A Canadian picture disc made only 10,000 copies. It has a songof Tom
Jones sung by the current tour manager, Mervin "Stumpus Maximus" Mortimer
and this raises 'rare index'. But according to the rumor, it's more rare
than usual because Mervin bought all copies! Even though it's a picture
disc, the jacket is trasparent vinyl.
13, 14, 15. Have You Ever Needed Some So Bad (PolyGram France - 7" 864 688-7)
This item comes in 3 different colors (red, blue, and yellow).
According to PolyGram France, 3 color vinyl items were a neat idea and made
only a few, sothey are very rare. Unfortunately, the case breaks easily, so
it's hard to find one in a good shape.
16. Rocket (Phonogram UK - 7" LEP06)
B-side is Release Me. It's called "Brit pack". A card board box has a
Union Jack jacket and if you open it, there are a commercial version of the
single and 3 cards containing data of members in front and back.
17. Armageddon It (Phonogram UK - 7" LEPP4)
7" poster bag with album version of the song. The other single released
at the same time as this one has "Nuclear Mix" of this song. B-side is
Ring Of Fire. It says 'Limited edition poster bag' on the top righthand
side corner.
18. Animal / Women (Phonogram Germany - 7" 888852-7)
Animal on A-side and Women on B-side. It doesn't have a rare jacket.
It's not a limited edition. Then why is it so rare? Because different
singles are coupled on one disc. No other discs of this format exist, so
'unique' index is high.
19. Heaven Is (Phonogram UK - 7" LEP9)
It was released 2 weeks after promotion started. Heaven Is and She's
Too Tough are on A-side and no songs are on B-side. Instead, there's the
etching(sp?) of signatures of all members. This format is the first in Def
Leppard history.
20. Women (Mercury Canada - 7" SOV2395)
It's almost same as USA single with the same jacket and same B-side
(Tear It Down), etc. The only difference is that this is a Canadian copy
that has less amount of copies available.
21. Hysteria (Mercury Canada - 7" SOV2402)
7" poster bag. Front jacket is same as commercial version, but this
one becomes a huge poster if you open it. There is UK single of Hysteria
which is 12" poster bag with 'Collecters edition' printed, but this
Canadian version is more rare because there are not so many copies.
22. Photograph (Vertigo France - Promotion only - 7" 6837 795)
This is the most rare item released in Europe because it wasn't
released commercially. Also, the jacket is very unique. It says "Tournee
Francaise:Fevrier/Mars 1983" (France Tour February - March, 1983). In
other words, it was made as a promotion kit while the band was touring in
France. It's almost impossible to find a copy today.
23. Rock Of Ages (Vertigo Germany - 7" 814489-7)
Double A-sides of Rock Of Ages and Photograph. This one should be in
top 20 of rare items. Reason 1 : The jacket is in blue and pink
(commercial version is in gray and yellow). Reason 2 : Very limited
edition. Reason 3 : It has 2 great singles.
24. Photograph (Vertigo Philipine - 7" VTG 6019-A)
Black letters in white label with no sleeve. The reason why this disc
is so rare is the truth that they pressed a single just for Def Leppard.
It was a revolution at that time in Phillipine. This item probably will be
in 'Top 20 World Rare Items'.
25. Photograph (Vertigo Peru - 7" 6059608-3)
The titles are translated to Spanish. Photograph is 'Potografia' and a
b-side Bringin' On The Heartbreak is 'Trayendo La Rotura De Corazon'. It
was released in 1983 and has an old label design of Vertigo logo (Space
jellyfish designed by Rodger Dean). Even PolyGram doesn't know how many
copies were made, but they said probably less than 100. It would be great
if we could find even 20 of them after more than 10 years from the release
date, which means BUY IT IF YOU FIND IT!
26. Miss You In A Heartbeat (Mercury USA - 7" 858080-7)
B-side is a liver sersion of Let's Get Rocked recorded in Bonn. This
song was released in only a few countires and doesn't have a 'center' for
DJs and jukeboxes. I added this to the list because of the rare selection
of the song.
27. Hello America (Vertigo Australia - 7" 6059253)
This is the second single in Australia and oldness is the reason I put
it in the list. When it was released in 1980, only raido promo copies were
made. Unfortunately, it wasn't played at all and commercial copies were
not made.
28. Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion) (Mercury USA - 7" 864604-7)
This song was released as a single only in USA. It was going to be
released in other countries, but right before the release date, it was
replaced Action and it became a huge hit in Europe.
29. Def Leppard EP (Vertigo UK - 7" 6059240)
Not the same one as #10. This one is the third version of this EP
which is in an ordinary Phonogram sleeve, not in a picture sleeve. This
one has Getcah Rocks Off and Ride Into The Sun on side A (the order is
different from #10) and The Overture on side B. 99% of 'unofficial'
discographies printed on magazines and books before say the second version
of this EP (MSB001) is more rare than this one, but that is not true.
Managers of the band at the time, Martin and Stewart Brown released MSB001
as soon as Def Leppard signed a deal, but after they singed with Phonogram,
they released EP officially and did a decent promotion. And this is the
one. Only 10,000 copies were pressed.
30. Photograph (Vertigo Australia - 7" 6059608)
In 1983, it was pressed for radio promotion, but nobody played it, so
commercial copies were not made. It's definitely a promotion only disc,
but there is no word 'promotion' printed.
31. Rock Of Ages (Vertigo Canada - 7" SOV2326)
This is rare because there is no difference in promotion only copies
and commercial copies.
32. Terminalo (Armageddon It) (PolyGram Mexico - 7" S/N 780)
It's rare because Spanish title comes before English title even though
Def Leppard is an international artist. Monoral version is on side A and
stereo version is on side B. According to PolyGram Mexico, they didn't
make commercial version of this song. Mexican DJs throw away singles that
dropped off from the chart and mixed monoral and stereo format is rare, so
somebody is always looking for this item.
33. Rock Brigade (Mercury USA - 7" 76064)
B-side is When The Walls Came Tumbling Down. This is the first single
in USA and as you already know, the band was famous already in US before in
UK, so this one has a historical meaning. Also this one has a lot less
number of copies comparing to later singles.
34. Rock Of Ages (Phonogram Japan - Promotion only - 7" 7PP106)
This is the fourth single cut in Japan. Less than 500 copies were
pressed. Japanese title is 'Rock Of Age' not 'Ages'. It's hard to keep
track of Japanese singles because they will be out of print a few weeks
later they drop off from the chart. Anyway, all Japanese singles are
rare!
35. Bringin' On The Heartbreak (Vertigo Germany - 7" 6059480)
This is extremely rare because we can't find it and we don't know any
reason. The jacket is the picture of the band at live and in the back,
there are tour dates of German High 'n' Dry Tour in 1981. Because of poor
paper quality, it's always torn. Nobody still doesn't know how many copies
were pressed, so Def Leppard Archives are doing research right now.
36. Foolin' (Mercury USA - 7" 814 178-7)
B-side is Comin' Under Fire. It's easier to find sample copies than
commercial copies of this song. Because the record company wanted to
promote Pyromania, Foolin' went out of of print right after the release.
Instead, Bringin' On The Heartbreak which was popular among fans was
released. Because of that, sales of the album and tickets for the show
went high but nobody remembered the existence of Foolin'.
37. Hello America (Vertigo Holland - 7" 6059270)
B-side is It Could Be You. This is my favorite because it has all
factors to be a rare disc. 1 : It's old. The first single in Holland.
2 : Limited number of copies. It was made awfully a little bit, so it's
miracle if we find it today. 3 : Song itself. I believe this is the only
single which has It Could Be You. Also the truck is painted on skyblue
background, it's different from UK copies. This IS a rare copy, so if you
find it, buy it even if you sell your grandma!
38. Foolin' (Mercury Canada - 7" SOV2330)
The jacket of the band surrounded by fire on black background is
unique. It was released almost at the same time as US copies were
released, but because of reissue of Bringin' On The Heartbreak, nobody
remembers this disc now. However, the picture used as a jacket is not
available on any other disc, so it's rare.
39. Animal (PolyGram Italy - Promotion Only - 7" AS 500 753)
Like other Italian singles of any bands, B-side is not a Def Leppard
song. It has a song of Zukkero(sp?). Original version had a Christmas
sticker on white background. Santa Clause was on the sled and said "Buon
88" (Happy 88). Rick Savege is 'Rick Sage' on this disc :)
40. Photograph (Vertigo UK 7" VER G9)
The jacket is a wallet and you can see a picture of the band, bills, a
picture of Marylin, credit cards, etc. inside. The most unique item of UK
singles. But, there is a non-gatefold version, and don't pay too much for
that one! Make sure it has a sleeve to insert the single.
41. Let's Get Rocked (Phonogram France - Promotion only - 7" 1500)
It has only one minute of the song. Phonogram France believed that
Let's Get Rocked would be a huge hit, so they wanted to give away copies to
DJs in France before the single release. But, Phonogram UK didn't agree,
so Phonogram France asked if they could use only a part of the song.
Phonogram UK said okay and this 'one minute' single was born. Of course,
there is no other record company that made this kind of disc, so this one
is extremely rare.
42. Animal (Phonogram Spain - 7" 888 736-7)
This one has a different jacket from European copies, so it's rare. As
you know, Hysteria singles had only a part of the album jacket as the
single jacket, but his one has the entire album jacket with thick white
borders.
43. Hysteria (Phonogram Portugal - 7" 870 004-7)
In the world of collecters' items, some discs become rare because of
human mistakes. This one is a good example. When Phonogram Spain made the
single of Hysteria, they used a part of Hysteria album jacket in front and
5 individual pictures in back. Phonogram Porugal was going to do the same
thing, but somebody made a mistake. He/she switched front and back
jackets. When they noticed, it was too late. However, it looked cool and
the number pressed was very little, this disc became a true rare item.
'Rare index' is as 3 times of Spanish copies.
44. Hello America (Phonogram Japan - 7" SPL 2485)
This disc is said to be the most rare item of Def Leppard singles.
Because the number pressed was very little and this is the first single in
Japan, this item is extremely rare.
45. Rock Brigade (Mercury USA - Promotion only - 7" 76064)
One side is monoral and the other is stereo. It's rare because of the
limited number and the time this disc was at the market was very short.
Mercury USA decided to promote Scorpions, Brains, and Def Leppard in one
disc, and they made a promo single 'DJ569'. Many DJ's believed this DJ569
is the very first one, but it's not. It has a rare picture of skyscrapers
in white and skyblue background.
46. Let's Get Rocked (Phonogram France - 7" 865 586-7)
7" poster bag. Poster bags are rare because fans always put posters on
the wall. Truly rare discs are ones with posters never opened.
47. Love Bites (Mercury Canada - 7" SOV2417)
It's as same as UK Love Bites, but this one doesn't have a serial
number in front. But, there is a serial number on the back! What a
mistake! If you open gatefold, it has a booklet of lyrics of all songs.
Why didn't I choose UK version in this list instead of this one? Because
of the number of copies. Canadian copies are 5,000 less than UK ones.
48. Heaven Is (Phonogram UK - 7" LEPLH9)
This is called 'Dink' because it's for jukeboxes and doesn't have a
center. The reason why this dink is in this list is that Phonogram UK put
different record number from the single. Probably only 500 copies exist.
49. Wasted (PolyGram Spain - 7" 6059 247)
B-side is Hello America. It's a great item because 1. The first single
in Spain, 2. Has two hit songs, 3. it's been more than 15 years. PolyGram
Spain confirmed that only less than 200 copies were made.
50. Metal Marathon Part 2 (Ariola/BMG Europe - 7" 112 180)
This final disc proves how wide archivsts' job is! Switzerland band
The Heavys played lots of famous rock songs in medley. It's not a pure Def
Leppard single, but The Heavys played Animal on this disc, so it's in our
archive. Usually this kind of disc doesn't hit, so they don't make many
copies, and it can be a rare item. Also, it will be thrown away as the time
goes by, so I think it's good to keep it. What do you think?
(I got an used CD of this one. I thought it was part 1, but oh well...
Animal was played not that bad, I guess. Vocals are not quite like Def Leppard,
but other instruemnts have feelings of Def Leppard, sort of...)
Extra question : What's the most rare item of Def Leppard?
The one you don't have! :)