http://www.vh1.com/artists/interview/1504217/06162005/def_leppard.jhtml Def Leppard: MILFs Under the Stage, Sugar Being Poured Joe Elliot recalls a wild career, and wonders how a guy who's never seen a baseball game will rock a summer's-worth of stadiums. by Gil Kaufman (Universal Records) Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott has memorized the first rule of rock: if you can't age gracefully, be as disgraceful as possible. Since 1977, the band has mostly worked the former side of the equation. They've survived tragedy -- drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a car accident and original guitarist Steve Clark died of a drug and alcohol overdose -- and enjoyed triumph; they've just released a 35-song career retrospective, Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection. And even though Elliott, now 45, has never even seen a baseball game, the band is about to embark on a series of shows in minor league ball stadiums with Bryan Adams. When Vh1 caught up with Elliott, he lectured us on why "Pour Some Sugar On Me" is as stone cold a classic as the Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." He also spilled the beans about the MILF action in the notorious "Underworld" area beneath the Def Lep stage, and explained why you'll never seen his band on a cheesy reality show. VH1: Be honest: which of the songs on the compilation are you sick to death of? Elliott: I have to [answer that] two ways. In rehearsals, quite a lot of them. In front of an audience? None of them. I can't justify not doing any of these songs until I hear about Pete Townshend saying he won't do "My Generation" for an encore. That's why 60,000 people go ape when the Stones play "Satisfaction." The songs are part of their legacy, and you fall back in love with them over the years. The most frustrating thing for musicians who want to play stuff from the new album is when everyone goes out to buy a beer. 'Why don't you stay!' you wonder. "Because I don't f*cking know that song!" VH1: You've been at this for more than 25 years; how does one age gracefully in rock? Elliott: You don't. You're not supposed to, are ya? If you don't physically age gracefully, it's a bit sad. I think Steven Tyler can get away anything, because he still looks like he did in '73. Especially from row Z backwards in an arena. As long as the Stones keep their hair and don't get fat they'll get away with the wrinkles. VH1: So, where do you fall on the continuum of disgrace? Elliott: We've never been disgraceful, no matter what reputation we got. There was the Underworld thing that everyone used to rave on about, but once, I think, something funky happened down there and I was upstairs with [drummer] Rick [Allen] doing the audience participation bit, so I never go to see it. Which is to my lasting detriment. VH1: Really? It was only once that something happened down there? How disappointing. Elliott: It just gets blown out of proportion. And sometimes you just let it go because people think it's cool and other times you have to go, 'Whoa! Nelly.' The thing is, I don't think we behave any differently now that we are married with kids than before when we weren't. In fact, the sex probably happens just as often, but it's more likely to be with just the one person. That's probably why we've come across as more boring than Motley Crue, because it's always been music first, everything else second. We never did a thing until we came off stage. VH1: So, groupies shouldn't look for that special pass this time around? Elliott: We manufactured a situation during the Hysteria tour period where me and Rick would be on stage where I had to entertain the crowd times four, because we were in the round. So I would get ABCD battling off to see who could sing the part the loudest. This would go on for 15 minutes and we don't have the 15-minute break anymore, so consequently there isn't the time, not to mention the inclination. We needed the Underworld every night, for the short one minute breaks we would get to towel off and change guitars. But during the 15 minute thing it did develop to the point where there was a couple of chicks down there with their t-ts out. And sometimes it was mother and daughter, or once it was mother and daughter, and that was the one time somebody had a camera. VH1: Is it safe to assume that some of the old favorite groupies are bringing around their daughters at this point? Elliott: We see a lot of musos [musicians] we know on the road, and we see the odd groupie and they've gotten bigger and they're family's gotten bigger, but we never really fraternized with the fans that much. A fan would get an autograph and that was that. If we didn't tour again for five years, we wouldn't remember them. VH1: But I assume they still gave you gifts to remember them by? Elliott: We get better stuff than Tom Jones ever got. We could open an underwear shop. VH1 How did a bunch of English lads get roped into playing in American baseball stadiums? Elliott: Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan did it last summer and broke the ice and when [the promoter] came to our manager we put feelers out and Bryan came on. We've played with him before so it worked out. VH1: Have you ever seen a baseball game? Are you a fan? Elliott: I don't know anything about it. I know as much about baseball as you know about cricket. VH1: Will you at least try to get a game in so you know more about where you're playing? Elliott: I don't think will get a chance. Our schedule is that packed. VH1: What's the best live show you've ever seen? Elliott: I saw Cream at the Albert Hall a month ago and that was awesome. I saw Queen with Paul Rodgers in Dublin three weeks ago ... unbelievable. I never forgot my first Ian Hunter/Mick Ronson show in Sheffield in 1975. I saw the Who at Birmingham in 1989 and that was unbelievable and the Stones in Toronto in '89 which was fantastic. I saw the Stones three years ago at the Wiltern Theater in L.A. and that was mind blowing. VH1: You've had a lot of cross over success on the pop charts, do any of your metal brethren ever razz you? Have you had to defend your rock honor? Elliott: All the time. We've had this argument many times. If you put Lemmy, Scott Ian and Dio in a room and say 'Heavy metal -- Def Leppard, discuss,' they'd all burst out laughing. But at the same time, you could take Pink and Christina Aguilera and say 'Def Leppard -- pop music' and they'd do the same thing. I don't know where we stand. I don't think we ever believed we were a metal band. I think Maiden were a metal band and a very good one. We're a rock band. We have exactly the same line-up as the Rolling Stones, but we don't sound like them. They came from the blues, we came from British glam. We aim to please with three chords and a little white lie. VH1: Be honest, "Pour Some Sugar on Me" is a pretty silly song, right? Elliott: No. I think 'Let's Get Rocked' is a silly song. I think "Pour Some Sugar on Me" is a great song. It's silly in the same way as "You Really Got Me," or "Satisfaction" or "Get Off of my Cloud" is. It's a three-minute classic rock song that gets people moving. It's not "Blowing in the Wind," but it makes an emotional contact with some people and gets their heart beating faster and that's all you can ever hope for. VH1: Anyone ever asked you to do a reality show? Elliott: No they haven't and I wouldn't because ... I don't like to see my stars get it wrong, break down, cry and be told what to do. That should happen in private. When Fleetwood Mac were making Rumors, I'm sure their producers told band members, "you're not singing it right!" And then they fought about it and then got it right and made it into the classic record it was. But I don't believe I need to see that happen. I don't need to see Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel, I just want to see the finished article. VH1: What will your epitaph be? Elliott: "He sang a bit, he wrote a bit, he laughed a lot."