It was 25 years ago today....

It is hard to believe that 25 years ago, my mom took me to Paducah to buy an album. Yes, I said ALBUM!  I was getting the long-awaited vinyl from the band Def Leppard. I had started listening to DL in 1980, but in 1982, I was hit HARD!  I saw "Foolin' " on Friday Night Videos and that was all she wrote. I was a MASSIVE fan.  I bought Pyromania on vinyl, on cassette and 8 TRACK!  It was pretty much an everyday occurrence to listen to the tunes from PYRO.  I knew all the guitar parts, drums, bass line, vocals and loved every single song.  The only other album that I listened to during this period was Thriller.  Which I must say was equally as good.

I kept hearing they were going to release another album, but it never came.  Then in early 1985, I heard that Rick Allen (the drummer) had died.  That turned to be false, but he had lost his arm on New Year's Eve in a car wreck. Seemed like I was never going to get new music.  It was going to be like the Beatles, I was going to listen to this music forever with no hopes of anything new :(.

Nope, Rick turned into a miracle drummer and learned to drum with one arm and in 1986 I heard they were working on an album.  I thought the day would never come but on August 3, 1987, it was here!

I purchased my album with babysitting money and had enough left for earphones. I plugged my earphones into my dads GINORMOUS stereo that he let me keep in my room.  It looked pretty much like this one pictured here.





I put on my album and headphones and listened.  The first track was "Women".  I had heard this song because it was the first single.  I had made an antenna that went from my stereo across the ceiling and down the wall.  This antenna allowed me to get WKDF in Nashville TN.  This station used to play my kind of music in the day.  They had played the song "women" just a few days before.  I loved it!!!

"Rocket", "Animal", "Love Bites", "Pour Some Sugar on Me" (henceforth shortened to PSSOM), "Armageddon It" and then side 2.  WOW! Another power punch "Gods of War", "Don't shoot shotgun" (which was my favorite upon the first listening) "Run Riot" "Hysteria", "Excitable" and "Love and Affection".  I pretty much killed the LP because it was all I listened too.  I finally got a cassette and carried that and my jam box EVERYWHERE!!!!


As the band was releasing singles I noticed that not only were the B sides not on the album, but the sleeves made a puzzle.  So, of course, I had to buy the singles too.  I never could get all of them.  Living in Mayfield, KY and have little to NO money while being in high school...there was just no way.  Here are some of the 45s

the finished puzzle

Over the course of time, I would have 2 LPs, and 6 cassettes.  I have never bought it on CD.  We put my vinyl copy on CD and I still listen to that.  WHY?  Because the pops and cracks take me back when I was a child and this album was the HOTTEST thing.

I got to see them for the first time live in 1988 during the heyday of Hysteria.  WOW, what a show that was!!!!!

Happy Birthday to one of the greatest albums EVER!!!!!