http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/music/stories/MYSA102805.WK.defleppard.a4b3182.html Def Leppard still having fun Web Posted: 10/27/2005 12:00 AM CDT David Glessner Special to the Express-News Joe Elliot is ordering a jolt of java when he phones from a tour stop in Atlantic City, N.J. "Sorry about that, Dave," says the 46-year-old Def Leppard singer. "I'm making a Starbucks run at the moment." Caffeinated and conversational, Elliot has counted enough album sales to make the lottery look like a piggy bank. Def Leppard's 1983 blockbuster album, "Pyromania," tallied 10 million in U.S. sales alone thanks to pop-metal ear-candy such as "Photograph," "Foolin'" and "Rock of Ages." By 1987, the calculator exploded when "Hysteria" stormed the charts and topped 13 million in U.S. sales due to signature songs "Pour Some Sugar on Me," "Animal," "Armageddon It" and "Love Bites." "By coincidence and good fortune, MTV came along," Elliot says regarding the grainy 1981 video for "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" and the subsequent calling card smash hit, "Photograph." "We looked different than Journey and REO Speedwagon and Foreigner. We didn't have beards and mustaches. We looked like little kids and more like the first generation of British bands that invaded America, like the Who or the Stones or the Beatles. We embraced MTV and video." The most successful British band to ever wear matching Union Jack T-shirts and play Wal-Mart parking lots arrives at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Sunday with all the parachute-pants hits from "Pyromania," "Hysteria," "Adrenalize" and "Euphoria." Cheap Trick and former the Almighty singer Ricky Warwick open. Founded in Sheffield, England, during the late 1970s, the members of Def Leppard were destined to a life in the factories until their common love of T. Rex, Thin Lizzy and David Bowie drove them into a dismal spoon factory for nighttime rock 'n' roll rehearsals. At the ripe old age of 20, Elliot was the band's elder statesman when Def Leppard was discovered and contracted to record its debut album, "On Through the Night." The teen Leps, featuring guitarists Steve Clark and Pete Willis, bassist Rick "Sav" Savage and drummer Rick Allen, already had toured with Sammy Hagar and the mighty AC/DC. "We played with them before we made the album," Elliot says. "We signed the record deal in August 1979 on the back of a self-financed, three-track EP that we made. We had it pressed on vinyl instead of cassettes so people couldn't use it as a doorstop. One thing led to another and we managed to get the AC/DC 'Highway to Hell' tour in Great Britain. Rick (Allen) had his 16th birthday onstage with AC/DC at the Hammersmith Odeon" (a celebrated London ballroom). Thanks to local disc jockey, Joe "The Godfather" Anthony, "On Through the Night" garnered a San Antonio following that grew even larger with Def Leppard's 1981 album, "High 'N' Dry." Partying with the indestructible zeal that comes with bulletproof youth, Def Leppard was bathing in booze while capturing the watchful eye of headliners such as Pat Travers, Judas Priest, Billy Squier and Ted Nugent. "What you had when we first came to America was five kids who never had a passport until six weeks previous," Elliot says. "All of a sudden I'm at the Rainbow on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles with women just flocking around us because we have strange accents. "It was astounding! The beer was cheap, the ladies were plentiful and touring was a lot better than in Europe because you didn't have to stop at a border every 200 yards and have your stuff searched by some guy with a machine gun. Plus, you had McDonald's and Burger King. We had a good laugh, but in fairness, that kind of stuff always came after we'd done our jobs. We still had our focus on the music." The snowball was still a flake until "Pyromania" exploded in 1983. By then, Willis was asked to take his whiskey home and was replaced by Phil Collen, who had been in a British glam band, Girl, featuring future L.A. Guns singer Phil Lewis. In 1984, drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a horrific Corvette crash that necessitated plenty of solidarity and a specialized drum kit that could be triggered with his feet. By 1991, guitarist Steve "Steamin'" Clark had died at 30 from a combination of alcohol and painkillers that had been prescribed to ease the pain of cracked ribs. Clark was replaced by Dio/Whitesnake hotshot Vivian Campbell. While Collen and Campbell delve into new musical projects, Elliot stays focused on Leppard's future. "We're family and we still have all these great visions of what we're going to do next year and the year after," he says. "It's a job that's extremely satisfying at the end of the day. People ask why we still do it and it's for the same reason a mechanic or a plumber still does it. It's my job." Also featuring: Cheap Trick, Ricky Warwick Where: Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, 16765 Lookout Road, Selma When: Sunday; doors open at 5 p.m.; music at 7 Tickets: $35-$59.50 at Ticketmaster outlets Portions © 2005 KENS 5 and the San Antonio Express-News.