Quotes From Others

Quotes from other members of Def Leppard, as well as other peole who were fortunate enough to have spent time with Steve.

"From the minute Steve was in the band, his contribution to the music was immense, absolutely immense. He's one of those rare breed of people... I don't know whether you'd call him a genius or a complete idiot - it's a fine line because some of his ideas on writing guitar parts were not normal, they were just fantastic" - Sav

Joe Elliott, about the verse riff for 'Photograph' (which was a little limp until Steve got at it!): Steve was the only one not intersted in the games (Football World Cup). He'd sit around with us if England was playing, but he couldn't be bothered if it was Uraguay vs Argentina. One night we were watching the game when the announcer suddenly got quiet and we heard this loud guitar blasting from the room next door. It sounded great, so we got up and ran over to see what was going on. Steve sat there beaming, saying 'I fixed it.' And that was it. 'Photograph' was born.

"I think he hated being in the studio, but he did bring a lot of ideas that will live on. A wonderful, wonderful person... and certain family situations led him into a place that was just really dark... and I think that a part of him didn't want to be here... but he brought something very special to this band, something that'll never really be revisited but will always be part of the foundation of Def Leppard." - Rick Allen

"Me and Steve Clark had developed this guitar thing which was like harmony chords and we never played the same thing at the same time. It'd be lead - rhythm, rhythm - lead... bit of both. Just make it a lot different from the regular run-of-the-mill rock guitar thing." - Phil Collen

"I always have fond memories of Steve. Steve was always someone I looked up to. He always came up with things that were unusual - definitely something out of the norm. Always looking to find new ways of entertaining people.. making the rest of us laugh or whatever..." - Rick Allen

One particularly memorable stunt during the Pete Willis era was the night that Steve Clark and lighting director Phay MacMahon surreptitiously moved a snoring Willis out of his hotel room in the middle of the night and out on to the roof of the hotel's patio restaurant. The funny part about it was that Willis was still in his bed. Steve, who was rooming with Willis, and Phay had actually moved Pete's matress, with him snoring contentedly on it, onto the patio roof along with all of his room furniture and luggage. Steve and Phay just stood on the roof "p*ssing ourselves with laughter " as Willis started shivering in his sleep, mumbling "Steve, isn't it a little cold in here?" - David Fricke

"Steve always wore his guitar three notches too low. It made him play a funny way - I mean he was a sloppy player -there's no doubt about it, he was not a technician - he didn't ever wanna be.. and I think that's one of the things that made the record (Hysteria) work so well - on one side we had this creative Johnny Thunders-type guitarist and on the other we had Phil who is the total and utter technician." - Joe Elliott

"Clarkie was born to play live - that's obvious... and now knowing how Def Leppard made records - still make records to this day - I know how painful that was for him, for someone like him who obviously thrived on that audience interaction." - Vivian Campbell