Def Leppardthe 1987 album Hysteria sold over 12 million copies in the United States alone and spawned a handful of massive hits. But before all that, the album came out and didn’t really make waves. In an interview with Essentials Radio on the Apple Music Host jenn, Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen said the song that saved the record in the US was “For Some Sugar On Me” thanks to Florida strippers wanting to get naked.
“‘Well, it cracked at first. Hysteria came out, we had spent so much time and money on it. He walked out and was like, disappointed. In England it was great because it was in the top 10 [and so] we’re like, ‘Yeah, that’s cool.’ And in America, it was really slow and it didn’t happen. Second single, did not happen. It was like different running orders, like “Women”, “Animals”, “Hysteria”. “Sugar”, so our albums weren’t paid off, were in debt, and these girls in these strip clubs in Florida keep asking for this song on the local radio because they’re dancing to it, because there’s this sexy groove and it’s got all the stuff we were talking about. There’s this rock stuff, there’s this rap stuff, there’s this heavy drumming and you can apparently dance to it seductively.
“Anyway, they’re asking for it like crazy. It’s starting to catch fire. So it’s on all the stations in Florida, it’s starting to go to number one on the stations. It’s picked up, goes to d ‘other places…so anyway, that’s how it started. And it started a snowball effect. It kicked off and then all of a sudden everyone was like, ‘ Oh my God, this is the best album you’ve ever made. It’s so amazing”…and the album goes to number one, twice, the album ends up selling 12 or 13 million in America, and you go, ‘Wow.’
“But we were well aware of how it stinged when we released it… We were happy because we felt we had made this music which was the best thing we had ever done. So we were really happy about that We were just a little disappointed that there was no reaction until this song was released, and then there was a massive reaction. Just night and day.
Def Leppard during their stadium tour with Motley Crue, Poisonand Joan Jett and the Black Hearts.
8/6 – Boston, MA @ Fenway Parl [Tickets]
8/10 – Buffalo, NY @ New Era Field [Tickets]
8/12 – Pittsburgh, PA @ PNC Park [Tickets]
8/14 – Minneapolis, MN @ US Bank Stadium [Tickets]
8/19 – Houston, TX @ Minute Maid Park [Tickets]
8/21 – San Antonio, TX @ Alamodome [Tickets]
8/22 – Arlington, TX @ Globe Life Park [Tickets]
8/27 – Inglewood, CA @ Sofi Stadium [Tickets]
8/28 – San Diego, CA @ Petco Park [Tickets]
8/31 – Seattle, WA @ T-Mobile Park [Tickets]
9/7 – San Francisco, CA @ Oracle Park [Tickets]
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