Def Leppard News - JOE ELLIOTT On DEF LEPPARD's Early Touring Days/DOWN 'N' OUTZ

Thursday, 9th October 2019

JOE ELLIOTT On DEF LEPPARD's Early Touring Days/DOWN 'N' OUTZ

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Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott has been interviewed about the third Down 'n' Outz studio album with video available.

Joe spoke to Lyndsey Parker of Yahoo! Entertainment to promote the new Down 'n' Outz album. Joe talked about Mott The Hoople/Ian Hunter, Def Leppard's early days, and the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

He mentioned the band's early days and their first show at Westfield School in 1978.

Watch the full interview 6 minute video below.

Down n Outz 2019.

Yahoo! Entertainment - Joe Elliott Interview Quotes - (Transcribed by dltourhistory)

Ian Hunter/Mott The Hoople

"Yes I am on a bit of a mission for that because what we are is what we are. I don't have to sit here and talk about me. Def Leppard takes care of itself. I'm happy to talk about it but I'm not me me me me me. I'd rather talk about other bands. The passion for Mott The Hoople came when I was ten. And then I heard Ian sing a song called The Original Mixed Up Kid on one of these compilation records and I just totally fell in love with the story of the lyric, the voice. And I realised he sounded a lot like Bob Dylan but for some reason I hate Bob Dylan but I love Ian Hunter's version of Bob Dylan."

"Ian was just Dylan-esque but better I thought. And he just had this kind of loner vibe. There was something about him. It was a great cacophony that they made. Individually they weren't necessarily the best musicians in the world. But they made a hell of a sound. But the important thing was the songs were brilliant. They made great songs. They made commentary five years before it's time. A lot of people will hear a song like Violence off the 1973 album and realise that he was actually talking about what would happen in London three years later when the Punk movement started kicking in."

"But for me it was the melodies and the tunes. There's a song called Through The Looking Glass on the album The Hoople which is just the most phenomenal bit of work. As is Marionette which rumour has it then when a young Freddie Mercury was watching Mott on tour they were playing this song Marionette because it's deemed a mini opera. It's quite possible and even the guys in Queen said yeah I can see that. It was the inspiration behind Bohemian Rhapsody. So there's a lot of leakage that went into other stuff. But I can't really explain why I like Mott The Hoople I just do."

"The thing was I'd been telling all these kids at school about Mott when they were still signed to Island Records and like you're missing out on this thingAnd then unbeknowns to us it'd been going off under the radar. They'd moved over the Defries. Bowie had given them this song. They record All The Young Dudes and all of a sudden the whole world changed."

All The Young Dudes

"Everybody's world changed because you can have this conversation with Morrissey, Boy George, Duran Duran, me. Half the Punk bands on the planet. When they heard All The Young Dudes it was a wake up call to there is something for us out there because they felt disfranchised I think from having their own - they weren't in to Uriah Heep or Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin."

"So as a 12 year old when I first heard All The Young Dudes. That and T. Rex Electric Warrior a year before set me on my path."

Def Leppard's Early Days

"Not when we started out no. When we started out we had no option but to play some covers because you couldn't get into venues unless you did. Certainly in the places that we played. You were supposed to be a cover band because the clientele needed to hear stuff they knew. We used to get around that by saying here's a song by...and it would be one of ours. We'd say it was by Des O'Connor or Foreigner or whatever you know. We would say this is a song by Tony Orlando and Dawn and we'd blast into Hello America. And the guy would pay us and go I wasn't so familiar with a lot of them songs but seems to go down quite well so we'll have you back."

"When we first started out before we had any songs we obviously learnt to play stuff. The first song we ever played in the rehearsal place that we had was Suffragette City. We also played Pretty Vacant. The first gig we ever did in the school. We played our entire, everything we'd written. Like 8 or 9 or 10 songs and all the kids were stood around the outside of this gymnasium like..when do they finish?. And then we kinda got this like fake encore and we came out and we did Jailbreak by Thin Lizzy and they went mental."

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Ceremony

"Yes this is our all star jam except it's that song. It's full circle. It's the song that really got me wanting to do all this and now we're actually closing out our induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame with that song. It's like licking the envelope shut."

Mott The Hoople In The RRHOF

"If I've got anything to do with it they will. T. Rex. Mott The Hoople. That'd be about it for now for me. I wouldn't wanna get greedy."

Thanks From Ian Hunter

"Oh every time I see him. He looked me in the eye and he went, well through his shades. He says I know what you're trying to do. I said what?. You're trying to make me famous."