Def Leppard News - 35 Years Ago DEF LEPPARD's PHOTOGRAPH At Number 66 In The UK

Monday, 19th February 2018

35 Years Ago DEF LEPPARD's PHOTOGRAPH At Number 66 In The UK

Photograph 1983.

Def Leppard's classic Photograph single reached Number 66 in the UK 35 years ago on this day in 1983.

The first single from the 'Pyromania' album had been released on 3rd 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 Quote

"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."

Def Leppard - Photograph Single Section
Def Leppard - Pyromania Album Section
Related News - 17th February 2018
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