Wednesday, 25th November 2015
The Def Leppard EP
Def Leppard started recording The Def Leppard EP in Hull, England 37 years ago on this day in 1978.
The band travelled to Fairview Studios in Hull, England to spend two days recording their very first vinyl release.
Day one of their first professional recording session took place on 25th November 1978 with guest drummer Frank Noon.
Frank was borrowed from his own group The Next Band specifically for this session after original drummer Tony Kenning was fired on 18th November.
The EP cost £148.50 to make which was borrowed from Joe Elliott Snr.
The EP comprised three tracks - 'Ride Into The Sun', 'Getcha Rocks Off' and 'The Overture'. It was first released in January 1979 on a red label. The band reissued the EP with a Yellow label in May 1979 after signing with their first management team. A limited edition white label version was also put out in 1989 by the then official fan club.
The EP was issued by Phonogram records as their first ever 7" single in September 1979 with 'Getcha Rocks Off' as the lead track. This was their first release for the label after singing to them in early August 1979.
Joe talked about the reasons behind the EP recording in a 2014 video interview for as yet unreleased 'The Bridge' movie.
The Def Leppard EP Back Cover
Joe Elliott - 2014 Interview Quotes
"You do a few shows and you think christ. You know you're playing pubs and workingmen's clubs like do we have to do this for the rest of our lives?. No. We knew some friends that had made an EP. We went in and stole all their ideas. Got all the details of the studio. Borrowed the money off my Dad, begged him can we - you know he emptied his bank account to bank roll this first Def Leppard EP. So we had this vinyl in a picture cover. We had a sleeve - me and me Mum glued them all together. We had a thousand records and we sent them to John Peel and Bob Harris and all these BBC DJ's and all that kind of stuff."
"And it totally just put us into the next stratosphere. We didn't have to play clubs for three years to get noticed. We had A & R men banging on our door within three months because of this EP. That was a bridge, when we made that decision. We're not playing these clubs for the rest of our lives, this is just horrible. So you know we did everything we had to do. I did most of the work in fairness but you know on behalf of us. Now you've got to up your game because there's 11 A & R men who are watching you at Retford Porterhouse. Fuck up now and you're back to the factory you know. I could go on forever, you'll run out of film."
- Def Leppard - The Def Leppard EP Page
- Related News - 23rd November 2015