Toronto, CAN Live Acoustic Performance/Interview from Q107.com Thursday July 18, 2002 Transcript by M7NS Lep music montage, quick intro then Photograph was played... Gonzo: Q107 with Photograph from Pyromania, 1983. Ladies and gentelmen please welcome boys from Def Leppard Phil Collen and Joe Elliott Joe: Good evening.. Phil: thank you.. so we had Toronto's biggest karaoke goin on there, that was great Joe: yeah Gonzo: An excellent job, a live studio audience here all these people won the opportunity to come and hang out with you guys and I can tell we're gonna have some fun.. Joe tell us how it is to be on the thresh hold of your tenth release.. pause.. laughs.. We're havin so much fun Joe: If a picture speaks a thousand words.. it's marvelous, it's great, it's so good to be back. What a great place to start. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Per capita Canada has always been our biggest market and one of our favorites... It's, it's just great you know we've never been anywhere. You know after the last tour finished we went straight back into writing and recording. So we were just kinda away from the scene for awhile. But we've actually been working away, behind the scenes.. it's nice to be back out in the public eye again. Gonzo: Can you believe it's been 25 years? Phil: Pretty weird eh? Joe: Almost.. this September it'll be 25 years since I met Rick Savage. Gonzo: 40 million records later Joe: I was only 3 when I met him. Gonzo: And that's no joke in a way, you guys were very, very young when you started out in Sheffiled in the late 70's. Your drummer was 14 or 15 years old wasn't he? Joe: He wasn't even born. He was 15 when he joined us and he had his 16th birthday at Hammersmith Odeon opening up for AC/DC. Gonzo: Wow. Phil plays Back In Black riff Gonzo: Talking about those old days in Sheffield.. what you know now and what you knew then Everybody talks at once.. Joe: I don't know Phil: I know a few more chords.. then plays a chord Gonzo: What have you discarded, what have you stayed with from the late 70's to this present day? Joe: Well, I think we've managed to retain our enthusiasm. Which is why we always have a smile on our faces. It's a privledge to do what we do for a livin. You should never forget that. There are so many miserable musicians, we will never be part of that club. cheers Gonzo: So the new album took shape at Joe's place. Phil, does he have a nice pad? Phil: He does, we've actually done like three albums there.. Great, great place you know got a room there.. It's like bein at home you know Joe: He pays the mortgage. haha Gonzo: And what does your other half say when all the boys just move into town with their luggage and say 'we're here for six months' ? Joe: She says see ya in six months laughs Gonzo: So tell us about the new album before we get to one of the tracks. Is there anything you wanna talk to us about this new thing. Phil: Yeah, we're really excited cause it's um... it's got that enthusiam Joe was on about.. you know a lot of conviction um we think it's the best thing we done since Hysteria.. you know.. and that's what everyone keeps tellin us as well.. cheers... thank you Gonzo: Alright let's play something from the new album it's called Ex.. It's in stores at the end of the month. This is a track called Four Letter Word.. brand new Def Leppard live.... ~ cheers.... plays Four Letter Word from album.... cheers~ Joe: Damn! Gonzo: Brand new Def Leppard out July 30th. That was called Four Letter Word from X on classic rock Joe: Actually it's called 'Ten'. Ok, I was gonna ask you that question.. which way did you wanna go cause it could be both things.. Phil: Yeah well both.. I've been callin it X.. cause it was supposed to be Ten. Gonzo: OK Joe: It's Ten alright?! Phil: And I'll keep callin it X Gonzo: What do you think.. what's the best.. Joe: Would you like to step outside? giggles.. Gonzo: We'll make up our mind right now.. Joe: Call it what you like.. it's called you bought it, you name it. Giggles.. Gonzo: I see you guys brought your axes.. Phil: We did. Joe: I wondered what this was. Gonzo: Your gonna do us a little strum.. what are ya gonna play us? Joe: We thought we'd play 'Which is the lineman (?)' by Glenn Campbell Gonzo: Very nice choice.. very nice choice Joe: I'm joking, of course.. laughs Gonzo: The boys are gonna play a little song for us and it's called Two Steps Behind.. ~cheers.. They perform the song live.. break while on break they perform 'Ziggy Stardust live cheers ~ Gonzo: Back live at the Hard Rock Cafe.. Joe: Oh yeah! Gonzo: Phil and Joe are here from Def Leppard before our live studio audience cheers Too bad those of you at home had to miss a great little rendition of David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust.. It sounded very good. Who do you guys listen to.. this is the obvious question.. the influential question.. who were the big guys in your lives.. who were the bands that shaped Def Leppard in the early days? Phil: Well, obviously David Bowie. I mean a big influence is obviously Queen. (annoying guy in audience yells Mott the Hoople) you know cause it was like the vocals and the lead guitars.. but it's everyone. We listen to everyone and everything.. Joe: There's only two kinds of music: good and bad. Gonzo: Did you guys have all your heads together when you got the band together or was one guy into one thing and another guy into another.. did you all wear the same jackets? Joe: Well no, no.. we couldn't all fit into one jacket. haha Gonzo: You mean straight jacket huh? Joe: Phil didn't join Leppard til '82. We'd know each other for three years before he joined. But we grew up listening.. we actually still have the argument which one of the two of us bought the first Montrose album in England.. 'Bad Motor Scooter' Gonzo: Sammy Hagar Joe: You know we both bought it on the same day.. probably. We all grew up listening to the same stuff. Gonzo: So you guys took a little trip to Mars and you raided some aliens and you got into a little conversation.. Joe: Rather there than Uranus. hahaha Gonzo: Very good point actually.. they said your a musician and what should I listen to if I wanted to get to know your music. What would you slap on.. I'll start with you Joe.. Joe: Creed Gonzo: Which Def Leppard album would you slap on for them.. what would you say is the quienticential Def Leppard album ? Joe: That's a loaded question. Crowd yells intelliably Joe: That's a loaded question and it's a little unfair. We're a very honest bunch of guys and we're very aware of the fact that everybody says that their new album is their best album. Truth be known... Phil: Ours is.. Joe: I would have to say listen to the new album, listen to Vault and listen to Slang. Cheers and screams.. Joe: We're still very proud of Slang because it was so different. Vault is a collection of 15 years of material Gonzo: Very brave as well.. a lot of people really dug that album although it didn't sell as much as your other monsters Joe: (cuts him off) It doesn't matter how many it sold. It's the fact that it was art and it represented where we were at the time. Had we not made Slang.. cheers Joe: It's true, if we hadn't made Slang we wouldn't be here right now. Gonzo: I guess we have a new single and it's called Now. Joe: Do we really? Phil: How's it go? Better learn it then eh? Gonzo: Should we play it now? Joe: Ah ha.. what a pun. You've been workin on that one all week haven't ya? Gonzo: You guys wanna hear the new single Nnow? Joe: An interpretation of the new single. Phil makes request for no swearing.. ~ They perform the song live ~ Bonzo gives info about single & album then asks that they bring Rick, Sav & Viv along.. Phil starts PSSOM Bo Diddley style cause he's better. ~ They perform the song live ~ and that's it