This section looks at the 'Photograph' UK single chart peak. The first song to be released from the 'Pyromania' album reached Number 66 on this day in 1983.
"We knew that this was what it took to make a hit single."
Def Leppard's classic Photograph single reached Number 66 in the UK on this day in 1983.
The first single from the 'Pyromania' album had been released on 28th February 1983 ahead of the album release.
It peaked at a disappointing Number 66 on 19th February 1983.
The UK did not yet have MTV and so there was little chance for the promo video to get much airplay along with limited radio play for the single outside of specialist rock shows.
The single entered the charts on 5th February at Number 69 falling to 74 in week two.
It rose to its peak of 66 on this day and fell to 77 in its final week of four inside the Top 100.
Kajagoogoo was at Number One on this day with their single 'Too Shy'.
Other rock acts in the chart this week were Toto (#6), U2 (#21), Thin Lizzy (#28) and Marillion (#39).
Read some comments below on the song by Joe from various interviews.
UK Singles Chart - 19th February 1983
- 01 - Kajagoogoo - Too Shy
- 02 - Men At Work - Down Under
- 03 - The Belle Stars - Sign Of The Times
- 04 - Tears For Fears - Change
- 05 - Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
- 66 - Def Leppard - Photograph - (Peak Position)
Photograph - Joe Elliott 2003 Interview Quote
"One day Mutt had the line "All I've got is a photograph." I said, "That's a Ringo Starr song." He went, "Nobody will ever notice." I said, "It's a photograph of something you can't ever get your hands on, somebody that's not here any more." Over the years it's become exaggerated to Biblical proportions that "Photograph" was written about Marilyn Monroe, because she was in the video. I don't want to break anybody's heart here but Marilyn Monroe was just another average actress to me. The song was about somebody that's out of the picture. All I've got is a photograph, but it's not enough."
Photograph - Joe Elliott 2011 Interview Quotes
"It sounds brilliant on the radio. At the time we made Pyromania, we were actually trying to create songs that would sound great on the radio. That was the whole point. By then we had vaulted to another gear. We got the High ’N’ Dry thing out of our system, which was kind of like the homage to AC/DC. Now we were starting to bring in the pop elements. We did them on High ’N’ Dry, but they didn’t get noticed. People picked up on the title track, they picked up on “Let It Go,” and things like “Another Hit And Run.” They didn’t pick up on things like “You Got Me Running” off side two, which is a total pop song-precursor to "Photograph," maybe."
"But when we did “Photograph,” we just knew the way that that riff sounded, and the way that the drums sounded, and the melody, and the lyrical content, we knew that this was what it took to make a hit single. The rest is up to the people whether it’s a hit or not. There’s nothing else we can do. We can advertise it, which is what we did with the video. We can get it to radio and hope that they’ll play it, which they did."
"It took on a life of its own, then, because all of a sudden we’re now in there with your Elton Johns and everybody else who’s established. They’re now peers, if you like, as opposed to heroes. They’re always heroes, but you know what I mean. All of a sudden, we’re on the same playing field and given the same opportunities. We used to go out and buy their albums, Queen, all that kind of stuff. We were there. It’s not that we’d made it, but we were at least now through the door, and it was a different battle that you were going to be fighting, trying to stay in there."
Watch all the Pyromania album promo videos on this YouTube Playlist
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