Def Leppard returns to music scene with UCLA appearance

Friday, May 10, 1996

Metal band promotes new album ‘Slang’ with first performance in
three yearsBy Sona Stepanian

Daily Bruin Contributor

After a multi-year absence, a change in its line-up and the
virtual disappearance of the heavy metal musical genre which
brought the band to prominence, 80s staple Def Leppard reemerged
last night from a three-year touring hiatus with an hour-long live
show at UCLA’s Zeta Beta Tau fraternity house in support of their
latest album "Slang."

"(Def Leppard) wanted to get involved with the younger
community, the college community, and UCLA is the most prominent
university on the west coast, it’s where a lot of music happens,"
said Jacob Rothman, a second-year business/economics major and
vice-president of Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT).

The show was preceded by an interview with the five band
members. The entire show was broadcast live on 144 radio stations
across the United States and Canada.

"We had talked to Def Leppard’s management and the label about
doing something with the band to launch the album," said Mark
Felsot, senior director of broadcast operations at Album Network,
which is a trade magazine and the nationally syndicated radio
program responsible for the live broadcast.

"They just wanted something unusual," said Felsot. "They didn’t
want to do it at a normal club or studio. They just thought that
would be too confining."

It was the first time the new Def Leppard songs off of "Slang,"
set for release on May 14, were ever played to the public. The
albums’ first single, "Work It Out," was released to radio stations
earlier this month. And the band, who has never played on live
American radio before, made its debut in front of an eager group of
ZBT members and guests, record company executives, KLOS radio
station contest winners and a group of rooftop spectators who had
gathered around the fraternity’s backyard to catch a glimpse of the
evening’s festivities.

"I think our generation, growing up in the ’80s, grew up on the
metal scene," said Christian Ramers, a third-year microbiology,
molecular genetics student. "I think Def Leppard has adapted and
their new album kind of showed it. They eased their way in, in
their own Def Leppard style."

Def Leppard, with a newer look and sound on "Slang," the group’s
first studio release in four years, is not quite the same band that
that once ruled the MTV airwaves.

"I think that they transcend. They’ve been around for a long
time. The new album is quite different; it’s a step beyond what
they did in the ’80s," said Geri Miller, editor of Metal Edge
magazine. "I think people will give them a chance. They won’t say,
‘Oh they’re and ’80s band’ and not listen."

"I believe they looked at this record as kind of a new chapter
as in where they’re headed," said Felsot. "They’ve sold 40 million
records worldwide and a greatest hits album came out two years ago,
and I think that kind of closed a chapter."

FRED HE/Daily Bruin

Joe Elliott, lead singer of Def Leppard, who played a concert
last night at ZBT.