Why was ‘Love Bites’ Def Leppard’s only number one song?
I left Leadmill with a crowd of people with encyclopedic knowledge of rock music, a very lucky couple of hundred of us who happened upon a ticket to a show put on by Def Leppard, a band that rarely plays live.
Yes, in 2023, they did a one-off, live show – to raise money to try and save Leadmill (which has since closed) – strictly for the fans of all things rock and Def Leppard, for the fans of rock. Even though the band never actually performed at Leadmill prior to them making it big, their devotion to Sheffield and the music scene which helped create them meant that they were keen to put on a show and help out in any way they could.
A lot of people may have just read the above and found themselves surprised that the glam rock/hair metal band are originally from Sheffield. Granted, the city is usually better associated with the likes of Arctic Monkeys and Pulp, songs about real life which feel grounded and secure. However, Def Leppard offer fans something totally different, as their music is larger than life and seems to exist in the grand sphere of rock, which straddles other worlds. And yet, it remains the case that such a sound was paved on the streets of South Yorkshire.
Since their career took off, the band have had a plethora of hits, and that became clear as the walls within Leadmill reverberated, that iconic sound bouncing off each corner of the venue and making its way into the ears of every lucky punter who found themselves inside. The night was sweaty and not for the claustrophobic, but it was also a lot of fun and a real celebration of one of the greatest bands to come from this city.
Hit after hit after hit – Def Leppard performed hit after hit after hit, and despite the excellent repertoire of hit songs that could easily construct a setlist, the band had no more than one number-one hit in its illustrious career. One must wonder, which one? What set it apart from all of the other stunning classics from the band?
So, what was Def Leppard’s only number one song?
When you think of Def Leppard hits, what comes to mind? Is it their classic ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’? The hard-hitting ‘Hysteria’? Maybe the epic ‘Rock of Ages’? They’re all songs that have landed themselves in the unique world of rock ‘n’ roll floor fillers, and yet, none of them managed to get to number one. The only track of theirs that topped the charts was the slower and more heartfelt ballad ‘Love Bites’.
Released in 1987, this stripped-back sing-along is the only Def Leppard track that the band managed to have charting success with. They pounded out hit after hit after hit. And while they could have written a set list without thinking, they could technically only have one (yes, they might argue it’s a technicality, but it is one) song that has hit number one in their entire career to date. What was it? And what made it different from the thousands of other anthemic classics in their lengthy career? Let’s take a look.
“It was just a standard rock ballad, but it had something else going for it,” said the band’s guitarist Phil Collen when talking about the song. “Lyrically, it kind of painted a picture, and in a song, you always want to do that, paint a picture. ‘On a dark desert highway’, the first line of ‘Hotel California’, a great song, it just paints an image for you straight off the bat, and that’s the sign of a really good song. It takes you right there. ‘Love Bites’ did that as well.”
