http://www.nypost.com/seven/07032005/entertainment/49489.htm

Still the most Def - '80s rockers pour more sugar on it

Maxine Shen

Only five rock bands in the world have sold over 10 million copies of two
original albums in the U.S. - The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Van Halen
and ... Def Leppard.
 
Yes, the '80s band, famous for asking girls to "pour some sugar" on them and
claiming that "Love Bites."  The group sold over 65 million records worldwide in
their 28-year history and duked it out with Michael Jackson and Prince on the
pop charts.
 
Currently on their greatest hits tour (playing with Bryan Adams), Def Leppard
hits KeySpan Park on Saturday.  Joe Elliot, the band's 45-year old lead singer,
spoke to The Post from a stop in Portland, Maine.
 
Does it surprise you that people still think of Def Leppard as the band with the
one-armed drummer (Rick Allen's left arm was severed after a 1984 car accident)?
 
Not at all, it's the most humanistic thing for people to remember.  Everyone was
raving on about giving us all this credit, but we didn't do anything.  All we
did was wait for Rick, the same way you would for a family member that gets into
and accident - you don't kick them out of your family.  I never think about it,
I don't look at Rick and think, 'Oh, he's only got one arm,' I just look at
Rick.
 
You've been called a hair metal and a heavy metal band, but you've got a huge
female following.  What's up with that?
 
We've joked about it, we're definitely more Duran Duran than Iron Maiden. 
Twenty Top 40 hits in and of itself announces that we're not a heavy metal band.
 Metal is mostly all about devil worship and Dungeons and Dragons fantasy stuff.
 For us, it's always been about human contact, that's what we've always tried to
get across in our songs, whether it be sleazy or classy.  It's always about
people, not about swords and sorcery.  I'd say that's one of the reasons why we
have a female following.
 
Have you ever considered pulling a Led Zeppelin and refusing to play one of your
mega hits, like "Pour Some Sugar On Me" or "Hysteria?"
 
There are certain songs that we'd be skinned alive if we didn't play.  We only
get sick of songs in rehearsals - doing "Rock of Ages" to four walls. 
Throat-slitting tie.  But once you see it in front of an audience and you get
the reaction your originally wanted to achieve and that you're still getting
after 25 years, that's a fantastic feeling.  It's our greatest hits tour, sot
it's hit after hit after hit, that's a beautiful feeling.
 
After all these years, does Def Leppard still live the rock 'n' roll, partying
lifestyle?
 
We try to be healthy and balanced - until about midnight, when the wine comes
out.  Well, at least for three of us.  Two guys in the band are vegan
teetotalers.  There's a nice array of weights laying around the dressing room as
well.  But that's not really a change, besides Bob Marley and the Wailers, we
were probably the only band on the planet that would do a sound check and then
go out and play soccer.  But when the sun goes down, we've been known to let our
hair down a little bit, obviously we lost a guitarist to that, in fact we lost
two.  We've had both sides of the coin.