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HELLO AMERICA

Their third single was released in February '80. This was a strange choice, but Phonogram had become aware of the song's popularity the last time around and had wanted to expand on it. The band were not happy with this decision. They had originally wanted 'Rock Brigade' to be the next single. However Def Leppard finally relented, once Phonogram agreed to place an exclusive recording of 'Good Morning Freedom' onto the back of it.

'Hello America' was coolly received by the music press, and this was epitomised by the epitaph from Sounds!, which read "Hello America, Goodbye England, Goodbye Def Leppard." They had sold themselves to the American Dream, was the printed battle cry. But Def Leppard were hardly the first nor the last group to look westward. This 'desire for America' also split the fans, who now believed that their homegrown band was now looking for pastures new at their expense.

Finally and the most damming accusation of all, Def Leppard were now seen as a Company band that had been de-clawed in the process. For their part the band believed that they could achieve more say, in a subtle way, by working along with the company rather than against them.

In the space of a month, these darlings of the Press were now sifting themselves through a printed quagmire. Meanwhile, everyone had missed the point of the song being a fun record!

Still looking for that elusive chart-topper, Def Leppard believed that the single also suffered from its own advertising. As it hadn't been made clear that this was also a new recording and not the earlier one re-cut. For all its ailments, the single reached as far as No 45 (their best to date) but then promptly disappeared.

February also saw Iron Maiden score a No 34 debut hit with 'Running Free'. The Press now flirted with Iron Maiden, resting the mantle of NWOBHM from Def Leppard. In the following months the press would continue to fan the non-existent flames of conflict between the two camps for the benefit of the fans and their own circulation figures.

ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT TOUR

Def Leppard came back onto the road to promote 'Hello America', in their first major headline tour, consisting of several medium sized venues. After being entrenched within the luxurious Startling studios, they were now eager to live up to their live reputation.

Although they were unfortunately caught up with the predicament of headlining a tour with the knowledge that most of their audience would know only a handful of the songs. They were concerned that they might have overstretched themselves too quickly. But these fears were mostly unfounded, as Def Leppard continued to play to packed houses, one after the other.

An identity for their disciples had also been found, in the form of the now-so-familiar triangular logo. Def Leppard had now truly arrived into fandom, onto the backs of their denim clad fans.

Def Leppard went onto the road with two support bands, in a bid to promote a number of smaller bands. The main support came from Witchfynde, and the second from a local band (where possible) getting their first taste of a major gig. Def Leppard were still a relatively fresh band and knew the value this spot would be to a young band. They felt it was only right to give a helping hand. It was only years later that certain bands would try and take advantage of their open generosity. But for the time being, Prima Donnas were only noticeable by their absence.

For the most part, the tour had been very successful for Def Leppard. The music press though continued to quibble about their originality, but the fans still came. "We're not Heavy Metal," was Joe's repeated statement as he feared Def Leppard being pigeon holed into one compartment. But the band continually contradicted this by immersing themselves in all the hallmarks of Heavy Metal - being loud, macho, anthemic and a splattering of mythical lyrics thrown in. Joe envisaged a much wider audience rather than the status quo of playing to the same faces year in year out. Led Zeppelin status was not an ambition of his, but a springboard into the outer reaches.

SHEFFIELD TOP RANK

This should have been the Conqueror's return, as they were also riding high in the Charts at the time, but a third of the tickets were still unsold before the night.

In their absence, Sheffield had been fostering a resentment towards Def Leppard. Most of the fans believed that their prized possession had deserted them and their roots. The fact that the band were now a fully fledged touring band with commitments, seemed to have gone unnoticed. Also far from being luxurious, the band were living on a strict budget, as their advance had been invested into the group's future.

Say Hello!

On the night, the club filled up with fans waiting in judgement. Two support bands later, the stage began to fill up with dry ice for Def Leppard's entrance. Initially the band were a little too polished with their performance, and those little intimacies that make a gig special were absent. But within a few songs Def Leppard had settled into the rhythm of the night, their fresh enthusiasm coming to the fore. This exciting pace was kept up by the lack of lingering guitar solos, which were now quickly rattled off. The relentless assault was only abetted by the occasional enchanting ballad.

To the accompaniment of thunderflashes 'Getcha Rocks Off' exploded as the encore, and the audience went wild. Def Leppard had won over its sceptical home crowd.

ON THROUGH THE NIGHT

The Debut LP was released on March 14th and received a mixed reception from the Press. Melody Maker believed it was a triumph and on par with Van Halen's recent excellent debut LP. Sounds thought it was a very good debut but could have been better, and the NME dismissed its existence!

The backlash that had started with attacks on their 'Hello America' single continued. They had recently been savaged by Sounds on their latest tour, for being too professional and the journalist had yearned for their simpler earlier days. Now the LP wasn't the landmark statement that the Press had hoped it would be.

Through all the Press flak the LP still climbed into the charts to peak at No 15, and remained within the Top 75 for eight weeks.

Although Def Leppard were now a fairly successful band, Joe believed that there was still a long way to go but at least they were still moving upwards. "Too many bands are content to be OK and then they continue to trade on their past glories. Once you get like that, you might as well do the 'chicken-in-a-basket' circuit," (a reference to the old fashioned variety cabaret venues). By now a number of the lesser known NWOBHM groups had already run out of steam and were in various stages of disintegration, while hanging onto their past glories.

Def Leppard's main driving force was their desire to settle for nothing less than their ideal, and what passed for confidence in themselves, was seen by others as arrogance. "We knew we were writing good songs, believed in what we were doing and thought we could make it."

THE TOUR

A week after the LP's release, Def Leppard announced their most ambitious tour yet, a 21 date tour taking in all the major city venues of Britain and starting on April 5th in St. Albans. Once again there were to be two support groups. This time the main support was the Midlands-based rockers 'Magnum', and another twelve smaller groups were each given several slots on the tour. To prepare for this tour, after a brief lay off relaxing and writing in Sheffield, they booked themselves into Shepperton Studios to rehearse for the preceeding week.

SHEFFIELD CITY HALL

On April 10th Def Leppard reached the City Hall, turning their dream of a few years before into a reality. But had they been over ambitious? Only two months earlier they weren't able to sell out the Top Rank Club, with its smaller capacity. The fans still came but the venue looked sparse, being several hundred short of its maximum. But there were still enough fans in the stalls to create the right atmosphere, in this hallowed Sheffield home of HM.

The Lepp's backstage

Heritage, a six-month old HM band from South Yorkshire, had the honour of being the opening act. But their inexperience of this awesome task weighed heavy on them, and the audience remained unmoved.

Def Leppard exploded on to the stage with 'Rock Brigade', and the crowd at the front were soon punching the sky in unison. Having gone straight for the jugular, the band quickly took command. Joe was now more confident as a front man, no longer hemmed into a few feet of stage, he was everywhere at once and his voice was holding out above the flailing guitars. Not to be outdone, Steve and Pete held onto their own sides throwing out wild angular guitar shapes. Central to this mayhem was Rick's solid thunderclaps, with Sav's underlying bass lines stitching everything together.

Through the smoke and the flash bombs, Def Leppard whipped up a hell of a tornado. Tonight they were enjoying themselves and were just as happy to banter with the crowd as play. Also their growing creativity and confidence had them airing several new songs alongside their fresh LP.

After several encores, the band disappeared into the bowels of the City Hall. As it was now party time for all their families, who'd turned out en masse.

The tour finished on April 29th at the Derby Assembly Rooms. Overall the tour had been moderately successful, but Def Leppard now began to feel over exposed and slightly jaded by the indifference of the British public.

THE NEXT PHASE

Since Def Leppard were now scorned so harshly by the British Press, they had no qualms about taking a short tour of America. Afterall, there was a sharp contrast between all the initial praise that had heaped on them six months earlier and what was happening now. The Press had defrocked and dethroned them for no other reason than they were, and always were, very professional in their approach. They'd been accused of being directionless and lacking a personality, but their progression had been of a natural order. They'd also bared their honesty in interviews only to have it cut to shreds. Their newly found maturity knew that a credible acceptance would take time, and in the meantime they weren't in a hurry to burn themselves up looking for it.

In May, Def Leppard embarked on their initial flourish into America, to be accepted for what they are with open arms. What was Britain's loss was certainly America's gain.

['The Early Days' went on line - Dec 1999]

Time for more Def Leppard

THAT 'lost' single sleeve. The Story in Full is at Ayup! Yorkshire's best and greatest internet magazine.

And . . . spare a thought for what was a truly excellent site: Elliottweb. This original site has ceased to be, and will be sadly missed.

	The Def Leppard Ring of Fans This site is owned by the foto genius Steve Drury Want to join the Ring? Get the Info!
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