"We're so pleased with the addition of Phil Collen. Phil's been just great to work with...able to contribute a lot to Pyromania and he's been a joy on tour. His addition has made us stronger than ever." -- Joe Elliott.

"He's somebody that we all get on with." -- Rick Savage.

"We expect better things for the future now that Phil's in the group because he's going to contribute a lot more. Playing with him on stage every night is a pleasure." -- Steve Clark.

Though not really the new kid on the block anymore (after all, Phil Collen has been a Def Leppard member since July of 1982 when one half of their lead guitar team, Pete Willis, left), the fact remains the blond haired dynamo was more than able to step into a difficult situation and emerge, along with Joe Elliott, Rick Savage, Rick Allen and Steve Clark, with the LP Pyromania ready to burn up the charts.

It's Phil's guitar licks, in fact, on hits like "Photograph" and "Rock Of Ages" that have helped bring the British Heavy metal babes home to you. And it, because of those changes in band membership Def Lep spent the better part of 1982 off the road and in the studio, this past year brought the hard rockers a "def"fening American response due in no small part to fast and furious Phil - and the guitar he loves so well.

Starting Out

Def Lep's roots are in the industrial city of Sheffield, England, but Phil himself hails from the East End of London. He does share a similar background with his mates though. They're all proud of their workingclass ties, pride first instilled in them by their parents who, by no means well-off, would rather do without than see their kids suffer. That's why, when Phil left school, he was able to persuade his parents to buy him a well-made, if slightly expensive, guitar - because they knew he meant business when it came to making music. As Phil explains it, "I always knew I wanted to be a professional guitarist, so it was important for me to have a good instrument from the start."

The real beginnings of Phil's career happened back when he was 15 years old. A relative stopped by the Collen household with an armload of heavy metal albums. Phil took one listen to Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple (claiming he played Machine Head at least a hundred times that day!) and was hooked! He knew that someday, somehow, he'd be doing something just like that. And when he saw Led Zep's Jimmy Page and Deep Purple's Ritchie Blackmore in concert, well, he knew he'd found the way - via the guitar!

Phil then put all his talent and energy - nothing to be sneezed at! - into his music and cut his teeth in London pub bands. He discovered that he not only loved rock, but loved performing as well! That on-stage feeling of delivering the goods directly couldn't be beat as far as Phil was concerned - and his 5'7", 140lb, perfectly fit bod' made its way all over that stage!

Step two on the ladder to Def Leppard was joining hard rock group Girl in 1979. Phil toured the United Kingdom, Europe and Japan with them, and learned to tame his enthusiastic playing to fit a more disciplined group. "There's a definite art to working in such a unit," Phil has said. Since Girl was a two (lead) guitar outfit as well, it proved good training for sharing fret-ful duty with Def Lep's Steve.

And Then There Was Def Lep!

Playing in and around London, brought Phil into the rock 'n roll circuit and he soon began to run with the Def Leppard pack - they jammed together every once in a while and did a whole lot of hanging out together. So when Pete bowed out, the logical choice was of course Phil, and he - being a natural - leaped at the chance!

So Joe and the boys invited Phil to hang out for a couple of days to test the waters. After Phil showed up with the slick guitar licks you hear on "Stagefright," the matter was settled without further ado!

Phil was welcomed warmly into the rock 'n roll family of Def Leppard, and it's acknowledged too that he brought with him a fresh supply of musicianship, complementing Steve in a new, exciting way. He was thrilled to be playing with his pals and his infectious attitude caught on, charging Def Lep up to new heights.

Phil's secret weapon has always been to carefully work out a solo into a song - he feels it should be a natural part of the song and, "not stick out like a sore thumb." Together, Phil and Steve are quite a team, bringing you those trademark solos. And though Phil, at 25, is the oldest Leppard and doesn't consider the road particularly glamorous - don't worry - cause he's not about to settle down. While on tour he'll take in local happenings or relax by watching MTV - whatever may be the case, guitars, guitars, are on his mind. In fact, Phil's a bonafide collector - starting with the guitar his parents first bought - and now has over a dozen different models.

All in all, Phil Collen's fun, upbeat philosophy, down to earth ways - and good looks too! - fit like a missing piece to the Def Leppard jigsaw puzzle and those shakers and movers have Def-Lep-initely come into their own!
By 16 Mag 1984.