In a few previous posts of Weekly Music Commentary, I wrote about conversations with other music historians and fans about the best rock bands of all time. In all these conversations, the criteria is always the personal favorite, and an overall fan favorite. Therefore, every list of five best will almost always have two of the same bands, two understandably close groups, and then one others will question. My lists always omits a very good or great band, no matter if it’s a list of five, ten or twenty. A really good band is always left off the list.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame gives us an opportunity to go back and discuss some of those bands that might not be an overall favorite, but certainly worthy of being in the conversation. The 2019 induction ceremony will take place next month, March 29 at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, NY. I was very pleased with the list of inductees when announced, but one musical act was intriguing. Yes, rock band Def Leppard would finally go into the hall.

Def Leppard is one of my personal favorites, as well as being one of the most popular bands of all time. As one of the world’s best-selling music artists, Def Leppard have sold more than 100 million records worldwide, and have two albums with RIAA diamond certification, Pyromania and Hysteria. They are one of only five rock bands with two original studio albums selling over 10 million copies in the U.S.

Like every successful band, Def Leppard met early in life and found a way to work together to produce a sound that fans grew to love. They are a well-known band, but I would like to give readers a look into their beginning.

Rick Savage, Tony Kenning, and Pete Willis, all students at Tapton School in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, formed a band called Atomic Mass in 1977. The band originally consisted of Willis on guitar, Savage on bass guitar after briefly playing guitar, and Kenning on drums. Only 18 at the time, Joe Elliott tried out for the band as a guitarist following a chance meeting with Willis after missing a bus in November 1977. During his audition it was decided that he was better suited to be the lead singer. Their first gig was in the dining hall in A Block in Westfield School in Mosborough, Sheffield.

Sheffield has been home to several well-known bands and musicians, with a notably large number of synthpop and other electronic bands originating from the city. These include The Human League, Heaven 17, ABC and the more industrially inclined Cabaret Voltaire & Clock DVA. This electronic tradition has continued: techno label Warp Records was a central pillar of the Yorkshire Bleeps and Bass scene of the early 1990s, and has gone on to become one of the UK’s oldest and best-loved dance music labels. More recently, other popular genres of electronic music such as bassline house have originated in the city. Sheffield was once home to a number of historically important nightclubs in the early dance music scene of the 1980s and 1990s.

A number of major music acts, including Joe Cocker, Arctic Monkeys, Bring Me the Horizon, Rolo Tomassi, While She Sleeps, Pulp and Moloko, hail from the city.

Elliott proposed the name “Deaf Leopard” which was originally a band name he thought up while writing reviews for imaginary rock bands in his English class. At Kenning’s suggestion, the spelling was slightly modified in order to make the name seem less like that of a punk band. In January 1978, Steve Clark joined the band.

In November, just prior to recording sessions for what would be a three-song release known as The Def Leppard E.P., Kenning abruptly left the band; he would later form the band Cairo. He was replaced for those sessions by Frank Noon. By the end of the month, Rick Allen, then only 15 years old, had joined the band as its full-time drummer.

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Def Leppard’s début album, On Through the Night, was released on March 14, 1980. Although the album hit the Top 15 in the UK, many early fans were turned off by the perception that the band was trying too hard to appeal to American audiences by recording songs such as “Hello America” and touring more in the US. Nevertheless, the 1980s would prove to be the breakout decade for Def Leppard. The followup album High n’ Dry, would bring the band greater appeal in the US. Despite the album’s unimpressive sales figures, the band’s video for “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak” became one of the first metal videos played on MTV in 1982. The band continued to use the up-and-coming music television industry to reach fans over the years with their unique videos and the extravagance of their concerts.

Def Leppard released their third studio album Pyromania on January 20, 1983. The lead single, “Photograph”, turned Def Leppard into a household name, supplanting Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” as the most requested video clip on MTV and becoming a staple of rock radio, and sparked a headline tour across the U.S. Fueled by “Photograph” and subsequent singles “Rock of Ages” and “Foolin'”, Pyromania went on to sell six million copies in 1983 and only was held from the top of the US album charts by Michael Jackson’s Thriller. With the album’s massive success, Pyromania was the catalyst for the 1980s pop-metal movement.

Def Leppard, like other bands suffered tragedies along their successful ride. On December 31, 1984, drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a car crash on the A57 in the hills outside the band’s home city of Sheffield. Allen was driving with his Dutch girlfriend, Miriam Barendsen, when his Corvette swerved off the road on a sharp bend and went through a drystone wall. Despite the severity of the accident, Allen was committed to continuing his role as Def Leppard’s drummer and realized that he could use his legs to do some of the drumming work previously done with his arms.

Steve Clark’s alcoholism worsened to the point that he was constantly in and out of rehab. Recording sessions suffered from this distraction, and in mid-1990, Clark was granted a six-month leave of absence from the band. Clark died from a mix of prescription drugs and alcohol on January 8, 1991, in his London home.

Def Leppard prevailed and has recorded eleven studio albums to date, and continues to tour extensively, including a Las Vegas residency coming this summer.

There is so much more that can be written about Def Leppard, as many fans would readily tell you. However, at this time I like the story of the young guys from Sheffield finding their way to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame forty years later. We are left with great music and a band who arguably might fit in some music fans top five list.

It is appropriate to conclude with words from Def Leppard band members about the prestigious honor:

Joe Elliott, “First of all, a massive thanks to all our fans & past inductees who voted for us. Congratulations to all our fellow inductees, we stand alongside some amazing artists, past & present. What an absolute honour.”

Rick Savage, “Being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame puts Def Leppard in a class of peers that we’ve always appreciated and admired. We’re looking forward to the ceremony.”

photo by Ross Halfin

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