Def Leppard News - 29 Years Ago Hysteria Becomes Def Leppard's First US Top Ten Hit

29 Years Ago Hysteria Becomes Def Leppard's First US Top Ten Hit

Sunday, 26th March 2017

Def Leppard's classic Hysteria single reached Number 10 on the Billboard Top 100 chart on this day in 1988.

The third single from the album of the same name spent 16 weeks on the chart.

This was the first Top 10 single for the band in the USA.

They had achieved their first ever Top Ten single (Animal #6) in the UK in August 1987 and first Number One album (Hysteria).

It had been released in the USA on 6th January 1988 following the UK release in late 1987.

It entered the chart at number 66 in January and would peak in its 11th week on the chart. In total it spent five weeks inside the Top 20, four of those in the Top 15.

This song helped pave the way for bigger success with the next three US singles - PSSOM, Love Bites and Armageddon It which all went Top Five.

Here are some quotes from Sav and Joe on how the song came about during the 'Hysteria' album sessions in Dublin, Ireland.

Michael Jackson was at Number One in this week with the single 'Man In The Mirror'.

Two other songs on the Hot 100 had Leppard connections. Billy Ocean's future Number 1 hit 'Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car' was co-written and produced by Mutt Lange.

Whitesnake were at Number 51 with 'Give Me All Your Love'. The video and '88 remix version of which featured (future Leppard) Vivian Campbell's only recorded guitar solo for the band which he was still on tour with at the time.

Other rock acts in the Top 40 at the same time included David Lee Roth (14) and Aerosmith (20).

US Hot 100 Chart - 26th March 1988

01 - Michael Jackson - Man In The Mirror
02 - Richard Marx - Endless Summer Nights
03 - Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up
04 - Debbie Gibson - Out Of The Blue
05 - Billy Ocean - Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car
10 - Def Leppard - Hysteria - (Peak Position)

Hysteria - Rick Savage/Joe Elliott Quotes

Sav - "We'd gotten so far with the recording and writing of Hysteria and we thought that we needed about three more songs. We were looking for more straight-ahead rock songs and we all went away for a weekend and I got together with Phil the guitar player and I played him the opening riff for Hysteria."

"I said 'Look it's an idea I've had for a few months now I mean I know it's not what we're looking for but let's see what we can develop, and he had another part of the song which became bridge of Hysteria and we put the two together and all of a sudden he started coming up with melodies for the verses and the bridge and it happened very quickly and within the space of about two hours we'd got most of the song done."

"We just needed a chorus and we said look leave it 'till Monday cause we've got the germ of a good song here but we don't know whether it's appropriate we don't know whether it's what we need right now let's play it to the rest of the guys on Monday. The guys came in Monday morning and everybody loved it and it was like Wow this could be really big."

Joe - "It was like a complete team effort."

1995 - Vault Liner Note Quotes

Rick Savage - "Me and Phil wrote the bridge and verse one afternoon and auditioned it that night around the fire for some Irish friends. Got a surprising thumbs up."