Date sent:        Fri, 02 Feb 1996 06:18:12 -0800
From:             nancy_schultz@mindlink.bc.ca (nancy_schultz)

"POUR SOME BHANGRA ON ME"
(Vault-era picture of band--below it, picture of an Indian man playing
congo-like drums.Caption reads:"Def Leppard takes a passage to India, and Av
Singh (right) lends a helping hand.")

        "Def Leppard doing bhangra? As unlikely as it sounds, the hard-rock
band's upcoming album, Slang, will feature some distinctly Indian sounds.The
first single scheduled for release, Turn to Dust, incorporates dhol and tabla.
        The rising popularity of bhangra may have had something to do with
prompting the English rockers, known for such hits as Hysteria, Pour Some
Sugar On Me, Animal and Armageddon It, to adopt new rhythms.  But the new
sound may have had more to do with the fact that at least one member of the
band is a little Indian by nature, so to speak.  "I've always been a real
big fan of Indian culture," guitarist Phil Collen tells Mehfil
Magazine."It's just always struck a chord, especially Indian classical music." 
        "It's different to when Zeppelin, the Beatles or the Stones
incorporated Indian music into their sound," explains Collen.  "This
co-exists--it's doing its own thing. It co-exists with the electric guitars."
        To help them acquire the bhangra beat, Def Leppard contacted
Vancouver-based bhangra-rockers Dal-Dil-Vog to lend a hand in the recording
studio. DDV's percussionist, Av Singh, flew to California for three days to
record dhol and tabla tracks for Turn to Dust.
 "When we first got a call from Def Leppard's producer, we thought someone
was playing a joke on us," says Singh with a laugh.  "Then we got a call
from Phil Collen."
 Def Leppard will kick off its 1996 world tour in Bombay, India.  "I've
travelled to India a few times but we've never played there," says Collen.
"I'm quite excited."
 Any chance Dal-Dil-Vog will be invited along for the ride? Says Collen, "It
would be great to do something on stage here and there."

--- source title unknown (an east indian magazine)