Page 25 - Classic Rock - The Complete Story of Def Leppard 2019

He is the voice of Def Bigmouth strikes glam-rock fan in the 1970s. And although and playing all these American folk songs
again: Leppard’s
Leppard – not only the he is the singer in one of the most famous by Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan. I was
chief spokesman,
singer, but also the band’s Joe Elliott. bands in the world, there is no arrogance going, ‘I want one!’ My dad said, ‘You

chief spokesman.And as about the man, no rock-star bullshit. In a learn to play one and I’ll get you one.’ So
anyone who’s ever met Joe two-hour conversation, Joe is typically I got my mum to teach me.
Elliott will testify, when this candid, forthright and funny as he
man talks, he really talks… discusses the past, present and future of You were an only child. Do you think
“Everybody knows what I’m Def Leppard. Joe Elliott does love to talk. you were spoilt?

like,” Joe says with a laugh. Equally, he always tells it like it is. There is No! All that stuff is utter bollocks. As a
“I love to talk! But that’s why the other no other rock star quite like him. kid I wasn’t spoiled at all. My parents
guys in the band say I’m the perfect couldn’t afford to bloody spoil me. But
frontman – because I don’t know when to At what age did you decide: I want to be maybe being an only child and having all

shut the fuck up!” a rock’n’roll star? that time to myself is what gave me the
In his life as a rock’n’roll star, Joe Elliott I was about five or six. But my mum and desire to want to do this.
has pretty much seen it all. Born on dad always told me that I was absolutely
August 1, 1959, he was just eighteen and totally obsessed with music from the As a young guitar player, did you fancy
when Def Leppard started out. In the day I started to crawl. I believe them, yourself as the new Hendrix?
years that followed he has led the band because I still am. That was never my thing. I wasn’t like Phil

through good times and bad: the Collen – sitting on the edge of the bed
phenomenal success of 1980s albums You were still very young when you practicing widdly-widdly-widdly for two
Pyromania and Hysteria; the trauma of Rick started out playing guitar. Who was years. As soon as I could play chords I
Allen losing his left arm in a car crash; the your biggest inspiration? started writing songs. I wrote my first

tragedy of Steve Clark’s death; and now, My mum! She bought a guitar from a song when I was eight. It was called Going
Vivian Campbell’s battle with cancer. catalogue, this piece of shit acoustic, and Away Forever, and it was about a chick
For all that, Joe remains as passionate taught herself to play it. I was fascinated leaving me (laughs).
about music as he was as a teenage by watching this then thirty-six year old
woman sounding exactly like Joan Baez Is there a recording of it?

There is. When we were making Hysteria I
I SAW THE SEX PISTOLS AND played it to Mutt (Lange, the producer of
that and other Leppard albums). He said,
THE CLASH AND THE DAMNED AND ‘We should do that!’

THOUGHT, FUCKING HELL, IF THEY Was he taking the piss?
He might have been. But like I said, right
CAN DO IT SO CAN I. from the start I was writing songs. It was
always in me. I wrote a rock opera when I

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