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June 5, 2009
Def Leppard Interviews: Joe Elliot And Phil Collen
When it comes to album sales, British rockers Def Leppard are in good company. Very good company. They are, in fact, one of just five groups to have recorded two albums that have earned the RIAA’s Diamond status. Yeah, that’s one level above Multi-Platinum. Who are the other four groups that share this distinction? That would be The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Van Halen.
With the U.S. leg of their tour with Poison and Cheap Trick a little over two weeks away, four Country Music Television award nominations (who would have thought?) and the re-release of two of their best-selling albums just days away, there’s plenty for the boys from Yorkshire to talk about these days.
Frontman Joe Elliott recently had a talk with In The News and shared his thoughts about the band’s success and some of the challenges they have faced over a career that has spanned three decades.
Elliott credits the groups success in North America – something that was more elusive in their native U.K. – to the birth of MTV. “In America, it had gone wall-to-wall MTV, everywhere from LA to New York, Toronto to Miami, everyone was watching it, because they’d never seen anything like it before,” he says.
That led to the exposure the group needed, which resulted in a deluge of requests for radio stations to play the group’s music that their new fans had discovered on MTV. It wasn’t long before Def Leppard was headlining tours, playing packed venues with 50,000-plus fans and breaking Led Zeppelin ticket sales records in some U.S. cities.
It’s hard to talk about Def Leppard without mentioning drummer Rick Allen, whose tragic car accident resulted in the loss of his left arm in 1984, a circumstance that, according to Elliott, actually made Allen a better drummer.
“He plays more to the song than the ego. If a drummer can do a complicated fill he will. But if he can’t, you can prove to yourself you don’t need it,” Elliot reports. Something that actually makes a lot of sense if you think about it. As an amateur drummer who has the odd distinction of being someone who was never into drum solos, I know exactly what Elliott is talking about.
When asked about whether going on the road again for a 40-city tour will be grueling or great, Elliott responds enthusiastically, saying the group can do “do 40 dates for breakfast!” A confident claim that should make for high expectations among fans who plan to be in the audience.
Guitarist Phil Collen also set aside a little time to talk to Independent News & Media about what he’s been up to and how he managed to survive the decadence of the band’s early years.
Now a vegan, Collen says “I’ve felt weird about eating meat since I was a kid,” and proudly reports that he’s the “picture of health at 51.” Although he acknowledges that there was a time in his life when his health was not a top priority.
Asked about his former reputation as a boozer, Collen admits that his drinking eventually resulted in blackouts. Realizing that he didn’t like being out of control he decided to sober up.
Collen also talks a bit about the group’s disappointment with their record label, and how they do not get the kind of support from them that they think they should be getting. “…you pay a publishing company to protect you — and then everybody’s downloading your stuff and they don’t do anything about it,” he says.
Def Leppard’s summer tour with Poison and Cheap Trick gets underway on June 23rd in Camden, New Jersey.
For the full Joe Elliott interview, check out In The News, and for the Phil Collen Interview see Independent.ie.
January 14, 2009
Def Leppard And Poison To Team Up For Summer Tour
It may seem a bit odd that two classic groups that were engaged in a verbal feud not long ago would decide to join forces for a tour this coming summer, but that’s the way things are looking as Poison’s Bret Michaels recently revealed while talking with CNN.
It was just last summer when some comments made by Joe Elliott during a press conference sparked a public spat between Elliott and some members of Poison. Elliott’s comments indicated that bands like Poison and Motley Crue used their image to cover up the substance that was missing from their music. Bret Michaels himself responded by calling Def Leppard out for appearing on the popular TV dance show Dancing With The Stars and lip-synching their performance.
Elliot appeared to offer an olive branch a bit later on when he explained via the band’s web site that he had nothing personal against Poison and was making reference to groups who use stage names and other Hollywood-style practices that made them appear less genuine.
It now appears certain that the rift between Elliott and Poison is something they have put behind them, and the news that they plan to tour together may come as a surprise to many fans after last summer’s incident. In fact, listening to Michaels, one might get the impression that Def Leppard and Poison are now best buddies.
Some of Michael’s recent comments included statements such as: “I’m very passionate about the music I make — and when you can be out on the road with people you like — I’ve been able to go out with Aerosmith, KISS, Skynyrd — and to be out with Def Leppard and Poison this summer, I think that it’s gonna be the tour of the summer.”
Michaels talks about the Def Leppard-Poison tour around the 9 minute and 40 second mark in the video below.
October 16, 2008
Classic Rock Briefs For Thursday, October 16, 2008
Recording Engineer Jay Messina Talks About The Early Days of Working With Aerosmith
This is the kind of stuff that might be more interesting to audio geeks than to the typical Aerosmith fan, but who knows? Some fans may find this kind of history interesting. It gets rather technical, something that’s sure to please the hard-core audio crowd, and perhaps the nostalgia may even bring a tear or two to their eye. Full Story.
Meat Loaf Back on Track For Florida Performances
After exhibiting some rather strange behavior at an awards ceremony in the U.K. recently, it appears that “The Meat” is back in shape after a short stay in the hospital. Vertigo and a some medication he was taking for a torn retina are being blamed for his recent bout with odd behavior and an apparent lack to navigate at the London event. Full Story.
Def Leppard’s Joe Elliot Angers Some Hockey Fans By Violating Stanley Cup Etiquette
I’m not sure there actually is any official etiquette having to do with the National Hockey League’s beloved Stanley Cup, but if there is, I’m guessing Joe Elliott violated it the other night.
Def Leppard was performing just prior to the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs game in Detroit. This all has to do with some deal that was cooked up to involve the NHL and the British rockers called “Face-Off Rocks,” and at some point Elliott picked up the Stanley Cup trophy and then set it back down. Upside-down.
Many hockey fans are a bit ticked off over this, and knowing how seriously they take their hockey up over the border in Canada, I have to wonder if they’ll ever let the group enter their country again!
Seriously, though, I think it’s understandable that a British guy might make such a mistake. Elliott says he takes full responsibility for the mistake, but also points out that “Like most of my fellow Brits, I’d never seen it (Stanley Cup) before until it was handed to me sideways, by which time I had a 50/50 chance of getting it right. Whoops." Full Story.
Ron Wood’s Wife May Not Let Go Without A Fight
Although there were reports that Ron Wood’s wife Jo had met with her attorneys recently, that may not mean that she has given up on her marriage quite yet.
Today, the word is that Jo intends to fight to save her marriage.
“I don’t want to divorce Ronnie but I don’t know if he’ll come back. I really don’t know what is happening at the moment. I haven’t spoken to him about it," she is reported to have said. Full Story.
May 10, 2008
A Visit To Def Leppard’s Sparkle Lounge
An obvious question that comes to mind with regard to Def Leppard’s new album is, what is a Sparkle Lounge? The group’s frontman, Joe Elliott describes it as “a special room with recording equipment set up 
backstage at each of the group’s 2007 shows.”
He goes on to say that, “the crew started having a bit of fun with it, putting in sparkly lights, candles, incense — you name it. It turned into this very atmospheric little work space.”
That little room, The Sparkle Lounge, was the birthplace for the material that makes up the album that honors that special place with the name: Tales From The Sparkle Lounge.
In a recent interview, Elliot takes some time to talk about the new album and answers some questions about how the band managed to write an album while on the road. He is also asked about the involvement of country singer Tim McGraw and the rumors that suggest Def Leppard is going country.
For the entire interview, see the Reuters website.
April 20, 2008
Def Leppard Sidelined While Singer Recovers
Veteran British rockers Def Leppard were forced to put their tour on hold recently and had to postpone shows in Canada as well as shows in Michigan that the band had hoped to perform.
Lead singer Joe Elliott is said to be suffering from an upper respiratory
tract infection, which certainly sounds like the kind of affliction that would keep a singer off the stage for a time.
There was some indication that Elliott was having some minor health problems during the show in Providence, Rhode Island, where it was reported that he was obviously not at the top of his game and was having some difficulty singing high notes.
So far there does not appear to be any official word on when the group plans to resume their tour.
