btoth76 Posted January 8, 2013 Posted January 8, 2013 As posted on Defleppard.com: "Today marks the 22nd year since Steve's passing on 8 January, 1991. Always thinking of you Steve. Play some classic DL extra loud today in his memory." Rest in peace, Steve!
kaleb Posted January 8, 2013 Posted January 8, 2013 You can't beat old-school Def Lep with him and Pete Willis on guitar. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBy1jx5PQxM This reminds me of Thin Lizzy. Steve here reminds me of Robbo. When people cut em' down and call them another pretty boy band, I'll show the haters this!
heymisterk Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 Steve was one of the great ones, and - IMHO - one of the most severely underrated rock guitarists and songwriters. Nearly all of the classic Def Lep songs were hung around his riffs, song structure, and even solo style, even though Phil Collen was technically the lead guitarist. He had a very distinctive solo style. And to prove this point, you may have noticed that Def Leppard hasn't done anything of significance since his death. When I was cutting my teeth on more advance rhythm guitar, I played High-n-Dry over and over again. R.I.P., Steve.
kaleb Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 Steve was one of the great ones, and - IMHO - one of the most severely underrated rock guitarists and songwriters. Nearly all of the classic Def Lep songs were hung around his riffs, song structure, and even solo style, even though Phil Collen was technically the lead guitarist. He had a very distinctive solo style. And to prove this point, you may have noticed that Def Leppard hasn't done anything of significance since his death. When I was cutting my teeth on more advance rhythm guitar, I played High-n-Dry over and over again. R.I.P., Steve. Phil and Vivian are awesome (especially Vivian....Dio!), but Steve and Pete Willis man...What a team. Too bad Willis was so insane he got kicked out. I got a feeling that if he continued with the band, Hysteria would have never happened. I could really live without that one.
D28boy Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 You can't beat old-school Def Lep with him and Pete Willis on guitar. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBy1jx5PQxM This reminds me of Thin Lizzy. Steve here reminds me of Robbo. When people cut em' down and call them another pretty boy band, I'll show the haters this! Have to say though I like Leppard alot ( we used to play around the same venues as them back in the day before they went global ) that this just shows how much a band can improve. Thought the song was poor, as was the singing along with the solo. Would agree though that he does look like Robbo...however the playing isn't quite in the same ball park !
Bender 4 Life Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 liked them then....like them now......saw them last in 8/08, Joan Jett opened with an hour of Rock Heaven...then Lep Rocked our azzez off for almost 3 hrs. I even really liked "Yeah"...but just can't get into "Sparkle Lounge"...Mrs.B. loves it though.
stein Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 I thought Clark was the primary lead guitarist? Anyway, not a huge fan here..never bought a record, and never been into them, but you can't have had a radio and not be familiar with nearly every tune they have if you were around in the 80's/90's. Steve Clark was such a big part of the band, it's a lot easier to notice now then it was back then. I don't really know the inner workings, but I'm kinda thinking it wasn't just him, but the interaction with Phil Collen that made it what it was. I don't think Phil is the same without Steve either. You could really tell when it was the 4 peice.
Riffster Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 Too bad Willis was so insane he got kicked out. I got a feeling that if he continued with the band, Hysteria would have never happened. I could really live without that one. Hysteria or anything after
crazytrain513 Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 "Play some classic DL extra loud today in his memory." I do that every day ;) My favorites are actually NOT off the "High N Dry" album, but off the "On Through The Night" album. I can't stop myself from headbanging when I hear "Wasted", "Satellite", or "Rock Brigade" but that's just me. And for those who may be interested, VH1 actually made a pretty decent Def Leppard movie called "Hysteria" a few years ago which tells the Def Leppard story pretty accurately IMHO. RIP Steve
kaleb Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 Hysteria or anything after I agree. I love Pyromania (except for "Photograph" and "Rock of Ages" which I'm sick of), but Phil (while being a great player and person) brought that glam/pretty boy thing to what was pretty much a mean street band (he was previously in Girl, which was all-out glam) to start out with. As I stated before, Steve reminds me of Brian Robertson (both playing-wise and image-wise). I'm sure Robbo and Lizzy altogehter were a big influence on him and the whole band (Joe Elliot is a big Lizzy fan and helped put together the last lineup with Ricky Warwick). Pete reminds me of a young Ace Frehley (the hairdo and that look on his face...), kinda what I imagine he would look like if he was in another band instead of KISS, mixed with Pat Travers (the guitar he has in that performance of "Wasted").
Riffster Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 Kaleb you are a great guy and a rockin' forum brother, and i admire your ability to plug in Ace in every situation. Somehow lol I like the first 3 Def Leppard albums a lot but they sort of sold out from the very first album, Hysteria was a triple layer sell out. By the way does anybody have the 4 song demo from the NWOBHM days?
kaleb Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 Kaleb you are a great guy and a rockin' forum brother, and i admire your ability to plug in Ace in every situation. Somehow lol I like the first 3 Def Leppard albums a lot but they sort of sold out from the very first album, Hysteria was a triple layer sell out. By the way does anybody have the 4 song demo from the NWOBHM days? Only I can make it work! After all, I am an anomaly.... On the Boneyard station on Sirus XM, they play old Willis-era Lep tunes. Usually, the other people in the vehicle can't tell it's them. They're too used to the candy stuff that came later. Steve's tone back in the day was aces. Speaking of Steve's tone, one of his Marshalls (a JCM 800 1959 Super Lead modified. Basically the 4-input non-master 800 that EVERYBODY used but you never hear about with the typical 80s mods.) was on ebay a while back.
Riffster Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 How much did it sell for? I think this is the same model Tom Keifer was talking about on the last issue of Vintage Guitar. Funny how amps used by the famous do not fetch as much as a guitar. Jimmy Page's Orange head sold for like $27,000, any of his guitars and mean any would sell for much more.
heymisterk Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 I believe that Steve Clark made the band: When you look at the songwriting credits for every album through Hysteria, his name is attached to nearly every song. Beyond that, he was responsible for coming up with not only the monster riffs, but also - with "Mutt" Lange - the dizzying manor in which Lep structured many of the songs' bridge sections. I believe there are many, many good rock guitarists, but Clark makes my Top 10.
kaleb Posted January 11, 2013 Posted January 11, 2013 How much did it sell for? I think this is the same model Tom Keifer was talking about on the last issue of Vintage Guitar. Funny how amps used by the famous do not fetch as much as a guitar. Jimmy Page's Orange head sold for like $27,000, any of his guitars and mean any would sell for much more. I can't remember, but it wasn't a crazy price. Just a little above what an old 70s Marshall (around 2k) would cost. I remember considering buying it, so it probably wasn't that much.
Sara Posted January 13, 2013 Posted January 13, 2013 Def Leppard were my introduction to the world of hard rock music, and so they will always have a special place in my heart. Steve Clark was definitely one of the guitar players who was an inspiration to me, and made me want to pick up a guitar in the first place. Stuff like "Switch 625" and the soloing in "Die Hard The Hunter" definitely left a big impression on me at a young age. It is a tragedy that he died so young, he had so much more to offer musically I'm sure. :(
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