Wednesday, 27th November 2013
Screenshot by DefDazz/Darren
Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen joined the band exactly 35 years ago today in 1978.
Rick replaced original drummer Tony Kenning who had been fired on 18th November. Rick contacted the band in response to a local newspaper story before they recorded their first EP. The day after they got back to Sheffield Rick Allen attended his audition and got the position as the drummer in Def Leppard which he still holds to this day.
Rick recently celebrated his 50th birthday and launched his second fine art collection in September.
2013 Photo Gallery - Rick Allen aka Camp Out
Animal Instinct 1987 Biography Quotes
"Some time during the week between Tony Kenning's dismissal and the recording of the EP, Joe asked Frank Noon if he would consider joining Def Leppard permanently. Noon declined, remaining faithful to the Next Band. But Keith Strong's "Leopard Loses Skins" item did not go unnoticed. A fifteen-year-old wunderkind, Richard Allen, somehow contacted one of the Leppards and arranged a meeting at the Limit club."
"Rick and two Leppards of undetermined identity had a nice chinwag in the men's toilets at the Limit the week before the band went to Fairview Studio to record."
"But at his audition, the day after Def Leppard returned from Fairview Studio, Rick wowed the band with his whiplash timing, riffle crack sound and his nifty Pearl all-chrome kit. Another drummer turned up for the audition, but he didn't stand a chance. After one number, he was swiftly dispatched into the night. According to Joe, Tony Kenning also turned up and made vague murmurs about getting his old job back. He was too late."
"We asked Rick if he knew Emerald by Thin Lizzy," says Sav. "We played that and suddenly the song sounded six times better than the way we usually played it. We were now in the company of a proper drummer. Even at fifteen he was outstanding."
- Def Leppard - Rick Allen Section
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