Tuesday, 4th July 2017
Def Leppard released their classic Love Bites single 29 years ago on this day in 1988 in the UK.
The fifth single to be released from the 'Hysteria' album in the UK.
It was released on 4th July 1988 reaching Number 11 and spent five weeks on the UK chart.
The release date coincided with US Independence Day and the song would go on to become their one and only Number One single in the USA.
In the UK it was advertised as the "Final single from the Hysteria album".
For this reason the special 12" collectors edition of the single featured four extra card sleeves. Together with 'Love Bites' and the first four UK 12" single covers, these extra four pieces made up the full 'Hysteria' album cover.
This was the only way to use the single covers to make up the full album. Only five 7" covers could be used in the UK and six in the USA/Canada.
'Rocket' would go on to be the sixth single from the album in the UK. It featured a unique cover that wasn't one of the nine segments of the main album cover design.
Read some quotes about the song below.
UK Single Advert
Def Leppard Love Bites - Band Quotes
Phil Collen
"That was written by Mutt. When he first showed it to us, it sounded a bit country-and western. Mutt has always been a big fan of country music. He recently produced his wife's album (Shania Twain's multiplatinum "The Woman in Me"), and it's one of the biggest-selling country releases. For "Love Bites," we just added Def Leppard guitars to it. There was a harmony guitar thing that me and Steve did where we orchestrated the chords. Steve and I jammed the song out with a drum box, and recorded it. The backing track was recorded live, and it ended up on the record. The song went on to become our first and only number-one U.S. Single."
Phil Collen
"It made my Mum cry. That's how I knew it was special. It was actually a country and western song when Mutt Lange played his demo to Steve Clark and I. He always loved the Eagles. We goofed around with it quite a lot to Lepparddise it. But it's essence was kept."
Joe Elliott
"It was a play on words. When somebody chews on your neck, you get a bruise. We're aware of the fact that in Britain, love bites, you guys call them hickeys. We call them love bites. The idea of it was that it's like, love bites, love bleeds. It was a case of taking it and just showing how the English language is an awkward beast. Many words mean many different things."
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- Def Leppard - Love Bites Single Section
- Def Leppard - Hysteria Album Section
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