Def Leppard News - Rare Def Leppard Hello America 1980 Dutch TV Appearance Footage

Rare Def Leppard Hello America 1980 Dutch TV Appearance Footage

Wednesday, 1st June 2016

Def Leppard 1980.
Screenshot by dltourhistory

Def Leppard played their first show in Holland in September 1980 and footage of a rare TV appearance has been posted online.

The ultra rare appearance sees the band performing 'Hello America' on Dutch TV show TopPop.

This variation of UK show Top Of The Pops aired on the AVRO channel in Holland from 1970 to June 1988.

This was the band's second TV appearance after recording the same song for Top Of The Pops in March 1980 just before their UK tour.

That one was not shown due to the single's chart position. It later surfaced on the 'Historia' home video compilation.

The band played in Leiden, Holland on 13th September 1980 as support to the Scorpions.

This playback performance was likely to have been taped at the same time.

Joe is seen wearing the same outfit he wore on stage at the Reading Festival in late August. The white jacket and white T-Shirt with red hearts on.

The rest of the band also have similar outfits to that show. Steve with his shorter hair and blue boiler suit. Rick is not playing with his regular Ludwig drum kit.

This appearance was not previously known of (unless you watched it in Holland at the time) and has never been mentioned in books or online.

Alongside the TOTP's footage and the two unreleased promo videos from 1979, this is some of the earliest footage of the early line-up performing.

Enjoy this rare gem below courtesy of TopPop who uploaded it to their own YouTube channel.

And check out this cheesy effects added to the footage. Almost the same as those used during that TOTP performance.