Def Leppard's Joe Elliott looks back on the story behind their first UK and US hit single, Animal, from 1987.
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MusicTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:16 My recollection of animal is fading somewhat because it's a long time ago.
00:22 [Music]
00:36 The one thing about that song, as opposed to everything else on the album,
00:40 or anybody that's ever been in a band and had a song that they've lived with for a while
00:45 but then ended up rewriting parts of it,
00:47 I sang the lead vocal to a completely different backing track.
00:51 It was vastly different.
00:53 [Music]
01:22 I did the vocal for it in Paris.
01:25 We went to work in Paris. I remember we were there when Live Aid was on.
01:28 We were there for the Bastille day and we were working in this little studio.
01:32 And I did the vocal. We spent a couple of days just experimenting with it and then nailing it down.
01:37 And then when we took the tapes back to Holland where we went to finish the album off,
01:41 between Holland and Dublin, we kind of grew tired of the backing track.
01:47 But everybody was commenting on how much they liked the lead vocal,
01:50 so I think it would have been much better to just say,
01:52 "Well look, what I'm going to do is I'm going to strip all the track off
01:55 and just leave the vocal playing against the drums.
01:58 I want you guys to just play underneath and see what you come up with."
02:02 And totally updated the song to the point where it's almost timeless now.
02:06 It was starting to age even before it was released in its original form.
02:11 ♪ And I want, and I need, and I love, and I need more. ♪
02:19 ♪ And I want, and I need, and I love, and I need more. ♪
02:27 ♪ Hey! ♪
02:29 ♪ Woo! ♪
02:31 ♪ Crack a little baby. ♪
02:34 ♪ A cracker's in me. ♪
02:35 ♪ Gonna have you. ♪
02:38 ♪ I'm gonna have a whole lot. ♪
02:42 ♪ Gonna get through you every round. ♪
02:45 ♪ I'm gonna have a whole lot. ♪
02:47 ♪ I'm gonna get through you every round. ♪
02:51 (music fades)
02:53 [BLANK_AUDIO]