30 Years of HYSTERIA by Def Leppard

Andie Airfix, legendary graphic designer, signing one of his Limited Edition prints, celebrating 30 years of his iconic album sleeve design for ‘HYSTERIA’.

The album has sold over 25,000,000 copies worldwide.

This print is available exclusively from St Paul’s Gallery

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2015 – THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS

Apologies for the crazy length of time since the last blog but been away a lot organising various projects for 2015. More on that later …

Kept in touch via the inescapable Twitter @andieairfix
with #MoodOfTheDay and #AirfixArchives. Twitter feed and follow …

 First … The Holidays. I hope you all had a wonderful time …

Secondly … I’d like to thank everyone who had The Inclination and The Taste to buy Airfix Editions over the holiday period.

Thank You all.

Some Prints and Editions are still available of course …
METALLICA, BOWIE, MADONNA, ROLLING STONES, DEF LEPPARD, LED ZEPPELIN, JIMI HENDRIX and more. Go on … you know you want to … andieairfix.com

To welcome you into 2015, I’d like to take the opportunity to thank my followers on Twitter and those loyal to my blog with a quote I love from the wonderfully anarchic and irreverent world of one of America’s greatest novelists and comic writers.

“HELLO BABIES. WELCOME TO THE EARTH.
IT’S HOT IN THE SUMMER
AND COLD IN THE WINTER.
IT’S ROUND AND WET AND CROWDED …

AT THE OUTSIDE, BABIES, YOU’VE GOT
ABOUT A HUNDRED YEARS HERE.
THERE’S ONLY ONE RULE
THAT I KNOW OF, BABIES
– GOD DAMN IT,
YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIND.”

More quotes at KURT VONNEGUT

A Happy, Healthy, Prosperous and Peaceful New Year to You from Andie Airfix at

 

I will leave you with an image commenting on the tragedy in Paris yesterday. It is poignant, wonderfully direct and implies hope and defiance in equal measure. Brilliant.

 

More very soon on Plans for 2015 … including taking a one-man show to Japan (and maybe more places!)
Finally on the road to publishing a novel
‘ I N V A G E N T S ‘

and a design book entitled – yes you guessed it
‘B*B G#LD*F STOLE MY SUNGLASSES’

Later and soon,
As ever
&ie

DOO DOO-DOO DOO-DOO DOO-DOO-DOO

What an extraordinary evening it was.

Thank you – all who were involved with my ‘gig’ at the ‘Moulin Rouge’ Spiegeltent as part of the Brighton Fringe – particularly Richard, Jo, Mandy and the guest keyboard player, Richard Clark-Monks. A very special thanks to Adrian and all those at the Tent who made the performance happen and run so smoothly.

Early on in my chat I was talking about Holly Woodlawn – the Warhol Superstar …

 

… and major player as part of  the Warhol Factory in New York.
Lou Reed immortalised Holly …

“Holly came from Miami, F.L.A.
Hitch-hiked her way across the U.S.A.
Plucked her eyebrows on the way
Shaved her legs and then he was a she
She says, “Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side”
He said, “Hey honey, take a walk on the wild side“

Halfway through my stories of spending 3 weeks with Holly in London,
(see Blog ’50: LOU REED – ‘Life-Changer’ for details!)
someone unexpectedly walked towards the stage. I did a real double-take. It was the legend HERBIE FLOWERS. Herbie Flowers was a founding member of the group BLUE MINK, featured in a mid-1970s line-up of T-REX and later played bass with many superstars including David Bowie and Paul McCartney. I had NO idea he would be appearing and I sat down on the stage and listened to his wonderful story about how the classic bass line was created in the studio with LOU REED. Watching him play his bass to explain how the riff developed was one of those moments of history for me

Thank You Herbie Flowers – you made my day/week/year …

The talks ‘Graphic Design as an Extreme Sport‘ will continue and who will show up next time I wonder?
Who knows? – not me – not yet.

Make sure you check out the rest of the blog for stories of working with ‘Megastars’!

Enjoy
&ie

 

 

Rock Gods and Spoilt Brats at the infamous Spiegeltent in Brighton

Hello All,

Preparations are now well under way for fun, drinking and debauchery at the ….

On Friday 16th May 2014 from 6-7 pm …

… I’m very excited and honoured to be asked to talk at the famous ‘Moulin Rouge’ Spiegeltent as part of Brighton Fringe.  After the country’s largest music festival ‘The Great Escape‘, I shall be chatting about how iconic designs are created for legendary music stars in the utterly insane world of Pop Music and Rock’n’Roll, and telling stories of what it’s like to work with music’s unpredictable ‘megastars’ …

Starting Out • ‘PYROMANIA‘ and 9/11 • Dealing with ‘difficult’ clients • Creating ‘HYSTERIA‘ • PETE BURNS tells a few home truths to Sony • Pre-computer Techniques • “You’ll never work in the music industry again” • Finding allies in business • With METALLICA honesty always wins • Buttock-clenching embarrassment at opening night of ROLLING STONES tour • Joys of Typography • Working at Clarence House • Get out and about • Designers ultimate nightmare • The pressures working on LIVE AID and LIVE 8 • Axl Rose flips out • Fans and Parties • Lessons from PAUL McCARTNEY • The wonderful Victor • Challenges from LED ZEPPELIN and much more.

The venue is hardly your average tent  …

… but this extravagant and colourful venue was erected in less than 5 hours !!!  The original Spiegeltents were the ‘domain of night-owls, heartbreakers and dream-chasers’. They were legendary and still are.

Don’t miss out.
Book your tickets now at brighton fringe website
or Box Office on 01273 917272

 

 

AC/DC Logo Explodes

It’s that time of year again …
(sssshhhh) – 

and so, naturally, you’re out there looking for ideal gifts to shower on your loved ones to celebrate the occasion. And can you find anything that’s cool enough. Of course you can’t – it’s all predictably dull and boring for us music fans.

Well – look no further – problem solved …

Sticking very firmly to the belief of creating …
art that DOES NOT match the sofa …
Here’s a solution for all you Rock’n’Rollers.

Click HERE to see Limited Editions

Andie Airfix Limited Editions bring something unique to Christmas. They’re cool, very affordable and ideal for music fans. Here’s a brand NEW edition.
available from November 18th 2013 …

Created from original pen and ink/pencil drawing of the logo for the Ballbreaker World Tour in 1995. This is pre-computer and was completely hand-drawn (very tricky to do!)

Don’t forget the recently released  ‘Ninja Star 1′ & Ninja Star 2’:  2 METALLICA editions created for the AIRFIX LOUNGE last March, editions Lars Ulrich, METALLICA’s drummer described as ‘AWESOME!‘ …

Editions also include:
LED ZEPPELIN  DAVID BOWIE  JIMI HENDRIX
THE ROLLING STONES  THE BEATLES  MADONNA
DEF LEPPARD and LITTLE RICHARD.

CLICK HERE to see Limited Editions

Order NOW to guarantee Christmas delivery worldwide.

All Editions are printed on the highest grade, heavyweight art paper by the latest digital technology to ensure the richest colours and to maintain the finest of detail.

Problem is – and I feel obliged to inform you – that many who purchase Andie Airfix Limited Editions, somehow forget (?!) to send them on to the people they bought them for. Shocking behaviour. The solution is obvious of course – buy one for yourself too – and everyone will be happy.

More very soon …
As ever
&ie

ART: METALLICA, LED ZEPPELIN, HENDRIX, DEF LEPPARD

Archiving always throws up some oddball artwork ….

OWN SOME ART THAT DOESN’T MATCH THE SOFA

With literally 1000’s of items to catalogue there are always a few items that don’t really fit into categories: they arrive late or unannounced, are stuffed in some envelope or stuck to the back of something else. They certainly have value but can be released more randomly than through the AIRFIX ARCHIVES (GALLERY ONE opening in September by the way).

To give fans a chance for a real bargain – a few of these Little Rogues have been dropped into e-Bay.

Click here to see them.

High quality photographic proofs for Metallica, artist proofs editions of Zeppelin – and more.

Check it out. Best of luck.

Over the next few weeks I’ll do the same – getting stuff out for FANS. Stay in tune with twitterings and bloggerings.

As ever – &ie

FREE EXHIBITION – METALLICA and MORE

For those of you heading to Brighton for The Great Escape

… Visit the AIRFIX LOUNGE at BRIGHTON FRINGE
(open 10-6pm Friday17/Saturday18/Sunday19 May) …

SPACE@CREATE, New England House, York Hill, BN1 4GH. (Fringe Venue 19)

to see original Metallica artwork … LIVE SHIT, GARAGE INC, LOAD/RE-LOAD and my tribute ‘painting’.

This 6 foot wide 5-panel multi-media piece, dedicated to Cliff Burton, comprises of photos, muslin, metal wires and staples.

Other work includes …

original drawings for Scary Guy …

Metallica logos for LOAD & RE-LOAD project …

and the 2 editions Lars Ulrich of Metallica called ‘Awesome!’

GET ON DOWN …

Details of Exhibition at andieairfix.com

CHECK IT OUT.

Enjoy the weekend in this fantastic town

&ie

20. DEF LEPPARD – Part Six

Well, here we go with the last DEF LEPPARD blog – though I’m sure they’ll crop up again later. Promise.

‘Euphoria’ …

‘Euphoria‘ was a difficult one, but challenge is always welcomed and usually beneficial. I hadn’t worked with the guys for seven years. They’d decided to use another graphic designer after ‘Adrenalize’, which is entirely their prerogative of course. When it first happened to me – a band using a new designer – I was upset and probably a little defensive too. You soon realise though – not to take it personally. With experience you learn to understand that a combination of factors contributes to the decision. Things change that’s all – priorities, record labels, management, trends, record sales and visual styles. Change is the one thing that’s inevitable and should be embraced.

Of course, I was disappointed. I’d worked with DEF LEPPARD throughout their phenomenal rise to fame, sharing exciting, tragic and amazing times, so I knew I would miss working with them enormously. It sounds cleched I know, but  after working with them for so long and enjoying it so much, it took a while to adjust to – professionally and emotionally. It’s strange though – writing the blog about working with the band made me realise there were things I probably didn’t fully appreciate at the time. The ease of the way the design process worked with the band on ‘Pyromania’, ‘Hysteria’ and ‘Adrenalize’ was, in some ways, taken for granted. Now, in retrospect, I see what a fortunate and mutually creative experience it was for all of us.

In 1998 I was asked to do ‘Euphoria’. I knew it was going to be tough. I’d checked out the interim releases – ‘Retro Active’ (a collection of ‘B’-sides and unreleased material from 1983/4) ‘Vault’, (their first collection of greatest hits) and ‘Slang’ (a serious musical departure) and the artwork for each was as disparate as the three albums. ‘Euphoria’, we all felt, had to re-establish some ground rules. The band had returned to its classic sound with the album and it was logical to do the same with the graphics – back to basics so to speak. We decided, almost from the beginning, to pare right down and concentrate on their iconic (and established) logo.

To introduce the new look, I worked on a promo CD. It was simple and retrospective but contemporary too. Crucially it was a ‘classic’ design reflecting the content of the CD. I still like this cover for many reasons. It’s apparent simplicity is deceptive. Although it’s essentially an exercise in typography, every aspect of it was considered very carefully – the spaces between every single letter (remember ‘kerning’ in ’11. DEAD OR ALIVE – Part One’?) were adjusted, especially in the title; the gradation of colour adds dimension to an otherwise flat image and the three components are perfectly balanced and placed. The title typefaces, using heavy and light versions of the same typeface works well to define the play on words of ‘DEF’ and ‘DEFINITIVE’. I see this style used everywhere now …

… in our interwebworld where spaceshavebecomeredundant

and words need to be separated visually without them.

The CD sleeve presented the logo as a three-dimensional lenticular image. Different versions of the image were combined to create the CD booklet cover. This is how the printed CD cover looks outside its customised case …

Inside its lenticular CD case the image sharpens, and the logo and the ‘lightbursts’ are animated. Here, unfortunately, I can only show you one of the several images which appear when the case is flipped back and forth – creating the animated effect …

I can understand why, after three strong image-based album designs, that this cover appears somewhat simplistic and I do understand Roland’s ‘comment’ – ‘Pyromania, great, Hysteria, genius ! Euphoria did really suck tho, nothing a 5 year old can’t do with Photoshop.’ (thanks Roland!) – but 15 years after the first designs, considerations were very different. As I’ve said before, when vinyl virtually disappeared, I found the CD cover size and format inhibiting and frustrating. A 12-inch square provided a canvas to be experimentally creative – allowing additional, interesting and detailed elements of design to be included – giving the sleeve depth and providing fans opportunity to explore different levels of artwork.

Imagine these classic vinyl sleeves being created for a 5-inch format. I don’t think so …

Because of the limited size of the CD format the design had to be more direct. As frustrating as it was it had to be a major consideration. The concept of using the emblematic logo carried through into the inner packaging. The CD insert opened out to a six-panel (28-inch wide) design, using the logo as a background to five of them. It was very satisfying creating that kind of scale within such a small packaging format – a yearning I guess for the luxury of designing for 12-inch vinyl …

‘Euphoria’ sold 100,000 units in its first week of release and the single ‘Promises’ (co-written by former producer, John ‘Mutte’ Lange) topped the US Billboard charts, a position the band hadn’t acheived for over six years …

… and the design concept was developed for the single releases, again bold and simple was the essence …

In 2001 I worked on a double DVD release which involved using elements from all four albums I’d created. It was a great project to work on and very enjoyable. Not only was it a history of DEF LEPPARD’s amazing achievements – it was also a condensed archive of the artwork I’d done for them.

Where to from here?

Well, Joe’s said to me …‘We’ll get you involved in the box set (if we ever do one!!) … I hope ……’  and record companies are beginning to release music in a new format – Edition Box Sets with innovative packaging and content. It would be an ideal opportunity to showcase some of the art and sketches – the stuff you all raved about on the blog …

After so long it would be cool to include stuff ‘never before seen’. It’s an over-used phrase but in this case it would be true. The guys certainly deserve something totally original – and so do the fans. Also from all the comments and e-mails from DEF LEPPARD fans on the blog, I know I have serious support. In the incredibly perceptive and discerning words of Stephie (!?) … ‘I always thought the Pyromania and Hysteria covers were unique and ahead of their time. They were nothing like the other band’s cover art and they always stood out. I wish you were still designing DL’s cover art. Perhaps on the next?’ …

Let’s see. It’s certainly something I’d love to do. I’ll keep you informed of progress. I’m still seriously considering an exhibition and publishing a book of all the art and the various components. What do you think?

Don’t disappear all you DEF LEPPARD fans! The blog will now move on from The Boyz (for now) but I promise you what follows will be fun and entertaining. There will be a Design Summary soon and, for those of you interested in the design process – you’ll be astonished how much you’ve learnt.

NEXT: Paul McCartney and The Mouse.

19. THE COMPETITION WINNERS

So … we gathered on Wednesday to find the three ‘FAN’TASTICO’S who win the competition. The screaming crowds were kept at bay outside the pub and those inside cheered constantly as the four of us read the 24 final round winners. The judges ….

… scored each story with a maximum of 10 points each – and after a couple of hours we handed our score sheets to our Independant Adjudicator and our Competition Director who added up the scores to find the overall winners. The atmosphere was electric as the Adjudicator handed us the envelope containing the 3 winners. The crowds outside were suddenly silent, faces pressed against the windows in anticipation. In the pub people strained forward, holding their breath …

I stood up. ‘And the winner is …’

(I kept them hanging on for nearly an hour)

‘The winner is …. KIM!’  

Thunderous applause and the crowd outside went wild.
‘KIM KIM KIM’ they chanted.

So here’s Kim’s story. Her unswerving dedication, loyalty over such a long time and her love of music impressed us all. So did her writing. Congratulations!

Please note – One or two typos have been corrected but all entries are published exactly as they were written.

 

KIM – FIRST PRIZE (36 points)

My hobby started almost 30 years ago. I say hobby because that’s what it has been for me. I have been very lucky to have seen every tour that Def Leppard has done in the U.S., most I have seen numerous times. As a short story I have to tell you about the Hysteria tour. What a show—I had read that when the stadium almost cleared at the end of the show, the guys would come out from under the stage. As the stadium started to clear, the ushers were trying to get me to leave and I just kept pleading that as soon as they came out I would leave. At the time, Joe was the favorite and as soon as I saw him I just yelled his name and he looked up with that gorgeous grin of his and waved. I will never forget that moment and how I felt, I sit down in the seat and cryed with joy.

Well now, I was really hooked. My collection of anything Def Leppard had begun. It was also at this time that one concert was just not enough, so I would see them as many times as I could in surrounding states. That still wasn’t enough at times. NO I’m not crazy or a stalker but they just have IT. IT just makes you feel great, IT is something that I have yet to understand myself. I just knew that I needed more of IT!!! So the story begins during the SLANG tour. Over the phone with friends that I had made, we made plans to see DL

Sorry, I’m tired and hit the wrong button. As I was saying, we made plans to see them as many times as we could. The first leg of my tour began in Cleveland, Ohio where I met all my friends I had made just because of DL. I had opted out of my beach vacation to travel north and follow the guys for the opportunity to meet them. SSoooooooo well worth every penny. I had most of my tickets in hand for the concerts which I payed a pretty penny for. I was in the first, second and third rows to every show–and in Cleveland is where my long wait to meet them finally came true. We were staying in the same hotel as the guys and we knew that they would go to the bar in the hotel after the show. It was so crowded and I was so nervous. Moving through the small bar I start getting extremely nervous—WHAT DO I SAY? DON’T ACT STUPID! LET THEM KNOW HOW MUCH THEY MEAN TO YOU!! All going through my head. I got very close to Joe, but I just couldn’t make myself get closer. He moves to the bar and sits down, he’s talking to someone and I see three seats open up across from him. I grabbed the two closest friends I had made and we sat for a while across the way. Yes, I was listening to him talk and NO I wasn’t easedropping. Well I guess I was, but I couldn’t tell you what it was about, I just wanted to hear his voice. Of course I had to have a drink I wasn’t going to be able to approach him if I didn’t. So I sit, had a Crown and Coke and listened to him just talk. I had my nerve and knew that when he made a move I was going to be there. And he did and I did, he hugged me and was so gracious to me and we took a picture and I didn’t make a fool of myself. There, what more could I ask for? I felt very blessed because I had seen him earlier get really hateful with someone and it scared my away. Later, I learned he had perfect right to say and do what he did.

As we were leaving the bar , Phil and his then girlfriend Anita were coming in the door. What was so ironic was that Anita had come down during the show and danced with us during the song SLANG. During the show we had no idea who she was. She acknowledged us as she approached us telling Phil she had danced with us at the show. We took pictures and talked for a while. She found out we were going to several other shows and promised to find us because she always came out in the crowd during the SLANG song. And she did! What a nice person and beautiful at that.

After that night, I knew that hands down Phil had to be the nicest guy ever. We traveled through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and back to Ohio during that trip and I had so many more wonderful memories of the guys and the shows. We were on a first name basis speaking to one another in the hotels, whether we were on the elevator coming or going from the hotel or even in the hallway. It was magical for me because I loved their music so much and had followed their career since the beginning–On Through The Night beginning. In Indianapolis, Joe turned and pointed right at me and sang to me. That was one of the shows that I had front row seats. In Cinncinatti we spent a couple days in the same hotel while they were off a day and that’s when I finally got to meet Rick Allen. What an inspiration he is and he was so nice to acknowledge that he had seen us at the last few shows and asked how we were enjoying them. Amazing!!! Right!!!

It wasn’t over! My friends and I decided after we went home that we just had to go the weekend to the Dallas, Austin and Houston shows. And yes we were there. We fly into Dallas and see Def Leppard that night. Then we rent a car and drive to Austin and stay in the same hotel as them again. I remember walking through the sitting area as we had checked into our room and came down for a walk–someone calling out my name and thinking to myself, WHO KNOWS ME HERE? I’m from Tennessee. I turn and see Phil who was sitting in a chair reading a book. It had been about a month since the trip north and HE REMEMBERED MY NAME!!!!!! We chated and he was amazed we were seeing them the three nights they were in Texas. He said, ” You guys must be superfans!” and laughed. At most of the shows we went to, we were usually in front of Phil who is great about acknowledging you in the crowd and this trip was no different. I got to talk more to Sav and Joe during this trip. Also during this trip I got a 3 ft by 3 ft poster signed by all of them. They had never seen the poster before and thought is was cool. It was the eye from the Adenalize album and it was made out of a hard plastic.

It still wasn’t over for us because they hadn’t been to my state yet and that was even more than I could hope for. A week or so later we traveled to Atlanta, GA to see them. As we were driving in the city trying to find the box office to get tickets we heard on the radio that if you had the most tickets to different shows during this tour you would win front row seats. We ( my same 2 side kicks that I had shared all this with ) looked at each other and for no reason we could think of still had all our ticket stubbs in our purses and wallets. They had been to a few that I hadn’t went to and I had went to a few that they hadn’t went to. We counted and lucky number 13 popped up. We won front row that night and couldn’t believe we had brought them with us. Like what can you do with used concert tickets??????? WIN FRONT ROW SEATS I SAY!!! We still had my town Nashville, TN. It would be the last one, we all knew it. We had a great ride, an unforgetable journey so what more could happen? Well I’ll tell you——I ONLY TOOK PHIL AND ANITA ….IN MY CAR……TO A BAGLE SHOP THE MORNING AFTER THE NASHVILLE SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!Yes I had Phil Collen in the front seat of my Trans Am. I took a picture of them at the back of my car because my license plate said Def Leppard. I’ll not give out the exact letters but Phil knew what it said. So I have to say I feel very blessed to have these and even more memories since then. Not many people get to meet who they idolize and I feel very lucky. I also have had a child since those days and she has become a fan herself. I always joked to my family that if anything ever happened to me, not to sale my Def Leppard memorbillia in a yard sale. I have some nice pieces and some that are worth a little money. I know I have invested a lot of money in it. Now, I have my daughter and I know she will take care of it and it will live on. She is a fan herself and has a few memories with Phil. He remembered me on the next tour. About 4 years later I took my daughter to see them and he was like WOW you have a child this time. She hasn’t actually met them yet but Phil signed her guitar during the Sparkle Lounge tour from the stage and Joe pointed and sang to her. I can say, “I know how she feels!” And I feel like her day will come when she does meet them. She loves the stories I tell her and loves looking at my pictures and she tells all her friends that her mom has met Def Leppard. I think it was pretty cool and I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I loved living it!!!!!!!!

The second prize goes to Vicki. Once again – sheer dedication and a mission that took years to acheive has to be applauded. Brilliant – and the tattoos are testament to your unbelievable tenacity.

Vicki Brown – SECOND PRIZE (33 points)

“FAN”alized

 1983 was the year that changed my life forever…

I heard my first Def Leppard song “Photograph”, I  was 14 and I was hooked. I had become a diehard fan virtually overnight.. As a young teen I fantasized about meeting my heros and as the years passed that turned into a lifelong dream. And just like any other fan , I wanted autograph’s!

As I got older my collection of memorabilia grew! I had to have everything!!  Oh,  did I mention that I also became a fan of tattoos? So it just seemed natural that I would get a Def Leppard tat….okay maybe two.

On my upper arm is the “Hysteria” album cover and on my upper leg is the “Adrenalize” eyeball. On completion of the Adrenalize tattoo, it hit me then…..I wanted that autographed!!!

 

Fast forwarding a few years….It wasn’t until  2001, that I won a radio contest on Q107 (Toronto Ontario Canada) I was lucky enough to enjoy an acoustic performance by Joe and Phil promoting there new album X, along with 100 other lucky winners. At the end of the night my friend Joanne pushed me to the stage, where I was able to shake Joe’s hand and asked him to sign my tattoo. Not be able to talk to Phil I started to cry. I must have been a real mess, because Malvin told me to hold on, he will come back and get me. True to his word I find myself in the basement of the club, being hugged by Phil. Awesome sums it up! I left that night th happiest girl on earth, tons of pictures of Joe, Phil and me and two signatures added to my tattoo…three more to get.

 

2003 on a trip to England for a Leppard show in Bristol. After the show I met up with Malvin and thanked him for everything he had done for me two years ago. Then I added his autograph to my  growing collection.

 

Pushing ahead two more years, 2005 in London, Ontario, Canada. Following the show my friend, daughter and I decided to hang around the buses with about 50 other fans.

Vivian came out first and he was more then happy to sign my leg. Moments later Joe was making his way through the fans signing autographs and taking pictures. It was my turn…I  asked Joe if he could help me out, I only  needed 2 more signatures. He was shocked I actually had them tattoo’d on and blown away that I got Malvin’s too. Thinking for a moment, Joe said I will see what I can do.

Waiting for what seemed like an eternity, in reality it was mere moments I find myself being wisked through the crowd headed to a tour bus. Sav signed my leg and I was able to speak with him about a book on Def Leppard I wrote, (a radio dj gave it to him for me early that day) Sav said it was pretty cool.

Off to my next bus…I got to meet up with Rick.  Tears in my eyes and thinking I wouldn’t be able to hold it together much longer, Rick joked with me because I couldn’t stop crying. But he was happy to finish up my piece of art with a one armed drummer stickman. With an overwhelming feeling of excitement and joy, Joe walked me back towards the crowd, as I thanked him for making my lifelong dream come true!!!

 

Leppardized aka Vicki Brown

And finally – Lee, whose sheer audacity (and a great story) made his entry one of the most entertaining. What was her answer Lee?

Lee Houghton – THIRD PRIZE (31 points)

Hi Andie! Great Blog! My story goes back to 2003 and the X Tour (second leg). Having been round the country with my then girlfriend, Angela, watching the guys in concert, she could not make it to the gig in Nottingham. As ever, the gig was excellent and after the show, I waited outside, along with some fellow hardcore fans. All the guys came out, chatted, signed stuff and were their usual polite, cheerful selves! As my girlfriend could not make it, and as she was back at home, I seized an opportunity and asked Viv if he wouldn’t mind speaking to Angela on my mobile.I told him she had to be in work early and was back home, in bed, but would be thrilled if he could say a quick hello. With a twinkle in his eye, he said “sure” and I dutifully passed the phone over. The following conversation then took place:

Viv – “Hello Angela, how come you are not at the gig?”. Angela replied, explained she needed to be in work early the following day.

Viv – “Oh really, that’s a pity…. Did you say you were in bed? Are you masturbating?”.

At this point, all I could hear is some giggling on the end of the phone, Viv hands the phone back after saying goodbye, with a wink. Yours truly is left blushing beetroot red. I gingerly spoke into the handset…

“Hey Babe, that was nice of Viv…Err, you aren’t masturbating, are you????” 

A true story!!

Later …. MORE great stories we all loved. Every one a winner.

18. DEF LEPPARD – Part Five

UPDATE

Blogs have been somewhat erratic over the past couple of weeks due to various mishaps – see later!!

For those of you who haven’t visited the blog since DEF LEPPARD – Part Four, just start here. For those who have seen various intermediate blogs just scroll down to where you were in previous short posting on DEF LEPPARD – Part Five. 

THE COMPETITION

The response to the fans competition has been brilliant. (For details go to DEF LEPPARD – Part Four.) Our illustrious experts on the judging panel have been pretty tied up (’smashed’ is another word I’d possibly use!) over the festive season, so we have decided to extend FAN STORIES competition until sobriety returns and critical faculties are back to normal.

NEW CLOSING date for Competion is JANUARY 20th … 

FIRST PRIZE:
A poster edition of  your choice (16 x 20ins) and 5 cards
SECOND PRIZE:
A mounted edition of your choice (image: 11 x 15.5ins) and 5 cards
THIRD PRIZE:
A mounted edition of your choice (image: 8 x 11ins) and 5 cards

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DEF LEPPARD – Part Five

I’m certainly not a paranoid person, but sometimes I wonder what on Earth is going on in my life. It’s not just me is it? There are times when everything seems to happen at once and at the moment everything that happens conspires to send me off on unexpected tangents – ones that deflect me from what I should be doing. Ok, so before Christmas this alien attached itself to my neck – appearing like a tennis ball just under my skin. Got rid of it but the antibiotics attacking the beast created a nuclear war in my body that left me exhausted. Thank God that’s gone I said, as the volcano subsided and life returned to comparative normality. Back to the other stuff now. Get back on track, I said to myself.

Unfortunately, there was another alien waiting in the wings to knock me off balance – literally. This particular idiotic life-form was attached to a mobile phone and it was oblivious to the world around it. I reacted quickly –  when it stepped into the road directly in front of my bike –swerved towards the kerb hoping to ride up onto the pavement to avoid the inevitable collision but the kerb was the height of a small mountain. Hit the kerb. Bike stops but I continue on my travels through the air – over the handlebars, smashed onto pavement – broken arm. I lay there stunned for a while but, when I realised what had happened, my immediate reaction was to confront the fuck-wit alien. The bastard was nowhere to be seen – probably totally unaware that it had caused another species considerable pain and damage. Anyway – it’s a clean break, no surgery, no plastercast, so, as they say, things could have been worse. If I see the alien again I fear I will be extremely alienist and run the bastard over. !**@*!

It seems an age since Def Leppard – Part Four but we begin, after mishaps, with The Boyz again and one of the first computer-generated videos – remember this is 1992? 

The success of ‘Hysteria’ was phenomenal. The album, for those not aware of the scale of their success, charted seven singles in the US Hot 100. ‘Hysteria’ remained in the charts for three years and sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. The band sold more records than any rock band in the US during the 1980s. It was a hard album to follow. The pressure on the band was huge – pressure from record companies was one thing but the self-imposed pressure to produce a follow-up album was a terrifying mountain to climb that took its toll. Cracks began to appear which threatened the solidity of the band. Steve Clark had problems with alcohol and the person I met during the ‘leave of absence’ the band rightly and loyally insisted on, was increasingly plagued by self-doubt and was visibly even more fragile than usual. In early January 1991, the band lost him to an accidental mix of prescription drugs and alcohol. It’s 19 years this week since Steve’s tragic death. Although he died before the release of ‘Adrenalize’, his contribution to the album is awesome. Here’s the original Steve Clark version of  ‘Tear It Down.’ Genius.

ADRENALIZE

The band decided to continue recording the album and ‘Adrenalize’ was finally released in the Spring of 1992. It was a difficult sleeve to create, despite it’s deceptive simplicity. The concept was unanimously approved at ‘first roughs’ stage. 

 

Developing the idea into the final image for the cover required inventing innovative techniques to match the clear picture I had in my head of what I wanted. Developing the idea into the final image for the cover required considerable experimentation. The ‘Exploding Eye’ image, clearly defined in my Mind’s Eye, proved extremely difficult to create with convincing authenticity. I called in the cavalry – a friend and colleague at the cutting-edge of image manipulation – a photographer and photo-retoucher called Rob Farrar. I’d worked with him on several occasions previously (he created the final composite for the ‘Hysteria ‘ sleeve) and many times since*. He was someone who instantly and intuitively ‘got it’ when I tried to explain what I was trying to illustrate – not just technically but emotionally. Not only was Rob a brilliant retoucher but he was also keen to develop photographic techniques which would add further dimensions to his image manipulation.

 The problem with ‘Adrenalize’ was a question of scale – to create the effect of a mind-blowing explosion in what was essentially a very small object – an eye. To get from …
to …
 … required some serious thinking. Photographing an eye was difficult in itself. Highly specialised cameras were needed and they were impossible to get hold of – most resided in medical research centres. We did try but the results weren’t good enough. The original rough sketches were created as artwork – allowing the detail of the eye to clearly defined …

… so Rob and I decided on a different tack. The orignal Eye used on the ‘Let’s Get Rocked’ sleeve was created as a combination of illustration and photography. How to make it explode convincingly? ‘Let’s do it, and photograph it,’ said Rob. ‘What?’ I said. ‘Explode the image and photograph it,’ he said. ‘And how do you suggest we do that Rob?’ … The image was photographed on a 10×16 transparency – I literally cut the Eye up into sections – we placed them on a light-box exactly how we thought the sections would be displaced by an explosion – and after a series (dozens) of experiments blasting different levels of light through the transparency glued to the lightbox, we finally had a brillant result where the lightbursts were convincingly real.

However, as much computers have advanced since then – they can’t provide me with the use of two hands when I’ve a broken arm. Try it – it’s a nightmare … progress is slow but I’ll be back with more in a couple of days …

Before our next episode, I’ll leave you, in this special anniversary week, with a poignant tribute video showcasing a rare and amazing talent … sadly missed.