Pour Some Sugar on Me
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Pour Some Sugar On Me" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by Def Leppard | ||
| from the album Hysteria | ||
| B-side(s) | I Wanna Be Your Hero (UK), Ring of Fire (US) | |
| Released | 1987 (UK), 1988 (US) | |
| Format | 7" / 12" | |
| Recorded | 1986 | |
| Genre | Hard Rock | |
| Length | 4:25 | |
| Label | Mercury Records | |
| Writer(s) | Joe Elliott Phil Collen Steve Clark Rick Savage Robert John "Mutt" Lange |
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| Producer(s) | Robert John "Mutt" Lange | |
| Chart positions | ||
| Def Leppard singles chronology | ||
| "Hysteria" (1988) |
"Pour Some Sugar On Me" (1988) |
"Love Bites" (1988) |
"Pour Some Sugar On Me" is a song recorded by British hard rock band Def Leppard in 1987 from the album Hysteria. It reached Number 2 on the US singles chart, became an MTV classic, and is generally regarded as their signature song. The title of the song alludes to the coda of the 1969 bubblegum pop classic "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies.
Although the band was nearing the end of recording sessions for Hysteria in 1986, producer Mutt Lange felt that the album was still lacking a song that would have an appeal beyond the hard rock fans who'd bought Pyromania. That song came to him during a bathroom break. Singer Joe Elliott was jamming with a riff he'd come up with recently on the guitar, and Lange suggested that the riff be taken a step further. It was a risky move, as everyone in the band had been worn out by the neverending sessions.
By Def Leppard standards, the song was developed and recorded quickly, within two weeks (in contrast to "Animal", which took almost three years) and included as the 12th track on Hysteria. "Sugar" was released as the second single from the album in the UK, where it reached the Top 20. Its original video had a short butch woman demolishing the house (Mount Merrion House, in Dublin) where the band is playing. But this was deemed not marketable for American audiences, so the song was relegated to a popular track at live shows and rock radio in the US.
However, by the spring of 1988, Hysteria had sold "only" 3 million copies, but it still wasn't enough to cover the album's production costs (the most expensive ever at the time). Thus, the band edited footage from an upcoming concert film to make a new promo clip for "Sugar" and finally released it as the fourth single in North America.
The video, intended to showcase the vibe of the band's "In The Round" shows, instantly gained heavy MTV airplay. The song itself caught on with pop radio with an arena rock anthem feel in the style of Queen's "We Will Rock You" and Joan Jett's "I Love Rock 'N Roll".
The success of "Sugar" would send sales of Hysteria into the stratosphere. It finally reached Number 1 on the Album Charts a year after release, and sold four million copies during the single's run. The video remained at Number 1 on the request show "Dial MTV" for 68 days.
MTV would rank "Pour Some Sugar On Me" #1 in its "Top 100 Videos of All Time" Countdown in 1991. In 2006, VH1 ranked the song #2 on its list of the "100 Best Songs of the '80s."
In 2005, the single was awarded RIAA gold certification for digital downloads over 500,000 units, despite the fact that it was not even commercially released that year. It is one of very few songs recorded before 2004 to accomplish this feat.
Further cementing the timeless popularity of "Pour Some Sugar on Me", the song also charted as a Top 40 Ringtone that same year.
[edit] Trivia
- It's been said that Joe Elliott's lyrical delivery of the song foreshadowed the fusion of rap and rock styles that would be later embraced by Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit. In fact, "Pour Some Sugar on Me" is considered an early rap metal song in some circles.'
- The 2000 movie Coyote Ugly helped to introduce "Sugar" to a new generation, as it was one of the most prominently featured songs, played during two key moments in the film. Curiously enough, it is not included on either of the movie's two soundtrack albums.
- Shania Twain, Mutt Lange's wife, performed "Pour Some Sugar On Me" during her early years in Canadian lounge bars, and has gone on record in expressing a strong interest in recording the song one day.
- There are two different but equally known intros of the song:
- 1) The original version on Hysteria, beginning with "Step Inside, Walk This Way, You and Me, Babe, Hey! Hey!";
- 2) The US videoclip version, beginning with "Love is like a Bomb". This version is now the one used on compilation albums.
- The song has long been a favorite at strip clubs, a fact confirmed by Howard Stern when Def Leppard were guests on his radio show.
- There are two different music videos to the song:
- 1) A video showing the band playing inside a derelict Irish stately home (At Mount Merrion, Dublin) while it is being demolished by wrecking-balls. This version, filmed in 1986, was disliked by the band.
- 2) A video of the band playing the song live, aimed at American audiences.
- The American video was edited from the band's full-length 1989 video release, "Live: In The Round In Your Face", recorded at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado in February 1988.
- The video's director, Wayne Isham, has directed many classic rock videos before and after "Pour Some Sugar On Me".
- Bill Simmons of ESPN.com recently called the song the "greatest strip club song of all time." [1]
- The Handheld Wireless that is used in the video, shown during the live performance, is shaped remarkably like a regular microphone with a single floppy wire hanging out of the end. A wireless microphone of this shape and size is unrealistic even with today's technology, much less that of the 1980's, and has helped spark controversy regarding Def Leppard and other bands' live performances, as to whether they are actually singing live or not. This controversy has been revived by Ashlee Simpson's botched performance on SNL.
| Def Leppard |
| Joe Elliott | Vivian Campbell | Phil Collen | Rick Savage | Rick Allen |
| Steve Clark | Pete Willis | Tony Kenning | Frank Noon |
| Discography |
|---|
| Studio Albums: On Through The Night | High 'n' Dry | Pyromania | Hysteria | Adrenalize | Retro Active | Slang | Euphoria | X | Yeah! |
| Compilations and extended plays: Def Leppard EP | First Strike | Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980-1995) | Best of Def Leppard | Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection |
| Singles: Bringin' on the Heartbreak | Rock of Ages | Animal | Pour Some Sugar on Me | Love Bites | Armageddon It | Rocket | Let's Get Rocked |
| Concert Tours |
| Early Tours 1978/79 | On Through The Night World Tour | High 'n' Dry World Tour | Pyromania World Tour | Hysteria World Tour | Seven Day Weekend Tour | Slang Tour | Euphoria World Tour 1999-2001 | X World Tour 2002/2003 | Rock Of Ages Tour 2005 | YEAH! Tour 2006 |
| Related Articles |
| Robert John "Mutt" Lange | Terror Twins |
