Def Leppard News - Hysteria Single Released In The UK 28 Years Ago Today

Hysteria Single Released In The UK 28 Years Ago Today

Monday, 23rd November 2015

Def Leppard released their classic Hysteria single 28 years ago on this day in 1987 in the UK.

The single was the third to be released from the 'Hysteria' album of the same name.

It was released on 23rd November 1987 and reached number 26 in the UK Top 40 chart. The third consecutive hit single for the band in the UK following on from the success of 'Animal' and 'Pour Some Sugar On Me'.

Here are some quotes from Sav and Joe on how the song came about during the 'Hysteria' album sessions in Dublin, Ireland.

Plus a quote by Sav from the 'Vault' album booklet.

Hysteria - Rick Savage/Joe Elliott Quotes

Sav - "We'd gotten so far with the recording and writing of Hysteria and we thought that we needed about three more songs. We were looking for more straight-ahead rock songs and we all went away for a weekend and I got together with Phil the guitar player and I played him the opening riff for Hysteria."

"I said 'Look it's an idea I've had for a few months now I mean I know it's not what we're looking for but let's see what we can develop, and he had another part of the song which became bridge of Hysteria and we put the two together and all of a sudden he started coming up with melodies for the verses and the bridge and it happened very quickly and within the space of about two hours we'd got most of the song done."

"We just needed a chorus and we said look leave it 'till Monday cause we've got the germ of a good song here but we don't know whether it's appropriate we don't know whether it's what we need right now let's play it to the rest of the guys on Monday. The guys came in Monday morning and everybody loved it and it was like Wow this could be really big."

Joe - "It was like a complete team effort."

1995 - Vault Liner Note Quotes

Rick Savage - "Me & Phil wrote the bridge and verse one afternoon and auditioned it that night around the fire for some Irish friends. Got a surprising thumbs up."