Def Leppard News - 23 Years Ago DEF LEPPARD's WORK IT OUT At #1 On UK Rock Chart

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23 Years Ago DEF LEPPARD's WORK IT OUT At #1 On UK Rock Chart

Work It Out 1996.

Def Leppard's classic single Work It Out peaked at Number 22 on the main UK charts on this day in 1996.

The second UK single to be released from the Slang album.

The single had been released in 1st July and was promoted with the band's second appearance on Top Of The Pops in 1996.

In total it spent 3 weeks inside the Top 100

At Number 21 were U2 rhythm section Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jnr with their 'Theme From Mission:Impossible' single.

Fellow rockers and band friends Bon Jovi were also in the Top 30 at Number 28 with 'Hey God'.

The 'Slang' single had peaked at Number 17 on 11th May.

Like 'Slang' it did significantly better on the UK Rock Singles chart by entering at Number 1 on the same day. The third straight Number 1 on this chart after both 'Slang' and 'When Love & Hate Collide'.

'Work It Out' spent a total of 41 weeks on the Rock chart (one at Number 1). 39 of these were from July 1996 up to April 1997 before it re-entered for two weeks in 2000.

The Official UK Rock chart was only set up in 1994.

UK Top Five Singles - 13th July 1996

01 - Fugees - Killing Me Softly
02 - Underworld - Born Slippy
03 - Baddiel/Skinner - Three Lions
04 - Peter Andre FT. Bubbler Ranx - Mysterious Girl
05 - Celine Dion - Because You Loved Me

22 - Def Leppard - Work It Out - (New Entry)

UK Top Five Rock Singles - 13th July 1996

01 - Def Leppard - Work It Out - (New Entry)
02 - Bon Jovi - Hey God
03 - Isms - Dog Eat Dog - (New Entry)
04 - Green day - Brain Stew/Jaded
05 - Queen - Let Me Live

Work It Out - Song Description By Phil Collen 1996

"Viv's demo of this was pure pop and a great song but we wanted to give it a harder edge. This song took ages to get right as we tried to blend certain unusual elements ie... Nine Inch Nails, The Cure, and Bowie; while keeping the rock guitar thing happening. A lot of the stuff we record is due to a process of elimination and this song was no different."

"Joe's vocal was also very different from anything we've done in the past using Iggy Pop and late 70's Bowie as a guideline. Again, this song as almost everything on the album, was a progressive experiment while keeping the element of fun a priority. This is obvious during the middle section where we started to jam, going off on an inspired tangent, a benefit of recording live. The first U.S. single release and some of the coolest drum stuff I've ever heard Rick play."

Vivian Campbell - 1st March 2016 Interview Quotes

"It was so strange. It was my first record with Leppard and this song, one of the very first songs that I contributed to the band, actually ended up being the first single. That was nice, but it was probably the one song that actually ended up being I guess, the most produced. Then probably, ironically, the one that was closest in nature to what people expect of Def Leppard and strangely enough written by the new guy."

UK Promo CD Messages

"Def Leppard Work It Out - Taken from their top 5 album 'Slang', Work It Out is the second release set to follow Slang into the Top 20. The Lepps start their world tour in Bangkok on 28 May and will be reaching the UK in November."

"Work It Out" is the second single taken from Def Leppard's million selling album "Slang", and sees the band taking a radical new direction. The band are currently at US radio and also in South East Asia where they commence their world tour at the end of May."

Def Leppard - Work It Out Single Section
Def Leppard - Slang Album Section
Previous Show - 12th July 2019
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