Steve Clark (1960–1991) - Def Leppard

Stephen Maynard Clark (23 April 1960 – 8 January 1991)

Known as "The Riffmaster," Steve Clark was different because he knew music theory, but he also understood the art of melody and good songwriting. Within the high-pressure environment of Def Leppard, where every track was scrutinized for perfection, Clark’s abilities were fundamental in transitioning Def Leppard from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal sound to the perfection of Hysteria.

Steve worked on the big-picture idea of the riff and the melody. Check out the instrumental song "Switch 625" from 1981's High 'n' Dry; it features very nice rhythms and big melodies, almost letting you imagine what a solo Steve Clark album would sound like if he had gone the way of the shredders of the 1980s.

Or, check out "Gods of War" from Hysteria (1987). It's a brooding type of song, different from the "1980s party metal" reputation of the band. It's a proggier side of Def Leppard—kind of an ominous song, a bit tense, but so full of those signature melodies, too.

I'll put a link below for both songs.

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In this case, I'm going to share with you his story as it is written on Wikipedia for two reasons. First, it has tons of details and very interesting tidbits that you might not know. Second, unfortunately, Steve is also a huge cautionary tale about alcohol and drugs, and the life of a hedonistic, pleasure-obsessed individual. It is a look at the life of giving in to your impulses and desires while following the rule of "do what you want to do." --

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Stephen Maynard Clark (23 April 1960 – 8 January 1991) was an English musician. He was a guitarist and songwriter for the hard rock band Def Leppard until his death in 1991. In 2007, Clark was ranked No. 11 on Classic Rock Magazine's "100 Wildest Guitar Heroes". In 2019, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Def Leppard.

Before joining Def Leppard in 1978, Clark played cover songs with his band Electric Chicken in Sheffield. Around that time, he met Pete Willis (Def Leppard's original guitarist and founder) at a technical college. Willis spotted Clark reading a guitar book and asked if he played. He then invited Clark to come and audition for his band, as they were looking to add a second guitarist. Clark never showed up, but when Willis and singer Joe Elliott bumped into Clark again at a Judas Priest concert, Willis re-issued his invitation. Clark finally came down to their rehearsal room and joined Def Leppard in January 1978. According to Elliott in Behind the Music, Clark auditioned for Def Leppard by playing all of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" without accompaniment. While a member of Def Leppard, Clark wrote or co-wrote almost all of the band's songs. Clark and Pete Willis shared lead guitar duties, and Clark was nicknamed "The Riffmaster" due to his talent and ability to come up with guitar riffs.

Toward the end of the Pyromania recording sessions in 1982, Pete Willis was asked to leave the band, and guitarist Phil Collen was recruited to replace him. Clark and Collen developed the trademark dual-guitar sound of Def Leppard. Part of their success as a duo was attributed to their ability to swap between rhythm and lead guitar, with both playing lead or both doing rhythm within the same song. The fact that they came from entirely different musical backgrounds also contributed to their unique guitar partnership. Clark was a classically trained musician who knew the rules of music and could read and write music and understood the theory and science of the art, as well as studying and being influenced by Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin; whereas Collen, like Willis, was self-taught and developed his fast, alternate-picking technique from studying Al Di Meola and listening to jazz players. Clark once said, "I do read and write and I know the rules of music which is great in a two-guitar band because we're so different in our approach to playing. Phil will play something if it sounds right, whereas I look at things and say: 'it's wrong to play that note; it's not musically correct'."

Clark primarily played Gibson Guitars during his career and signed an endorsement with Gibson in 1987. Gibson made some custom-specification guitars for Clark. He was occasionally seen playing other guitars, including a Fender Stratocaster for the song and video "Love Bites". Clark would also use Fenders in the studio occasionally, due to their unique sound.

Although his name appears on many songwriting credits for Def Leppard's 1992 album, Adrenalize, he did not contribute much to the recording of the album. In the liner notes of the Adrenalize deluxe edition, Joe Elliott claims that a few riffs Clark had demoed were used in a couple of places on the album. His only other contribution was an occasional approval of what the rest of the band was working on, referring to it as "cool". The song "White Lightning" described the effects of Clark's alcohol and drug addictions. However, the deluxe rerelease of Adrenalize features a demo of the song "Tonight", which Clark performed in, having been recorded in 1988, intended to be a B-side for Hysteria.

Clark was involved in the recording of the demo for the band's 1995 single "When Love & Hate Collide", just days before his 1991 death. The song at the time was reminiscent of the Hysteria and Adrenalize sound as opposed to the newer sound of the next album Slang. The demo of this song contains the final solo Clark ever performed. A demo of Clark's solo was found for the song "Stand Up (Kick Love into Motion)" but was never integrated into any official material. Tesla, who opened for Def Leppard on the Hysteria tour, recorded a tribute to Clark entitled "Song & Emotion (To Our Friend, Steve 'Steamin' Clark)" for their album Psychotic Supper.

In the winter of 1989, Clark was found unconscious inside a bar in Minneapolis and was rushed to Hazelden Addiction Treatment Center. His bandmates all subsequently flew to Minneapolis to be with him. There, a doctor urged them to convince Clark to enter rehab after he registered a blood alcohol level of 0.59; by contrast, Led Zeppelin's John Bonham had registered a blood alcohol level of 0.41 when he died in 1980. Collen and others held an intervention to urge him to cease his alcohol abuse. Clark agreed to enter a rehabilitation centre with the promise that his spot in Def Leppard would be held for him until he was healthy. He was placed on a six-month leave of absence from the band.

While in rehabilitation in Arizona, Clark met a recovering heroin addict named Janie Dean, and the pair agreed to help each other with their addictions. They soon became engaged. Clark left rehabilitation before completing the program and resumed drinking. According to Collen, it became "almost impossible" to keep Clark sober after Dean entered his life, and almost as difficult to keep track of his whereabouts.

On 8 January 1991, Janie Dean found Clark dead on his couch. He was 30 years old. The postmortem revealed that the cause of death was respiratory failure caused by a lethal mixture of alcohol and prescription drugs. At the time of his death, Clark had a blood alcohol level of .30 and morphine in his system.

Clark was buried at Wisewood Cemetery in Loxley, Sheffield, near the Clark family residence.

Discography - studio albums with Steve Clark

On Through the Night

High 'n' Dry

Pyromania

Hysteria

Adrenalize (songwriting and demos only)

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Def Leppard - Switch 625

Def Leppard - Gods Of War (Remastered 2017)