Def Leppard News - The Story Of DEF LEPPARD's Step Inside: HYSTERIA At 30 Documentary

Monday, 14th August 2017

The Story Of DEF LEPPARD's Step Inside: HYSTERIA At 30 Documentary

Joe Elliott/Kylie Olsson April 2017

Def Leppard's Step Inside: Hysteria At 30 documentary has been released in full and the story of how it came together has been revealed.

The band's best known and biggest selling album turned 30 on 3rd August 2017.

It was released on Monday 3rd August 1987.

The new 30th anniversary reissue including the deluxe 5CD/2DVD box set was released on 4th August to celebrate and coincide with this anniversary and has re-entered the UK charts at Number 14.

The 'Step Inside: Hysteria At 30' documentary was produced to celebrate the anniversary and re-tell the story of the album 30 years on.

The documentary features interviews with Joe, Phil, Sav and Rick talking about the making of the album, the 1978/88 tour and the album's massive success.

It has now been revealed that the idea for this documentary came from Joe's fellow Planet Rock DJ Kylie Olsson who also writes and presents for SKY and VH1 TV.

She appeared as a guest on BBC Radio Sheffield's Paulette Edwards Show on 3rd August to talk about the documentary.

It was filmed during her trip to see the band in Nashville, TN on 27th April. Band filming took place backstage at the Bridgestone Arena.

Kylie had at the time posted a few photos of herself with the band and her brief review was posted by Team Rock. She has now revealed the real purpose of her trip and how she first became a fan of the band. As you can see in her photo from April Joe is wearing the same clothes seen in the film.

Joe will also be appearing on her upcoming podcast asking musicians about their favourite music.

Listen to the full interview via bbc.co.uk (UK Only) starting at 14:31 mins in and lasts until 29 mins.

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BBC Radio Sheffield - Kylie Olsson Interview Quotes

Step Inside Hysteria Documentary/Are you a fan?

"Yeah I'm a big fan. I mean I came across them, you just played the PSSOM track. I was probably about seven when I first heard that. My uncle is about ten years older than me. He was playing it non stop. He moved in with us for a while and I just remember thinking; 'That's the greatest song ever!' as a seven year old who doesn't want some sugar poured on them?. But then when I got older and revisited it I realised wow that is a great record, you know, groundbreaking record. Incredible."

How has that led you to make a documentary about the band?

"Because you know I'd always loved the record and the band and because I realised that it was gonna be 30 this year and I dug a little bit deeper and looked into everything that happened during the making of that album. I mean it nearly broke the band. It nearly never happened. And I was like that story just needs to be told. And we need to hear from the band 30 years on what they thought of that album. Or what they think of that album now."

"So I approached Universal Music 'cause I knew that they were gonna be reissuing the album for the 30th anniversary and so I got in touch with them and we had a chat and then we spoke to the band. And then yeah it all happened."

Were the guys totally up for it then Kylie?

"They are lovely and they were completely up for it. And the problem we had was they live all over the world now so the only date that we could all get together in one place was Nashville. Weirdly enough. Yeah that was very nice. So I had to go out to Nashville when they were on tour and at one of their gigs just backstage. Spent the day with them interviewing them and then you know shooting them and they are the loveliest guys you've ever meet. Like completely down to earth. All their crew are wonderful. It was yeah. I gotta say it was a bit of - it was a lovely project to work on."

The part about Rick's accident

"I mean Rick's completely open about his accident and how he was feeling and actually he said in hindsight that he felt that maybe he did go back a little bit too early because you know he discovered years later that he was suffering, and probably still is in a way, you know from post traumatic stress of the accident. Which you can imagine. I mean he literally had that accident and then a few months later he was back in the band and in the studio."

And for a drummer to lose an arm that's a great big thing isn't it?

"Yes!. It's completely unheard of. It's insane but he managed to do it and one of the things that I didn't think about or you think oh my goodness there's a one armed drummer in that band. How did he learn to drum?. But at that time as well you know not only was he learning how to drum but he was also learning how to balance. How to tie a shoelace. How to cut a loaf of bread. You know all these other things that were going on. I just know how they got that record made."

But his priority was to drum was his focus and there's a real lesson in that

"Yes completely. He was completely focused and I think you know having the support of the band. At the end of the day they're all just great mates. You know they're like brothers. They grew up together and you get that sense when you're with them. It's not about, there's no egos. There's no, you know, Joe's the singer so he's the most important guy in the band. It's equal and you know I think that's how they've sort of survived really."

What are the band up to now then?/New Podcast

"The band right now?. Well, they've just finished their American tour and then they're having a little bit of a break. And then I'm not quite sure actually. I know Joe's in London at the moment 'cause I'm gonna meet him a little bit later 'cause I'm interviewing him for my podcast. But yeah - I don't really know actually. They're just on a break because they've done this big American tour."

Have you always been a Def Leppard fan?

"Yeah I mean I love the early stuff when they were more. They've certainly evolved as a band. I mean the first few albums were definitely a lot rawer and a lot heavier. Like High 'n' Dry and then they went into Pyromania which sort of saw them going in a different direction slightly. It was a bit slicker and higher production values and then Hysteria just took it to the next level you know. And that's sort of to do with Mutt Lange who produced High 'n' Dry, Pyromania and Hysteria. I mean he was sort of like their George Martin. You know how The Beatles had George Martin. Mutt Lange was like that for Def Leppard."

What was going on for you when Hysteria was coming out 30 years ago?

"I was a kid. So I was probably just mucking about. I was a bout seven of eight I think. Yeah about that sort of age. So yeah I wasn't doing much when that came out. But definitely like I say PSSOM was the song that made me go; 'That's a great song'. And then it wasn't until I got older and revisited the album and dug a little deeper into their catalogue and was just like wow this is a brilliant band."

Worked out what PSSOM actually means

"Yeah exactly. How naive you can be when you're a kid hey?. You know they're a fun band. That's the thing that I love about them. They'll say it themselves. They're not a political band. They're not trying to say anything with their music. They just want they're fans to come to their shows and listen to their music. Forget about their worries, have a good time and you know then go back to it after. Just escape it all for a while."

What about this podcast that you're doing?. What's it called and what are you gonna ask Joe Elliott when you interview him?

"Well, I knew you were gonna ask me what it's called and the thing is I'm quite indecisive so I don't have a name for it yet. I know it's terrible so if anyone wants to help me out there then please do. But it's launching in the beginning of September and it's basically chatting to rock stars, musicians about the tracks that shaped them. So Joe I'm obviously gonna be asking him you know the first song that made him decide he wanted to be a singer. And the first song he ever bought. You know the song that he'd like played at his funeral. So it's just to get a peek into what they like musically. And I did Nuno Bettencourt last week from Extreme, guitarist. So we've got good names coming up like Gene Simmons and David Duchovny who obviously plays Mulder."

So not just musicians then?

"No, I do wanna delve a little bit into actors who like rock music basically."

So you could call it Pour Some Music On Me?

"Oh there you go, that's the title of it!. Well done."

So have the fellas seen your documentary then?

"Yes they have. They have seen it. I worked quite closely with them on it. So when I finished the edit, I sent it over to them and they looked at it and they liked it. Yeah they didn't have too many changes, they didn't have any changes actually. So it was great. They sort of looked at it, liked it and we put it out. So it was great."

We look forward to your podcast then, Pour Some Music On Me

"Yes exactly. Yeah you can go to my socials to find out about that. Kylie Olsson."