Near the end of recording the album Hysteria,during a production break,lead singer Joe Elliott was jamming with a riff he had come up with two weeks earlier on an acoustic guitar. Producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange,expressing great liking of it,suggested that it be developed into another song.[11]
Although already behind schedule,Lange felt that the album was still missing a strong crossover hit and that this last song had the potential to be one. [citation needed] Within two weeks the song was completed,smoothed out,and included as the 5th track on Hysteria.[12]
Elliott claims the song was at least partially inspired by the Aerosmith and Run-DMC version of "Walk This Way",which made him realize the potential of the mixing of rap and rock.[13]
The song's lyrics were written after Elliott and Lange went to opposite ends of the studio control room and delivered stream-of-consciousness words into a pair of dictaphones while the song's backing track played. They then swapped dictaphones and tried to determine what each other's words were. In the Hysteria episode of the Classic Albums documentary series,Elliott said he thought he heard the phrase "love is like a bomb" on Lange's tape "and that set the whole tone for the lyric."[14] (However,some of the key lyrics as well as the overall theme of the song are similar to those of the song "Sugar,Sugar" by The Archies.)
Two intros were recorded for the song:the studio version has "Step inside,walk this way,you and me babe,hey hey!" and then cuts immediately to the guitar,while the single version has "love is like a bomb" and a slightly longer progression.
By the spring of 1988,Hysteria had sold 3 million copies,which was not enough to cover the album's $5 million production costs. Thus,the band edited footage from an upcoming concert film to make a new promo clip for "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and finally released it as the fourth single in North America.
Reception
The somewhat delayed success of "Pour Some Sugar on Me" (due to the new promo release) helped send Hysteria to number 1 on the Top Pop Albums chart (now the Billboard 200) a year after release,selling four million copies during the single's run. The song reached number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (denied the top spot by "Hold On to the Nights" by Richard Marx),number 18 in the UK Singles Chart and number 26 on the ARIA charts (Australia).[15][16]
MTV ranked "Pour Some Sugar on Me" number 1 in its "Top 300 Videos of All Time" countdown in May 1991. In 2006,VH1 ranked the song number 2 on its list of the "100 Greatest Songs of the '80s."[10]
In 2012,due to royalty conflicts[17] with their record company regarding profits from online sales,the band re-recorded the song,along with "Rock of Ages",under the title "Pour Some Sugar on Me 2012" and released both digitally in June 2012 (similarly,a re-recorded version of the single "Hysteria" entitled "Hysteria (2013 Re-Recorded Version)" was also released online the following year).
The song is a mainstay of classic rock and classic hits stations. In the 2010s,it was added to some adult contemporary stations despite never hitting that chart.[a]
Music video
Two different music videos for the song were produced. The first version (directed by Russell Mulcahy) shows the band playing inside a derelict Irish stately home (Mount Merrion House at Stillorgan,Dublin) while it is being demolished by a wrecking ball and a burly,sledgehammer-wielding,female construction worker played by Rosemary Henderson,who at the time was appearing on Saturday morning children's television in Ireland.
Filmed before the song became a hit in the United States,a second video simply of the band playing the song live was released for American MTV. The American video (directed by Wayne Isham) was edited from the band's full-length 1989 video release,Live:In the Round,in Your Face,recorded at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver,CO,in February 1988. The music video for the song had an extended,distortion-laden intro in lieu of the album version's "Step inside,walk this way" intro. Most compilations use the extended music video-style intro.
This song is notable for being the only Def Leppard song to get airplay on adult contemporary stations despite not registering at all on the AC charts while "Two Steps Behind" did,reaching No. 29.[20]
Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 1976. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage, Joe Elliott, Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen, and Vivian Campbell. They established themselves as part of the new wave of British heavy metal of the early 1980s. Their greatest commercial success came between the early 1980s and mid–1990s.
On Through the Night is the debut studio album by the English rock band Def Leppard, released on 14 March 1980. The album was produced by Tom Allom. It charted at No. 15 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 51 on the Billboard 200. The album features re-recorded versions of "Rocks Off" and "Overture", tracks from the band's original independently released EP, The Def Leppard E.P.. Other tracks are re-recorded versions of early demos, some of which later appeared on the 2020 box set The Early Years 79–81. The album was certified gold by the RIAA on 18 November 1983 and platinum on 9 May 1989.
Hysteria is the fourth studio album by English rock band Def Leppard, released on 3 August 1987, by Mercury Records. The album is the follow-up to the band's 1983 breakthrough, Pyromania. Hysteria's creation took over three years and was plagued by delays, including the aftermath of drummer Rick Allen's accident that cost him his left arm on 31 December 1984. Subsequent to the album's release, Def Leppard published a book titled Animal Instinct: The Def Leppard Story, written by Rolling Stone magazine senior editor David Fricke, on the three-year recording process of Hysteria and the difficult times the band endured through the mid-1980s. Lasting 62 minutes and 32 seconds, it is the band's longest studio album to date.
Adrenalize is the fifth studio album by English rock band Def Leppard, released on 31 March 1992 through Mercury Records. It is the first album by the band recorded without guitarist Steve Clark, who died in 1991, although most songs were written and partially demoed before his death, they were re-recorded solo by Phil Collen in 1991-1992. It is the only album recorded by Def Leppard as a four-member band. Spawning seven singles, four of them – "Let's Get Rocked", "Make Love Like a Man", "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad", and "Stand Up " – were major hits.
Retro Active is a compilation album by the English rock band Def Leppard, released in 1993. The album features touched-up versions of B-sides and previously unreleased recordings from the band's recording sessions from 1984 to 1993. The album charted at number 9 on the Billboard 200 and No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart.
Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995) is the first greatest hits album and the second compilation album by English hard rock band Def Leppard. The album was originally released in the band's home country on 23 October 1995 by Mercury Records. It was released in North America a week later on 31 October by the same label. Vault went on to be certified gold in four countries, platinum in three and multi-platinum in two. In the US, the album is currently certified 5× platinum by the RIAA, and in June 2011 it topped the five million mark in sales there. It won Metal Edge magazine's 1995 Readers' Choice Award for "Best Hits or Compilation Album."
"Love Bites" is a song by English glam metal band Def Leppard from their album Hysteria. The power ballad is Def Leppard's only number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100 and became a top-10 hit in Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand. On the UK Singles Chart, the track peaked at number 11.
The English rock band Def Leppard have released 12 studio albums, four live albums, six compilation albums, and two extended plays. Def Leppard also have sold over 100 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
"Rocket" is a song recorded by English rock band Def Leppard in 1987 from the album Hysteria. It was released in January 1989 as the seventh and final single from the album and reached the Top 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart. It is the band’s final single to be released with guitarist Steve Clark before his death in 1991.
"Animal" is a song recorded by English rock band Def Leppard in 1987 from the album Hysteria. It was the first single release off the album, and became the band's first Top 10 hit in their native UK, reaching No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Armageddon It" is a song by the English rock band Def Leppard from their 1987 album Hysteria. It was released as a single in 1988 and went to No. 3 in the United States, becoming their 3rd top 10 hit. It also reached the top 10 in Canada and New Zealand and the top 20 in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
"Rock of Ages" is a song by Def Leppard from their 1983 album Pyromania. When issued as a single in the United States, the song reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #19 on the Cash Box Top 100. It also hit #1 on the Top Tracks Rock chart.
Best of Def Leppard is a compilation album featuring some of Def Leppard's most popular songs. The album charted at No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart.
"Hysteria" is a song by English rock band Def Leppard. It is the tenth track on their 1987 album of the same name and was released as the album's fourth single in November 1987. The song became the band's first top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 10.
"Tonight" is a song by English hard rock band Def Leppard from their fifth album, Adrenalize (1992). It was released as the sixth international single from Adrenalize and the fifth single in both the US and UK, released by Bludgeon Riffola and Mercury. In the US, the song reached number 13 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks charts and number 62 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also peaked at number 34 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Work It Out" is a 1996 song by the English hard rock band Def Leppard from their gold album Slang. It was written entirely by new guitarist Vivian Campbell. It was released as a single later that year, reaching number six on the US Mainstream Rock chart and number 22 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Promises" is a 1999 song by English rock band Def Leppard from their album Euphoria. It was released as a single later that year and reached number one on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart as well as number forty-one on the U.K. Singles Chart.
"When Love & Hate Collide" is a song by English rock band Def Leppard from their 1995 greatest hits album Vault, written by Joe Elliott and Rick Savage. The power ballad was originally written and demoed for Adrenalize, but not finalized until 1995 for its inclusion on Vault. The demo version is much more heavily produced in the signature style of Hysteria and Adrenalize, and the final version is more stripped down, supposedly toward the style of the following studio album Slang. The original demo version contains the final recorded guitar solo by late original guitarist Steve Clark.
Mirror Ball – Live & More is a double live album by English rock band Def Leppard released on 7 June 2011. The first stand-alone live album released by the band, it contains live recordings, three new studio tracks and a DVD containing both concert and backstage footage.
Def Leppard is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band Def Leppard, released on 30 October 2015. The band's first studio album since 2008's Songs from the Sparkle Lounge and their first on earMUSIC Records, it became their seventh top ten album on the Billboard 200 after debuting at number 10. The first single "Let's Go" was released 15 September 2015, alongside the artwork and track listing.
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