This section looks at the 'Hysteria' single reaching Number 26 in the UK. A third Top 30 chart hit for the band in their homeland following on from 'Animal' and 'Pour Some Sugar On Me'.
"I came up with something, and it became the main riff to the song."
Def Leppard's classic Hysteria single reached Number 26 in the UK chart 32 years ago on this day in 1987.
The third single to be released from the Hysteria album in the UK.
It was released on 16th November 1987 on two CDs, 7/12" and cassette.
It peaked at Number 26 on 5th December after rising up from 31 the week before where it debuted.
The follow up to Pour Some Sugar On Me which reached Number 18 in October 1987.
In all it spent seven weeks on the chart. Three inside the Top 40. The first chart run lasted five weeks before it re-entered for two more weeks in January 1988.
As the band were on tour in the USA they did not appear on Top Of The Pops which might have helped push the single higher.
Shown below are some quotes from Sav and Joe on how the song came about during the 'Hysteria' album sessions in Dublin, Ireland.
T'Pau were at Number One on this day with their single 'China In Your Hand'.
Other rock artists in the chart were Whitesnake at 10 with 'Here I Go Again (1987)' and Anthrax (35).
UK Singles Chart - 5th December 1987
- 01 - T'Pau - China In Your Hand
- 02 - George Harrison - Got My Mind Set On You
- 03 - The Proclaimers - Letter From America
- 04 - Alexander O'Neal - Criticize
- 05 - The Communards - Never Can Say Goodbye
- 26 - Def Leppard - Hysteria - (Peak Position)
Def Leppard 1987
Hysteria - Rick Savage 1995 Interview Quotes
"We all decided to take a weekend off and try and write a commercial rock song. I came up with something, and it became the main riff to the song. Phil thought it was great and he came up with the bridge and sang it to me. We took out some acoustic guitars and played it for some friends. The following Monday, we went back to the studio and everyone was blown away, even though it wasn't the type of song we wanted."
"Stringed instruments can set a mood, and we wanted to do the same thing but do it on guitar. We didn't want to cop out and do a keyboard thing so we got into using E-bows and orchestrating sustained notes with harmonies. It gave that orchestral sound to the guitars."
Def Leppard Hysteria
2004 Best Of Liner Notes - Rick Savage Quote
"Me and Phil wrote the verse and bridge one afternoon. Then auditioned it that night around the fire for some Irish friends. It got a surprising thumbs up. It was a great hard rock song. Side two of the vinyl edition of ‘Hysteria’ is one of the most heavy metal sides of a record we’ve ever done."
2004 Best Of Liner Notes - Joe Elliott Quote
"Rick Allen thought of the title in hospital because people were trying to climb up laundry chutes to get photos of him. If memory serves. The verse was Sav’s. Phil wrote the bridge and the chorus came from Steve. Mutt, Phil, Sav and I wrote the lyrics. There are actually 11 different guitar parts. We glued all those elements together like a model kit and they worked perfectly."
Phil Collen - July 2012 Interview Quotes
"An epic song, that one. We put so much into it. Rick Savage had this idea on guitar, and I literally sang the first verse over the top of it. I said, ‘Oh, I’ve got this bit – I gotta know tonight…’ We took it to Steve, Joe and Mutt, and they added their parts."
"Rick Allen had suggested that we called the album Hysteria, so we decided to call the song the same thing. Once we had the basis for it, it was just a matter of getting all the parts down."
"On the ‘gotta know tonight’ part, we recorded every guitar string separately so that there would be no arpeggiating. Mutt said, ‘I don’t want a keyboard doing it, I want it on guitar.’ It had to sound non-arpeggiated. Because even if you hit a power chord, there’s a certain amount of arpeggiation. But if you hit every note separately, it sounds totally different. It’s a brilliant sound."
"Steve and I played the solo live together in the studio. We did the same notes, but our vibrato techniques were quite different. We both went through Rockmans. I was playing a Strat, and Steve played a Les Paul."
Phil Collen - March 2016 Interview Quote
"The song really is about finding spiritual enlightenment. Not many people know that because it sounds like just getting hysterical, but it's actually about that. It's about finding this deeper thing, whether you believe it or not."
1995 - Vault Liner Note Quotes
Rick Savage
"Me 'n' Phil wrote the verse and bridge one afternoon and auditioned it that night around the fire for some friends. Got a surprising thumbs up!."
Screenshot
Rick Savage - November 2018 Video Interview Quotes
Hysteria
"Another track I'd like to talk about from The Story So Far Disc 1. It's one of my all time favourites. It's Hysteria. It's one of those songs I never kinda get tired of listening to. Never ever get tired of playing. For me it's the highlight of the night when we play the song. There's just a special bond between the audience and the band. Particularly on that song. I don't really know why. It's just that we all sort of come together and...it's just one of those songs that just like the band love, the crowd love as a mutual appreciation."
Writing The Song
"And I remember coming up with the verse idea which is just this very simple jangle. When we were recoding. We were in Paris recording some of the tracks for the Hysteria album. And I just kind of played it to Phil. I played it to Joe. Joe didn't like it initially. I think I remember him saying it sounded too much like a Police song. That we shouldn't be going down there. Oh maybe OK. I played it to Phil and he went no, it's fantastic, it's brilliant. And by the way I've got this bit that'll fit onto it and Phil had this idea for the bridge. 'I gotta know tonight' and it literally just glued right on to the end of this idea that I had."
"And from then there was too much of a song to be sort of ignored. And I think pretty much soon after that Steve came up with the idea of just the chorus chords and the little guitar parts that feature within it. And by that point we got Mutt involved and you know him and Joe just basically finished the thing off. ."
Song Title
"At that point in time it didn't have a title. But when Mutt and Joe came up with this Hysteria idea that's when Rick sort of went well that's what we should call the album. You know I mean it's a great album title. It's a great title. And we went yeah. So it all fell into place. the song came into being. It became sort of the album track of the album which Hysteria to me is kind of a greatest hits in its own right. But It's one of my favourite songs as I say. And it's a buzz to play every single night. It's one of the few songs where I still listen to it and go that's cool."
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