Def Leppard News - DEF LEPPARD's JOE ELLIOTT Discusses First Meeting With PHIL COLLEN

Thursday, 8th October 2020

DEF LEPPARD's JOE ELLIOTT Discusses First Meeting With PHIL COLLEN

The Struts 2020

Def Leppard members Joe Elliott and Phil Collen have spoken with The Struts singer Luke Spiller for a new podcast.

The Struts will release their third studio album 'Strange Days' on Friday 16th October.

Joe and Phil have contributed and have spoken with singer Luke Spiller in part one of a new podcast to discuss the album.

They talked about being a British band, the Struts Strange Days album, I Hate How Much I Love You, Do You Love Me/Girl, how Joe and Phil met and Armageddon It's country influences.

The KISS/Girl show Phil mentions at Bingley Hall in Stafford took place on 5th September 1980 a couple of weeks after both Def Leppard and Girl played on the same bill at the Reading Festival.

Girl supported UFO at Sheffield City hall on 28th January, the other show mentioned.

The timing of this is odd as Def Leppard had two shows in London at The Marquee Club on 27th/28th January 1980, both of which were believed to have been played but this interview calls into question night two (for those who care about such things...).

The song I Hate How Much I Want You was released earlier today as a digital download single .

Listen to it below on Spotify and buy the song and listen to the full 27 minute podcast via the link to Loudersound.

Visit the Tour News section. For more news on future tour plans.

Visit the Album News section for more news on new music (based on band member quotes).

The Struts 2020.

Buy 'I Hate How Much I Want You' Online

Amazon - (MP3)

Joe Elliott/Phil Collen - Podcast Part 1 Interview Quotes

I Hate How Much I Want You - Song Origian

Luke Spiller - "With I Hate How Much I Love You I would just sort of like - I'd love to just quickly dive into you know how it came about in sort of like respects to like all three of us. Sort of like getting involved with this track. And I absolutely love it to death. It's one of my favourite moments on the album. For the following reasons. One like the skit, the skit that you and I did at the very beginning Joe was just absolutely brilliant."

Joe Elliott - "I t was I mean it sets the scene. What is does, it sets the tone. Of like you're in lockdown, so how do you talk to somebody like me. Well it's gotta be on the phone. I can't come round and say hi because I'm not allowed."

"But this was such a great song. When I first heard it I thought this is brilliant. I just love it. This is one of the most Glam things on the record. So it totally reminds me of watching Top Of The Pops in 197e. And it's like why would I not wanna be on this song?."

"So you know when you said please sing a line or two. I'm like yeah OK. I can do that. And the lyric is so fun. But the chorus is awesome. The chorus reminds me of Slade, Sweet. All those big what we used to call anthemic like football terrace choruses. It's got them all. And nobody has written a song like that in decades. So an absolute joy to be a part of it. It really is."

KISS - Do You Love Me Cover

Luke Spiller - "I heard that you did in fact open up for KISS while that song was going on. And I heard a rumour that I believe it was Gene Simmons himself in all his satanic glory walked into the dressing room. Found out that you were playing Do You Love Me and said 'You're not f**kin' playing that tonight'. is that true?."

Phil Collen - "No what he...Gene Simmons come in and said here meet my girlfriend. This is Diana Ross. That's what he did. And we went f**k it's Diana Ross. And if you can imagine this so here in Bingley Hall which Joe went to actually. I saw Joe that night at Bingley Hall in Staffordshire. but Diana Ross is at that gig. If you can imagine and flying up into the sky in the venue with Gene Simmons harness on. So definitely. No one said anything like that."

Joe Meeting Phil/Phil joining the band

Phil Collen - 'Well it was a few years before that. I mean we were touring with UFO around England and that's I think definitely we met Joe there. And I think at the Music Machine [in London] right?."

Joe Elliott - "Yeah. the first time I met you Phil is when you were opening for UFO and they'd played the City Hall in Sheffield. And I'd read about you guys in Sounds and obviously you'd read about us in Sounds and what have you. And I went down and I knew Pete Way. I'd met him once before. And I met you that night and we went out for a drink after the gig."

"In fact me, you, Phil Lewis and Steve Clark we went to the Genevieve if you remember this correctly."

Phil Collen - "I do remember yeah."

Joe Elliott - "We went to the Genevieve which was a disco club where a band called Sledgehammer were playing. Who were one of these NOWBHM bands right. And after they'd finished their set we were bollocksed and said can we get up on your gear?. And we did and guess what song we played?. We played Do You Love Me."

Joe Elliott - "Phil sang, Phil Lewis sang it. Steve Clark played bass. You played guitar and I played the drums. And we did Do You Love Me and I think we did You really Got Me as well. And then Steve fell asleep on the drum riser cause he was so hammered."

Phil Collen - "That kind of started it off!."

Joe Elliott - "Yeah. That night you stayed, you stayed at my house. You and Phil Lewis stayed at my house. Because I'll never forget the next morning we got up for breakfast. And me Mum's like..I see you've had a couple of guys staying in the guest room. And they came down with mascara all over the place. And my mother after you'd left she came back down and she says 'There's make up all over the pillow case'."

Joe Elliott - "So this is long before Internet. So I mean obviously we'd had have scraps of paper with landline phone numbers on them. Like next time you're in...So the next time I was down in London. I went to see Girl play the Music Machine and all I remember is Phil played the entire gig with one hand 'cause he was so drunk and his guitar was so loud he just hammered on with his left hand with the right hand in the air all night."

Joe Elliott - "And then Gary Holton from the Heavy metal Kids and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet was there with his kid on his shoulders in the lobby of gig. And me you and him walked out into the street. I don't know where we went. But I ended up staying at your house in Walthamstow that night."

Joe Elliott - "So a friendship was born. And as is well documented you know they went off to do their own thing, second album. We went off to do our own thing and we had Pete Willis on guitar who was causing major ruckus within the band in 1981."

Joe Elliott - "And one momentous night somewhere in the middle of nowhere I phoned Phil up and said can you learn like 12, 15 songs in one day?. And fly out tomorrow and join the band. Well you know in the cold light of day it didn't happen."

Joe Elliott - "But obviously we kept it on the back burner and then when Pete really got out of control half way through making Pyromania. And we were based in London by then. And obviously Phil's 20 miles out, less than. In Walthamstow. I phoned him up and said will you come down and just come and see what's going on. And literally that was the day he joined the band pretty much. You know we sent Pete home and then Phil just came in and Pete never came back."

The Struts - Strange Days Tracklisting