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Def Leppard keeps rockin' and rollin' through the ages
Last Updated: March 27, 2003

Phil Collen
Takes Five

For rock fans of a certain age, Def Leppard needs no introduction. Mere
mention of one of music's most famously misspelled bands brings a flood of
memories from yesteryear: singer Joe Elliott's Union Jack tank top on MTV,
the innovative pairing of manly guitars with choirboy harmonies, pop-metal
anthems such as "Rock of Ages," "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and "Bringin' on
the Heartbreak." The lads from Sheffield, England, made it big in the
early '80s, only to nearly lose their drummer, Rick Allen, in a car
accident that left him with one arm. The band reached new heights with
1987's "Hysteria," which sold more than 10 million copies; then, in 1991,
guitarist Steve Clark died of a drug and alcohol overdose. Elliott, Allen,
guitarist PHIL COLLEN and bassist Rick Savage stuck together, later adding
guitarist Vivian Campbell to the lineup. With a string of albums,
including 1996's underrated "Slang," Def Leppard keeps a-rollin'. Collen
was rollin' through Ohio on the band's tour bus when he chatted by phone
with Journal Sentinel pop music critic Gemma Tarlach.

Q. Are you sick to death of playing "Rock of Ages" or what?

A. (Laughs) When we rehearse it, yeah, we are. It's like watching paint
dry. But we have lightened up over the years, and now we allow people into
our rehearsals. We didn't used to. . . . It was like some sacred thing. Bu
t now we let people in, and we could be thinking "Oh my God, I hate
playing this bloody song," but then we see people are into it, and it
completely changes how we feel about the song. When you're performing for
someone, it's the real thing.

Q. If you had to sum up Def Leppard with one song, which one would it be?

A. "Pour Some Sugar on Me." Everyone else uses it as a reference for us.
It pops up all the time. It's what it is - fun, tongue in cheek, what rock
'n' roll is all about, like Little Richard and Elvis, going back to them.
 That's what we wanted to be.

Q. As a band, you've faced more than your share of highs and lows. Why has
Def Leppard endured?

A. One of the main things is, well, we did have more than one hit. We were
a lot more substance than image. . . . And as a band, we've experienced
everything together: birth, death, marriage, divorce. That puts you on the
 same page with each other. We've been together longer than a lot of
 families.

Q. Was there ever a time when, as a band, you thought you should hang it
up?

A. Well, after Rick's accident, we left it up to Rick. He wanted to carry
on, so we did. But when Steve died, I didn't want to carry on. When you
lose a brother, you know, you don't replace him. So we didn't replace
Steve . But eventually, we finished the album (1992's "Adrenalize") as a
four-piece and put it out, dedicated to him. When we decided to tour, we
got Viv. Not to replace Steve, though.

Q. A hundred years from now, when someone is writing an encyclopedia of
rock, what will the Def Leppard entry say?

A. Well, I don't know that we'd be in there. You would hope it would say
Def Leppard successfully bridged the gap between pop and rock without
compromising either. And hats off to (producer) Mutt Lange, because it was
his
 idea.

Def Leppard performs at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the U.S. Cellular Arena.
Tickets are $40, excluding service charges, available at the box office
and all Ticketmaster outlets, including phone charge at (414) 276-4545 and
online at www.ticketmaster.com.

A version of this story appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on
March 28, 2003.

Copyright © 2002, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel