Def Leppard News - 34 Years Ago DEF LEPPARD Reissue PHOTOGRAPH Single In The UK

Saturday, 17th February 2018

34 Years Ago DEF LEPPARD Reissue PHOTOGRAPH Single In The UK

Photograph 1984.

Def Leppard reissued their classic Photograph single 34 years ago on this day in 1984 in the UK.

The Marilyn Monroe-inspired song had been released on 3rd February 1983 as the first single from the 'Pyromania' album.

The original reached Number 66 on the UK Top 100 chart but this re-release did not chart.

It was reissued to capitalise on the band's American success and their increased profile in the UK after the second UK tour in December 1983.

The first of two singles released by the band in 1984. The second being the new remixed version of 'BOTH' which would be released in North America in May 1984.

The cover art for this single featured a new design by artist Peter Hill. It was made to look like a wallet stuffed with British one and five pound notes.

The single was issued on regular 7" and two different 12"'s with 'Bringin' On The Heartbreak' and 'Mirror, Mirror (Look Into My Eyes)' and 'BOTH', 'NO NO NO' as B-Sides.

A special 7" version limited to 500 copies featured a gatefold sleeve. The wallet design of the regular 7" was reflected on the inside segments making it look like an opened wallet. Containing an archive photo of Marilyn Monroe on the left side (shown on the advert below) and a live band photo on the right made to look like a Polaroid poking out of the wallet along with UK bank notes and an American Express card.

Read some comments below on the song by Joe from various interviews.

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 1984.

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."

Def Leppard - Photograph 1984 Single Section
Def Leppard - Pyromania Album Section
Related News - 10th February 2018
Back

share this story:

get def leppard news

Stay in touch with the latest updates.

Subscribe to the RSS feed

Subscribe to the Mailing List

explore def leppard tour history