jersey.

475
00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:02,359
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's the song they played the beginning of the concert.

476
00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:06,480
That's like, all right, everybody, let's go high energy to front.

477
00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:09,440
Speaker 2: Well, you know, when I first started looking at these guys,

478
00:25:09,559 --> 00:25:12,160
I had heard some people say that back then, when

479
00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:14,119
they were first becoming famous, that they were just an

480
00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:17,880
ac DC knockoff band, to which I thought, these guys

481
00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:21,400
don't sound anything like ac DC to me. But that

482
00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:31,720
first song is definitely very ac DC esque in my opinion.

483
00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:35,799
Speaker 1: So it is a little screechy like ac DC. Right,

484
00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:38,559
he's really leaning on his voice right there. So it's

485
00:25:38,599 --> 00:25:44,440
a great kickoff song to the album one all right

486
00:25:44,839 --> 00:25:47,599
after Rock Rock, Hey You Drop You Get the first

487
00:25:47,640 --> 00:26:23,359
single photograph.

488
00:26:09,559 --> 00:26:15,160
Speaker 2: Picture right, that song that before listening to this album,

489
00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:18,440
like really for the first time, that I was definitely

490
00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:19,000
familiar with.

491
00:26:19,559 --> 00:26:22,640
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, this is a song kind of about Marilyn

492
00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:24,079
Monroe if you ever watched the video.

493
00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:28,359
Speaker 2: Well, let's just say that all of the songs on

494
00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:33,160
both of these albums are about sex, guns, and rock

495
00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:36,359
and roll, and the band's life is about sex, drugs,

496
00:26:36,359 --> 00:26:40,039
and rock and roll. So it's more sex, more drugs,

497
00:26:40,079 --> 00:26:40,680
more guns.

498
00:26:40,839 --> 00:26:43,880
Speaker 1: Honestly, I think that's being generous because there's a lot

499
00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:47,519
of songs that are about nothing. They're literally about nothing.

500
00:26:47,599 --> 00:26:51,039
Speaker 2: They were not looking to write deep and meaningful songs.

501
00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:53,799
What they wanted. Their goal was to write songs that

502
00:26:53,799 --> 00:26:57,119
were accessible to the general public. So they're not going

503
00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:00,079
to be quoting some j R. Or Tolkien novel and

504
00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:02,480
one of their songs like led Zeppelin. They're not going

505
00:27:02,559 --> 00:27:05,400
to be telling a story about the Bronx like Billy Joel.

506
00:27:05,799 --> 00:27:08,680
This is just what words fit with the melody that

507
00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:11,240
we have and will people be able to sing along

508
00:27:11,279 --> 00:27:11,680
with the song?

509
00:27:11,759 --> 00:27:15,519
Speaker 1: So Photograph is very radio friendly, but this is a

510
00:27:15,559 --> 00:27:18,000
song that I could listen to with my parents. That

511
00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:20,319
first little I don't know, I don't know what you

512
00:27:20,319 --> 00:27:22,759
would call what do you think about this? The you

513
00:27:22,799 --> 00:27:24,359
need to come in on this? This is their first

514
00:27:24,359 --> 00:27:26,519
little chirp at the beginning of this song.

515
00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:29,440
Speaker 2: So I can't say for sure what that is. It

516
00:27:29,559 --> 00:27:32,680
almost sounds like the guitar being plugged into the amp.

517
00:27:32,839 --> 00:27:35,839
It has that kind of click on where the electricity

518
00:27:36,039 --> 00:27:39,240
hits and it's just ging. But knowing what I know

519
00:27:39,279 --> 00:27:42,240
about this album, it probably was something that was specifically

520
00:27:42,279 --> 00:27:45,240
designed by Mutt Lage. Yeah, I think you're right about it,

521
00:27:45,279 --> 00:27:47,200
And it sounded like it may even have been a

522
00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:50,680
backwards recording. I'm not entirely sure. I'm speculating completely on that.

523
00:27:50,799 --> 00:27:53,119
Speaker 1: So this is the video. A lot of this is

524
00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:55,079
We're going to talk about the song, but the video

525
00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:56,960
is kind of wrapped up with it. This is the

526
00:27:57,039 --> 00:28:00,240
video Joe Elliott. They were still a little bit poor.

527
00:28:00,319 --> 00:28:02,960
This album hadn't broken yet. He was walking by a

528
00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:05,480
store window and he saw the Union Jack T shirt

529
00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:08,319
say it was six ninety nine, so he bought it.

530
00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:11,839
Was sleeveless ward in this video. Yeah, and that has

531
00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:15,000
become like the frankenstrat for Edy van Halen.

532
00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:19,160
Speaker 2: In America, everybody started buying the Union Jacks, sleeveless T

533
00:28:19,319 --> 00:28:22,799
shirts and homage to def Leppard. So in eighty three

534
00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:26,240
and eighty four, this was number one on the US

535
00:28:26,359 --> 00:28:30,319
Album Rock Tracks by Billboard. It was number twelve on

536
00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:33,680
the US Billboard Hot one hundred. It was number sixty

537
00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:36,799
eight on the UK Singles Chart and number thirty two

538
00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:38,480
on Canada fifty Singles.

539
00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:41,519
Speaker 1: Photograph was a huge song and still a staple when

540
00:28:41,519 --> 00:28:44,680
they play it live. Pete Willis's guitars are still on Photograph,

541
00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:47,480
although Phil Collen actually plays the guitar solo. It's kind

542
00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:50,039
of interesting this guy who was fired and the guy

543
00:28:50,039 --> 00:28:52,160
who replaced him both play on the same song.

544
00:28:52,039 --> 00:28:54,880
Speaker 2: Right, and just as a credit to the band, even

545
00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:58,599
though Pete Willis was you know, fired midway through the

546
00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:02,240
production of this album, they still listed him on the album.

547
00:29:02,319 --> 00:29:05,559
He's still got still gets royalties from the album. So

548
00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:07,079
I think that's the stand up thing to do, the

549
00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:08,079
right thing to do for him.

550
00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:17,160
Speaker 1: Yeah for sure. Okay, Before we move on from Photograph,

551
00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:19,359
I just want to say, as much as I love

552
00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:24,240
both of these albums, Photograph might be the best song

553
00:29:24,279 --> 00:29:25,039
on either album.

554
00:29:25,359 --> 00:29:28,200
Speaker 2: Hmm, Okay, I wouldn't agree with that statement. I mean,

555
00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:31,240
that's an obviously perspective statement. I like Photograph all right,

556
00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:34,480
but there are even songs on this album just from

557
00:29:34,559 --> 00:29:37,559
listening to it for this podcast that I'm gonna say

558
00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:38,920
I like better than Photograph.

559
00:29:39,079 --> 00:29:41,039
Speaker 1: Wow. Okay, cool, let's get into it.

560
00:29:41,079 --> 00:29:42,039
Speaker 2: Okay, all right.

561
00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:43,960
Speaker 1: Next track, it's called Stage Fract.

562
00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:04,519
Speaker 2: It's Fredy is good. I really enjoyed listening to that.

563
00:30:04,599 --> 00:30:06,559
It wasn't one I think I had ever heard before.

564
00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:12,680
But it's got that kind of pumping guitar, and then

565
00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:27,200
it when you go into the chorus of the song Diet,

566
00:30:27,319 --> 00:30:30,200
that the pop feeling you know that it's not certainly

567
00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:32,920
it's still rock and roll, but it is more melodic

568
00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:36,440
and less hard hitting than your typical rock and roll

569
00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:37,839
song is going to be. At the time, you.

570
00:30:37,799 --> 00:30:40,759
Speaker 1: Get a little bit of the stage live feel at

571
00:30:40,799 --> 00:30:42,920
the beginning of the show, even though it was recording studio.

572
00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:44,920
Speaker 2: You get Joe Elliot hitting those high pitches that he

573
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,759
was afraid to hit during his audition. Yes, he's letting

574
00:30:47,799 --> 00:30:48,200
them down.

575
00:30:48,279 --> 00:30:51,359
Speaker 1: He really is still a good song, not a skipper,

576
00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:54,720
but not one of the stronger tracks in him.

577
00:30:55,079 --> 00:30:58,200
Speaker 2: Somewhere in the distance the.

578
00:30:58,119 --> 00:31:02,279
Speaker 1: Bell track number four too Late for Love, Love It,

579
00:31:03,359 --> 00:31:04,480
Love It.

580
00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:07,319
Speaker 2: When I was listening to this one front to back

581
00:31:07,920 --> 00:31:10,960
when this song came on and they hit that chorus

582
00:31:11,039 --> 00:31:13,559
just a little bit into the song where they're all

583
00:31:13,759 --> 00:31:27,680
harmonizing together, as I was like, holy crap, this is

584
00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:30,119
good and this is what kind of defines def Leppard

585
00:31:30,119 --> 00:31:32,799
for me. Is this the harmonizing chorus that they do.

586
00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:41,400
It's spot on. And obviously, I, you know, realized later

587
00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:44,799
on this because Lang has built it brick by brick,

588
00:31:44,839 --> 00:31:47,240
and I'm sure he'd had each guy singing about one

589
00:31:47,279 --> 00:31:50,079
hundred thousand times before he found the perfect one, and

590
00:31:50,119 --> 00:31:54,039
then he stacked all those perfects together and it's it's breathtaking.

591
00:31:54,079 --> 00:31:56,559
Speaker 1: This really is a great song. Yeah, it's a great song.

592
00:31:56,640 --> 00:31:57,240
It's so good.

593
00:31:57,440 --> 00:31:57,599
Speaker 2: Yes.

594
00:31:57,839 --> 00:32:01,119
Speaker 1: This was their fourth release. This was their single, Yeah,

595
00:32:01,279 --> 00:32:04,240
made it up to number nine on the mainstream rock charts.

596
00:32:04,279 --> 00:32:08,119
Speaker 2: I can say that this one and Rock of Ages

597
00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:10,640
are neck and neck for me for being best song

598
00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:11,160
on the album.

599
00:32:11,279 --> 00:32:12,920
Speaker 1: It's hard to argue with this song. I mean, it's

600
00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:15,920
so it's so good. I would say that it builds

601
00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:19,000
in strength all the way through the guitar solo.

602
00:32:19,519 --> 00:32:25,039
Speaker 2: Okay, so that introduction with the wind creates this atmosphere

603
00:32:25,079 --> 00:32:28,359
and then you have this fantastic combination of just a

604
00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:32,559
guitar and Joe Elliott singing, and it's so good and

605
00:32:32,599 --> 00:32:37,400
it brings you in just before that awesome chorus. I

606
00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:40,559
can remember listening to various songs as I grew up

607
00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:44,680
where they had little whispers that happened behind the scenes.

608
00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:46,519
You know that when you're listening in the rate on

609
00:32:46,559 --> 00:32:49,200
the radio. You don't hear it, but you got headphones

610
00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:52,759
locked in, and there there's this little part. I think

611
00:32:52,799 --> 00:32:55,680
it's in Babe, I'm Gonna leave you, but there's this little.

612
00:32:56,119 --> 00:32:58,839
Speaker 1: Whisper of the lyric right before the lyric.

613
00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:00,960
Speaker 2: And every time I heard it, I'd be like, what

614
00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:05,680
the crowd was that? Yeah, oh gosh, that's on my headphones. Okay,

615
00:33:06,279 --> 00:33:08,680
but you were saying that you listen to this.

616
00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:12,079
Speaker 1: There's a I mean, you have to listen so carefully.

617
00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:14,440
But anytime I'm listening to this, especially when I've got

618
00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:18,119
turned up in my car, there's a little bitty baby

619
00:33:19,279 --> 00:33:23,599
that that happens right before the second chorus, and it said,

620
00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:25,079
I keep there are lots of times I'll be in

621
00:33:25,079 --> 00:33:28,839
the car. I'm like, do my phone just ring this video?

622
00:33:29,319 --> 00:33:32,279
I read that Joe Elliott they filmed this after hanging

623
00:33:32,279 --> 00:33:35,119
out with meat Loaf and Elton John having champagne. Nice

624
00:33:35,279 --> 00:33:36,519
kind of the benefits of being a rockster.

625
00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:39,279
Speaker 2: I think I recorded a video after having champagne with

626
00:33:39,319 --> 00:33:42,119
Meatloaf and Elton John wants so nice.

627
00:33:42,279 --> 00:33:44,440
Speaker 1: Well, we both love two Lefelow definitely one of the

628
00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:49,599
strongest tracks now for sure. All Right, So the next

629
00:33:49,599 --> 00:33:51,680
one after that, Diehard the Hunter.

630
00:33:54,440 --> 00:33:57,519
Speaker 2: So Diehard the Hunter is very Pink Floyd to me

631
00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:00,119
when I hear it. You know, the You've got and

632
00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:03,839
it's very pre one by Metallica. Yeah, you know, because

633
00:34:03,839 --> 00:34:06,279
you've got the helicopter sounds and the sounds of war

634
00:34:06,359 --> 00:34:09,679
going on, you know on the wall. You've got helicopter

635
00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:13,320
in that one as well. And but even the guitar

636
00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:16,760
as it comes in, you've got an acoustic I believe,

637
00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:19,039
I'm not sure. I believe it's a twelve string guitar

638
00:34:19,119 --> 00:34:23,679
playing and the melody that's played is very reminiscent of

639
00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:26,599
Pink Floyd. And you've get the gun shots. You've got

640
00:34:26,639 --> 00:34:28,480
this idea of war, and then you hear these kind

641
00:34:28,519 --> 00:34:30,639
of like laser shots which are like, well is this

642
00:34:31,079 --> 00:34:34,039
helicopter or spaceship? What am I hearing here? But it's

643
00:34:34,559 --> 00:34:36,280
another solid track.

644
00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:40,440
Speaker 1: Very very good. In fact, what you're describing, the exact

645
00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:44,639
thing that you're describing could describe God's of War on hysteria.

646
00:34:44,679 --> 00:34:47,599
You have sound effects. Now, Gods of War took it

647
00:34:47,639 --> 00:34:49,679
to the next level where you got Ronald Reagan talking

648
00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:51,599
to Margaret Thatcher and some other stuff. We'll talk about

649
00:34:51,639 --> 00:34:54,920
that one here in a little bit, but it's very similar.

650
00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:56,840
Speaker 2: Right, I can say for sure, And I've even heard

651
00:34:56,840 --> 00:34:59,400
the band members say it. We're picking things that we

652
00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:01,800
like from other bands and we're taking those and making

653
00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:02,320
them our own.

654
00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:03,079
Speaker 1: Oh for sure.

655
00:35:03,119 --> 00:35:05,159
Speaker 2: I mean if Eddie van Halen can do it. Anybody

656
00:35:05,199 --> 00:35:07,280
can do it right. But I think that they've definitely

657
00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:10,159
taken some stuff. Pink Floyd, for example, made it their own,

658
00:35:10,199 --> 00:35:12,960
and I think that possibly Metallica took some of this

659
00:35:13,039 --> 00:35:14,599
one and made it some of their own well.

660
00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:18,400
Speaker 1: As we have discussed and we'll discuss further, the album

661
00:35:18,480 --> 00:35:22,360
Pyromania set in motion pop metal for the rest of

662
00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:24,800
the eighties into the nineties. I would argue that this

663
00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:28,159
is one of the most influential This gave us hair metal.

664
00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:33,320
Speaker 2: It really did. Yeah, it really brought a different type

665
00:35:33,519 --> 00:35:36,079
of rock in and you know, we talked about the

666
00:35:36,119 --> 00:35:40,079
fact that rock was disappearing, it was dying. So luckily

667
00:35:40,199 --> 00:35:43,880
we have in America, we have Van Halen, in Britain,

668
00:35:44,079 --> 00:35:47,199
we have def Leppard, who's coming to America where we

669
00:35:47,239 --> 00:35:51,719
also have MTV. It's perfect little pieces coming together. And

670
00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:55,159
to throw back to our original episode again, you have

671
00:35:55,280 --> 00:35:59,599
record producers that are an integral part of the sound

672
00:35:59,679 --> 00:36:02,000
of the band. You know, we talked about thriller than

673
00:36:02,079 --> 00:36:04,960
looking for the sonic sound. There's no question that mut

674
00:36:05,079 --> 00:36:07,840
Lang was trying to do the same thing for rock

675
00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:10,400
music and what a perfect time to do it when

676
00:36:10,519 --> 00:36:14,119
MTV is like, we want rock. We're tied at disco.

677
00:36:14,559 --> 00:36:16,920
We don't want to hear punk. We want some rock

678
00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:19,920
music and we want some cute boys and videos to

679
00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:22,039
go along with it. Enter def Leppard.

680
00:36:22,239 --> 00:36:25,079
Speaker 1: You just say cute boys and cute boys and videos.

681
00:36:26,800 --> 00:36:31,719
Speaker 2: All right, everybody listen, I've got five kids. I am

682
00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:35,920
secure and saying. There was a draw that this band

683
00:36:36,039 --> 00:36:40,039
had that not many other bands that were playing hard

684
00:36:40,119 --> 00:36:45,480
rock music had, and that's that's documentable. Sixty percent of

685
00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:49,599
the audience in any given def Leppard concert is going

686
00:36:49,679 --> 00:36:53,519
to be women, and frequently hot women.

687
00:36:53,679 --> 00:36:56,039
Speaker 1: That's right, and that was something new for rock music.

688
00:36:56,119 --> 00:36:57,079
While we're talking.

689
00:36:56,800 --> 00:36:58,920
Speaker 2: About it as far as hard rock goes, Yeah, the

690
00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:01,800
predominant audience for hard rock at that time is going

691
00:37:01,880 --> 00:37:05,000
to be pimply faced guys with dark hair and torn

692
00:37:05,079 --> 00:37:08,840
up shirts. Right entered def Leopard, and suddenly the girls

693
00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:11,039
are like, Oh, I think I like hard rock too.

694
00:37:11,159 --> 00:37:12,880
Speaker 1: It was such a great time for rock and roll,

695
00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:13,880
It really.

696
00:37:13,719 --> 00:37:15,599
Speaker 2: Was, yeah, especially for those guys.

697
00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:20,199
Speaker 1: All right, everybody, hit stop on your tape player, kick

698
00:37:20,239 --> 00:37:22,880
it out, flip it over side to.

699
00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:26,280
Speaker 2: Side too, or flip over the LP if you will.

700
00:37:26,360 --> 00:37:29,480
Speaker 1: That's flip the LP there. All right. So now we're

701
00:37:29,519 --> 00:37:33,719
on to the third single released, which is called Foolin'

702
00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:44,639
Love It. Let's listen to it, the stuttering song. Yeah,

703
00:37:44,679 --> 00:37:47,719
the Foolin' is a hook.

704
00:37:47,920 --> 00:37:52,079
Speaker 2: Okay, So this is, as Jason would describe it, a

705
00:37:52,480 --> 00:37:58,320
summer drive in, top down, windows down radio turned up.

706
00:37:58,840 --> 00:38:01,079
This song comes on the radio. You are cranking this

707
00:38:01,159 --> 00:38:03,800
thing up and letting the wind blow in your hair. Absolutely,

708
00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:10,119
and you're singing along. Then, So as cool as this

709
00:38:10,239 --> 00:38:13,719
song is, and I mean you, this is such as

710
00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:16,199
you would describe it, a radio friendly song. This is

711
00:38:16,199 --> 00:38:19,039
a song that you're gonna latch onto. It doesn't matter

712
00:38:19,079 --> 00:38:22,239
whether you're into rock and roll or disco or punk.

713
00:38:22,559 --> 00:38:24,960
You hear this and you're like, this is a good

714
00:38:25,079 --> 00:38:29,400
freaking song. And then the mid the video and I

715
00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:33,159
don't know, this is like the perfect example of the

716
00:38:33,239 --> 00:38:36,719
nonsense videos that we would see on MTV from time

717
00:38:36,760 --> 00:38:40,920
to time. Somebody somewhere, at some point said, why don't

718
00:38:40,920 --> 00:38:45,280
we start the video with a girl in a mask

719
00:38:45,760 --> 00:38:48,320
playing the harp? Who's on fire?

720
00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:51,920
Speaker 1: What a great idea? What I love it? I love it.

721
00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:57,280
Tell me, let's chain Joe Elliott down like he's Frankenstein

722
00:38:58,119 --> 00:39:00,199
and we'll angle him backwards so we're gett and a

723
00:39:00,239 --> 00:39:02,639
full view of his crotch as the camera comes in

724
00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:04,199
and his massive white pants.

725
00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:06,519
Speaker 2: Yeah, his pants that are way too high. He's got

726
00:39:06,519 --> 00:39:07,199
mom jeans on it.

727
00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:11,000
Speaker 1: And then just in the middle, we're going to have

728
00:39:11,079 --> 00:39:14,719
this really creepy lady look at the moon as if

729
00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:18,519
it is a crystal ball. That sounds fantastic. We are

730
00:39:18,519 --> 00:39:20,320
willing to spend our money on that video.

731
00:39:20,679 --> 00:39:21,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure.

732
00:39:22,159 --> 00:39:24,880
Speaker 1: The videos at this time were a little bit strange.

733
00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:27,280
I mean, even photograph. You have all those girls that

734
00:39:27,280 --> 00:39:29,480
are in the cages, you know, and oh my gosh,

735
00:39:29,559 --> 00:39:32,679
Joe does that giant split jump and right into the camera.

736
00:39:33,360 --> 00:39:34,960
But it was cool at the time and we ate

737
00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:39,840
it up and I don't know. Fulan reached number nine

738
00:39:39,880 --> 00:39:42,159
on the mainstream Rock chart and number twenty eight on

739
00:39:42,199 --> 00:39:44,639
the Hot one, so it was a it was a

740
00:39:44,679 --> 00:39:45,280
big hit for him.

741
00:39:45,360 --> 00:39:46,719
Speaker 2: Yeah, and rightly so.

742
00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:52,440
Speaker 1: Next is under laughing Glow.

743
00:39:56,480 --> 00:40:03,239
Speaker 2: Oh Rock of Ages. Yeah, brilliant, brilliant photograph and Rock

744
00:40:03,280 --> 00:40:07,519
of Ages brought this album into the public eye for sure.

745
00:40:07,920 --> 00:40:10,039
And just to you know a little history of this song,

746
00:40:10,119 --> 00:40:12,360
you know, we talked about they had no songs written

747
00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:15,679
when they started recording Pyromania, and they had this one

748
00:40:16,280 --> 00:40:18,800
they had all melodied out, but still didn't have the

749
00:40:18,880 --> 00:40:21,519
chorus to it. They were just like da da D

750
00:40:22,159 --> 00:40:22,679
I mean, that was it.

751
00:40:22,840 --> 00:40:23,360
Speaker 3: They just had.

752
00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:25,880
Speaker 2: They were just scatting whatever they did. Mean, they're in

753
00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:29,400
Mutlang's recording studio one day. They come in the day

754
00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:32,480
before another band has been in there, and maybe they

755
00:40:32,519 --> 00:40:35,199
were recording some hymns, because there happens to be a

756
00:40:35,320 --> 00:40:40,280
hymnal and it's propped open to the song Rock of Ages,

757
00:40:40,639 --> 00:40:42,960
the hymn Rock of Ages, the Rock of Ages, the

758
00:40:43,039 --> 00:40:46,400
one you sing in church. Yes, And so Joe Elliott

759
00:40:46,519 --> 00:40:50,559
sees this book lying there and just sings it.

760
00:40:50,719 --> 00:41:21,079
Speaker 1: And Lange says, that's it, that's it, that's what we've

761
00:41:21,119 --> 00:41:21,519
been looking for.

762
00:41:21,760 --> 00:41:24,159
Speaker 2: My golly, that was right. I mean, what a perfect chorus.

763
00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:26,880
Speaker 1: Oh, it's so good. I don't know if you know

764
00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:29,039
this or not. I mean, we can talk about this later.

765
00:41:29,119 --> 00:41:31,920
But it is better to burn out than fade away.

766
00:41:32,039 --> 00:41:35,159
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, how many people have said that really Highlander?

767
00:41:35,320 --> 00:41:38,079
Speaker 1: Right that scene in Highlander and he's like, raw, better

768
00:41:38,159 --> 00:41:39,679
to burnout than to fade away?

769
00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:42,039
Speaker 2: Right now, I'm pretty sure that he got it from

770
00:41:42,639 --> 00:41:46,039
Neil Young as opposed to def Leppard, but you know whatever,

771
00:41:46,559 --> 00:41:49,079
and Pearl Jam does it too. You know, hey, it's

772
00:41:49,239 --> 00:41:50,159
it is timeless.

773
00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:55,280
Speaker 1: Okay. So Rock of Ages did really well. It reached

774
00:41:55,360 --> 00:41:58,480
number sixteen on the Hot one hundred and number one

775
00:41:58,719 --> 00:42:15,280
on the Top Rocks. Okay.

776
00:42:15,480 --> 00:42:19,159
Speaker 2: So Phil Collen is a phenomenal guitar player, There's just

777
00:42:19,280 --> 00:42:23,199
no question about. He is technically proficient, really good. But

778
00:42:23,519 --> 00:42:27,719
def Leppard doesn't have a lot of those timeless guitar solos.

779
00:42:28,599 --> 00:42:31,920
It really doesn't have any except for this song. Rock

780
00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:34,400
of Ages has a really great and it's not long,

781
00:42:34,679 --> 00:42:37,800
but it's very memorable little guitar solo by Phil Collin

782
00:42:37,840 --> 00:42:42,360
in there. But he's brilliant. He does what needs to

783
00:42:42,440 --> 00:42:45,159
be done. I mean, all of the rock music that

784
00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:47,320
was coming out had these big solos in it, and

785
00:42:47,360 --> 00:42:51,239
everybody was trying to be Eddie van Halen or trying

786
00:42:51,280 --> 00:42:53,639
to recreate the Leonard Skinner and Field. But this is

787
00:42:53,719 --> 00:42:55,320
the one song that you can go, oh yeah, I

788
00:42:55,400 --> 00:42:58,320
know that, I know that guitar solo. That's a def

789
00:42:58,440 --> 00:42:59,280
Leppard guitar solo.

790
00:42:59,519 --> 00:43:00,840
Speaker 1: One of the things we need to talk about We

791
00:43:01,079 --> 00:43:05,639
really haven't covered this, the very very famous intro the

792
00:43:05,960 --> 00:43:09,239
Unta Gleban Globin glowmen. Right, what does that mean?

793
00:43:09,639 --> 00:43:11,599
Speaker 2: Yeah, it doesn't mean anything.

794
00:43:11,719 --> 00:43:14,920
Speaker 1: It doesn't mean anything, right, And so in the studio

795
00:43:15,199 --> 00:43:17,280
there would you know, Mutt Lane would just beat him

796
00:43:17,280 --> 00:43:18,760
to death, and there's this grind.

797
00:43:19,239 --> 00:43:22,719
Speaker 2: But occasionally he would do some levity. Yes, he'd break

798
00:43:22,800 --> 00:43:24,800
it up and be funny from time to time.

799
00:43:25,079 --> 00:43:27,679
Speaker 1: That's how he would sort of crack him up. Before

800
00:43:27,800 --> 00:43:28,599
the song started.

801
00:43:28,719 --> 00:43:33,519
Speaker 2: Instead of saying one, two, three, four, he said, unto

802
00:43:33,760 --> 00:43:34,639
leader glob and.

803
00:43:34,679 --> 00:43:37,360
Speaker 1: Globin and the rest is the rest is history. I

804
00:43:37,400 --> 00:43:39,480
mean it's rock music lore, you know.

805
00:43:39,679 --> 00:43:42,519
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, So we can't let this one go without

806
00:43:42,599 --> 00:43:46,400
talking about the video once again, Oh early eighties videos.

807
00:43:47,079 --> 00:43:51,599
Before he even starts singing, you've got monks, you've got

808
00:43:51,679 --> 00:43:55,000
an owl, you've got a woman playing chess with a wizard.

809
00:43:55,480 --> 00:43:58,239
You have a tree on fire, and you have Phil

810
00:43:58,360 --> 00:44:04,960
Cullens butt. And let's not forget the smashing goblet and

811
00:44:05,119 --> 00:44:08,599
the giant lightsaber that somehow turns into an electric guitar.

812
00:44:09,760 --> 00:44:12,840
Speaker 1: Joe Elliott is swinging a nine foot lightsaber.

813
00:44:13,000 --> 00:44:15,679
Speaker 2: I wonder if there's some sort of analogy that they're

814
00:44:15,719 --> 00:44:17,719
trying to do euphemism, maybe.

815
00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:23,440
Speaker 1: Very phallic sword in this Oh. I love this song

816
00:44:23,880 --> 00:44:26,119
from the minute I heard it for the first time

817
00:44:26,239 --> 00:44:30,000
off Pyromania. I love the burning sound effects and the

818
00:44:30,800 --> 00:44:32,639
idea of setting fire to stuff.

819
00:44:32,880 --> 00:44:33,679
Speaker 2: That was really cool.

820
00:44:41,679 --> 00:44:42,920
Speaker 1: All Right, we're done with Rock of Pages.

821
00:44:42,920 --> 00:44:44,599
Speaker 2: I think we're done with Rock of Ages. That leaves

822
00:44:44,760 --> 00:44:47,800
just a couple of songs left on the album. And

823
00:44:48,840 --> 00:44:49,719
they're not bad songs.

824
00:44:49,840 --> 00:44:51,960
Speaker 1: No, I think they're all good. I think Coming under

825
00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:54,639
Fire is the next one. It gets radio play now.

826
00:44:54,679 --> 00:44:56,519
I wasn't released as a single, but I've heard it

827
00:44:56,719 --> 00:44:57,679
on radio a lot.

828
00:44:58,000 --> 00:45:20,079
Speaker 2: The chorus is really good. Yeah, and that's a good song. Solid,

829
00:45:20,119 --> 00:45:22,320
it's absolutely solid. Just not one of their biggest hits.

830
00:45:22,480 --> 00:45:25,440
Speaker 1: Okay, so Coming under Fire not a big hit, but

831
00:45:26,119 --> 00:45:37,000
a good song. Next one, next to last track is

832
00:45:37,119 --> 00:45:38,000
Action not work.

833
00:45:38,039 --> 00:45:39,199
Speaker 2: I wonder what that song's about.

834
00:45:40,760 --> 00:45:43,760
Speaker 1: If you listen to the word, that's about making a movie.

835
00:45:43,840 --> 00:45:47,559
Speaker 2: Right, except it's the what kind of movie are we

836
00:45:47,639 --> 00:45:51,519
talking about here? Action? Yeah? And actually need any dialogue.

837
00:45:53,519 --> 00:45:55,320
Speaker 1: You be the hero, I'll be the star.

838
00:46:02,599 --> 00:46:02,920
Speaker 2: Again.

839
00:46:03,000 --> 00:46:06,400
Speaker 1: I go back to all of this is sex, guns

840
00:46:06,599 --> 00:46:08,400
and rock and roll. Baby, let me tell you a

841
00:46:08,480 --> 00:46:10,920
quick story about this song. Actually not worse. Okay, I'm

842
00:46:10,960 --> 00:46:12,880
gonna give a quick shout out to my good buddy

843
00:46:12,920 --> 00:46:16,800
Scott Foster. Okay, hey Scott, he stayed up late with me.

844
00:46:17,000 --> 00:46:19,360
I had a project in college where we had to

845
00:46:19,440 --> 00:46:22,880
make a short film about anything we wanted. It was

846
00:46:23,039 --> 00:46:25,159
basically a get to know your camera, get to know

847
00:46:25,239 --> 00:46:29,360
the editing equipment. And so I went around town filming

848
00:46:30,119 --> 00:46:34,800
my girlfriend, my friends, the football stadium, ducks, what cars,

849
00:46:34,840 --> 00:46:37,880
whatever I could find, and I pieced it together to

850
00:46:38,039 --> 00:46:41,119
this song. Yes, and basically the song, you know, it's

851
00:46:41,119 --> 00:46:43,159
about making a movie. So I made a movie to

852
00:46:43,239 --> 00:46:46,199
a song about making a movie, and we stayed up

853
00:46:46,199 --> 00:46:48,559
all night, and I think it's it turned out. Okay,

854
00:46:48,599 --> 00:46:49,559
I got an a on the project.

855
00:46:50,639 --> 00:46:54,719
Speaker 2: That's all right, that's awesome, that's good. Yeah. The euphemism

856
00:46:54,960 --> 00:47:00,079
here is about as subtle as Pearl Necklace by Zazy Time.

857
00:47:02,639 --> 00:47:06,920
Speaker 1: In Black and Blue by Dan Haley. Yeah yeah, okay,

858
00:47:07,119 --> 00:47:09,480
Well I like the song. I listened to it when

859
00:47:09,519 --> 00:47:10,480
it comes on, I turn.

860
00:47:10,360 --> 00:47:13,480
Speaker 2: It up right, and then we round out finish up

861
00:47:13,519 --> 00:47:26,920
the album with Billy's Got a Gun Again. It's a

862
00:47:27,000 --> 00:47:31,000
solid song. It's not a guy coming Home from War

863
00:47:31,360 --> 00:47:33,880
Guns again, it's a bit long for my taste. This

864
00:47:34,039 --> 00:47:35,920
was nearly six minutes long, and I think they could

865
00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:38,760
probably tidy that up a bit. But that's probably my

866
00:47:39,079 --> 00:47:41,320
my sole criticism of the songs on this album.

867
00:47:50,440 --> 00:47:54,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's on the lower end of the album.

868
00:47:54,079 --> 00:47:57,159
I think, yeah, it's good, it's solid, but it's not

869
00:47:57,280 --> 00:47:59,039
a not one I'm gonna crank up or anything.

870
00:47:59,599 --> 00:48:02,960
Speaker 2: Right, So, after months and months of recording, they finally

871
00:48:03,119 --> 00:48:06,840
piece it all together brick by brick under Mutt Lang's

872
00:48:07,400 --> 00:48:12,159
onnorous tutelage, and what comes out is a fantastic album,

873
00:48:12,719 --> 00:48:16,239
and it proceeds to do exceptionally well.

874
00:48:18,800 --> 00:48:21,599
Speaker 1: Six million copies in the US and sold one hundred

875
00:48:22,000 --> 00:48:26,519
thousand copies every week from its release through nineteen eighty three.

876
00:48:26,679 --> 00:48:30,960
Speaker 2: So this album as a whole is so good. It

877
00:48:31,480 --> 00:48:34,960
was only topped by Thriller, the best selling album of

878
00:48:35,079 --> 00:48:39,280
all time. This pyromane album spent six months in the

879
00:48:39,440 --> 00:48:43,920
number two position while Thriller retained its title. It's truly,

880
00:48:44,039 --> 00:48:45,119
it's an amazing thing.

881
00:48:46,000 --> 00:48:48,239
Speaker 1: Number two when Thriller is dominating the charts is no

882
00:48:48,440 --> 00:48:49,000
laughing matter.

883
00:48:49,280 --> 00:48:51,760
Speaker 2: No, I mean, just short of Thriller, this is the

884
00:48:52,480 --> 00:48:55,000
This is the number one album of the early to

885
00:48:55,079 --> 00:48:55,599
mid eighties.

886
00:48:55,920 --> 00:48:59,480
Speaker 1: This album ramps up pop metal for the rest of

887
00:48:59,519 --> 00:48:59,960
the decade.

888
00:49:00,039 --> 00:49:03,000
Speaker 2: I mean, you talk about a band that defines the

889
00:49:03,159 --> 00:49:05,079
sound of rock music in the eighties.

890
00:49:05,199 --> 00:49:05,360
Speaker 1: Right.

891
00:49:05,840 --> 00:49:08,440
Speaker 2: We've talked about Van Halen and how influential they were.

892
00:49:09,079 --> 00:49:11,599
This band is in that same category. They are as

893
00:49:11,760 --> 00:49:14,480
much an influence on all of the other bands. And

894
00:49:14,599 --> 00:49:17,079
when I say influence, I mean other bands are coming

895
00:49:17,079 --> 00:49:20,599
along and stealing their stuff. You listen to Rat and

896
00:49:20,719 --> 00:49:23,320
you go, oh, hey, there's an American version of def Leppard,

897
00:49:23,599 --> 00:49:26,039
except they only have one good song instead of a

898
00:49:26,119 --> 00:49:27,960
whole album work, right.

899
00:49:28,840 --> 00:49:32,599
Speaker 1: Hey listen. I don't really know, but nineteen eighty four

900
00:49:32,880 --> 00:49:36,760
came out after Pyromania. Yeah, I mean maybe Eddie saw

901
00:49:36,960 --> 00:49:38,960
their success and thought, hey, I could do that.

902
00:49:39,360 --> 00:49:41,519
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, I mean we know that that album was

903
00:49:41,880 --> 00:49:46,280
more produced I mean rock albums until this album came out,

904
00:49:46,440 --> 00:49:50,920
where bands getting together and playing some songs and just

905
00:49:51,000 --> 00:49:54,760
another side note. While they're recording this album, and Joe

906
00:49:54,840 --> 00:49:59,400
Elliott broke down several times, lost his voice severely for

907
00:49:59,519 --> 00:50:03,159
a time. This one which would in tears say to

908
00:50:03,280 --> 00:50:06,119
Mutt Lang, I can't do it. Again. He goes, it's

909
00:50:06,159 --> 00:50:07,800
not good enough yet, you have to do it again,

910
00:50:07,840 --> 00:50:10,719
he said, I can't do it any better. He says,

911
00:50:11,199 --> 00:50:15,920
you have to. So Joe Elliott leaves the studio, walks

912
00:50:16,000 --> 00:50:18,719
to the next door studio where who happens to be

913
00:50:18,800 --> 00:50:25,119
recording right, and David Coverdale, who has perfect pitch, comes

914
00:50:25,159 --> 00:50:32,480
in records a song in one take, four minutes. Poor

915
00:50:32,639 --> 00:50:35,880
Joe Elliott has been reduced to tears because he's been

916
00:50:36,000 --> 00:50:38,440
spending months trying to get the perfect sound for this

917
00:50:38,960 --> 00:50:44,480
task master. And David Coverdale comes in and probably smoked

918
00:50:44,480 --> 00:50:48,280
a cigarette before it started singing It's all worth it, Joe,

919
00:50:48,480 --> 00:50:49,760
wasn't it? It was all worth it?

920
00:50:50,760 --> 00:50:53,719
Speaker 1: And I do think that, I mean, David Coverdale has

921
00:50:53,760 --> 00:50:56,960
a better, stronger rock voice, but I think mut Lange

922
00:50:56,960 --> 00:50:57,800
gets the most out.

923
00:50:57,719 --> 00:50:59,679
Speaker 2: Of Joel It. Oh absolutely yeah.

924
00:51:00,199 --> 00:51:02,360
Speaker 1: And I could listen to Joe scene all day long. Yeah,

925
00:51:02,719 --> 00:51:05,679
all right, So that takes care of pyrameding right.

926
00:51:05,840 --> 00:51:09,079
Speaker 2: The album becomes a huge success. They ultimately sell ten

927
00:51:09,320 --> 00:51:13,159
million copies of the album. They're writing high, they're doing well,

928
00:51:13,840 --> 00:51:16,519
and their videos are doing well. They're getting lots of

929
00:51:16,559 --> 00:51:20,679
play on MTV, and they say, okay, let's now get together,

930
00:51:20,719 --> 00:51:22,599
we're going to make another album, and of course they

931
00:51:22,679 --> 00:51:24,320
enlist Mutt Lang to help them out again.

932
00:51:24,559 --> 00:51:26,559
Speaker 1: All right, So this is where it gets really interesting.

933
00:51:26,800 --> 00:51:29,840
So the band is at the peak of a success,

934
00:51:30,079 --> 00:51:33,320
it says, we got to do another album, and then

935
00:51:34,000 --> 00:51:35,079
Mutt Lang can't do it.

936
00:51:35,079 --> 00:51:39,719
Speaker 2: Anymore, and then some real tragedy, some real tragedy. Yeah,

937
00:51:39,880 --> 00:51:43,000
it's really questionable how this album truly got made. But

938
00:51:43,400 --> 00:51:45,000
you're gonna have to wait to find out about those

939
00:51:45,039 --> 00:51:48,679
stories on our next episode where we'll talk about Hysteria.

940
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Speaker 1: True Hysteria.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, true Hysteria. That's that's solid. It's interesting that both

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of these, both of these albums have a psychological component

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to the title because having to go with this band

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went through, I could I could see being a little

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bit off.

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Speaker 1: I can't wait to get into the next when we

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talk about Hysteria, one of the defining albums in the

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nineteen eighties. Yeah, it's gonna be incredible. Hope you come

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back and join us next week.

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Speaker 2: Come back and join us next week. As it's not

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a choice. You are hereby ordered by us to come

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back and listen in as we talk about Hysteria and

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then give you our final judgment on which of these

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two albums is the best def Leppard album. All music,

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images and movie clips are used