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Leppard Changes Spots

Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott has always gushed about his unabashed love for the music of 70s British glam band Mott the Hoople (“All the Young Dudes,” “All the Way From Memphis”), its main songwriter and frontman Ian Hunter (“Cleveland Rocks,” “Once Bitten Twice Shy”), and the not-quite-Mott spinoff band British Lions (“One More Chance to Run”). Elliott, along with a 5-piece band dubbed the Down ‘n’ Outz, now pays homage to his heroes with the release of My ReGeneration, a 13-song album in which he covers some of their deepest tracks.

The Golden Age Of Rock And Roll: Last year, Joe Elliott put away the iconic Def Leppard 80s era Union Jack shorts for one night and gathered a group of sidemen (4 members of the Quireboys and 1 member of Raw Power) to support Mott the Hoople at one of their reunion gigs at London’s legendary Hammersmith Odeon (now called the Apollo). “Mott the Hoople has always been my favorite band and it’s nice to see the rest of the rock world finally catch up and give them their due,” says Elliott. Following their well received set, Elliott and his boyz decided to keep the party going and agreed to meet and cut a demo of Mott tunes, and more.

Liking what he heard on tape as much as he did on stage, Elliott commenced to call in the Outz for further recording sessions at his own studio dubbed “Joe’s Garage” where the 13 tunes underwent, well, a tune up. My ReGeneration opens with “Golden Opportunity” and “Overnight Angels,” two tracks off Ian Hunter’s 1976 Overnight Angels album, which was never released in the U.S. Track 3 is “England Rocks,” which was originally released in 1977 as a UK-only single, and later became the inspiration for Hunter’s “Cleveland Rocks.” “By Tonight” is originally found on Mott the Hoople’s 1975 album Drive On, while “Who Do You Love” and “3,000 Miles From Here” were both first available on Hunter’s self-titled 1975 solo effort.

In a recent interview with Blender magazine, Elliott was asked when he first heard Mott the Hoople: “Radio Luxembourg, the pirate station. This would be in 1971, I think. They were playing a song called ‘Downtown,’ which was a Danny Whitten tune that Mott had recorded.” Immediately, he was hooked, and happy that he’d discovered the band long before most. “I’ve always liked the underdog and I think I liked Mott because no one had ever heard of them, not on a grand scale, at least. And when they broke through with ‘All the Young Dudes,’ I felt exalted – as a twelve-year-old kid!”

Of course whenever a principal member of a major band goes off the reservation, fans wonder if the core group is in jeopardy of breaking up. In the case of Elliott and Def Leppard, fans can sleep well knowing Def Lep will be OK. “Def Leppard will be back, with new music, with new tours, and with whatever the marketplace allows us to do,” Elliott assures. “But for now, this year, this [My ReGeneration] is what I’m doing.”