Def Leppard: Today we take a look at the infamous concert they gave in Tuscon, Arizona in 1983 that angered the city of El Paso and resulted in the group being banned temporarily.
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I’ve done a few stories on bands who were banned from cities after inciting a riot or when their fans misbehaved, but this is a unique story. This story involves the band def leppard and how one of their members made some disparaging remarks about a particular city resulting in rock radio stations not only pulling but destroying their music. It also resulted in the then mayor of the city calling for a lifetime ban on the group from performing in the city. Let’s explore what happened in today’s video. .
In january of 1983 british rockers Def Leppard had released their third studio album pyromania. The album was a passive seller moving over 10 million copies in the States. By September of 83 the band were touring America playing a show in El Paso Texas. It was during the show that several members of the audience who frontman Joe Elliot identified as being mexican threw objects on stage. The next night during a gig in Tuscon, Arizona during the eight songs of the set rock of ages there’s a part in the live performance where there is a fan singalong. It was normal of elliott to reference the band’s previous live show to get the audience’s energy up. According to the arizona star he reportedly referred to the band’s previous show in El Paso as and i quote “that place with all the greasy Mexicans and they made a lot more noise than that” (and then he used a derogatory term to describe mexicans). Elliott did’t think much of the comments and thought it wouldn’t ruffle any feathers as he thought his humor was in the same vein as comedians Cheech And Chong. Also unbeknownst to Elliott was that in the audience that night in Tuscon was a reporter from the Arizona Daily Star who passed on his comment to DJ’s and reporters in El Paso. Keep in mind el paso’s population at the time was 65 percent mexican-american.
El Paso up until this point had backed Def Leppard as the band had played several shows in the city starting in 1980.and again in 1981. A few days after the incident a recording of the slur being used would surface and it was at this point all rock stations stopped playing the band’s music. The controversy also drew the ire of El Paso’s mayor Jonathan Rogers started proposing a permanent boycott of the band from ever being allowed back into the city. Even Erin Michaels who was the program director for the local radio station KLAQ in El Paso was photographed ripping the album sleeve of Pyromania. Hispanic groups in the city meanwhile demanded an apology from the band. The band by this point was now in Japan doing press and promotion and it would take about three weeks for word of what was going on in El Paso to reach the band.
The groups would get their ask as on September 30 Elliot who was in Japan at the time would call into local radio station KLAQ and give a brief 10 minute interview apologizing for his remarks.According to the book Nothin but a good time joe elliott would remark “that comment i swear was aimed at five hispanic kids who were spitting at us, throwing jack daniels and kung fu stars at the band, not at anybody else in El Paso. I was slagging off those five bastards. I’m a cheech and chong fan and they used that term all the time.”
To make ammends Elliott offered to fly two fans from El Paso to see the band in Europe, The offer wouldn’t be taken up by anyone and instead offended . Elliott publicly apologized for his remarks and offered to pay for two people from El Paso to fly to Europe and attend a Def Leppard show. The El Paso Herald Post would interview the district director of the league of united latin america citizens or LULAC who was offended by the offer telling the paper ,. “He’s trying to buy off El Paso and we won’t have it.” Since no one from el paso traveled to europe to see the band the band instead donated 10,000 to a hispanic charity in los angeles.
The issue would haunt the band for two months and on november 23rd elliot would host a press conference in california to address the comments stating in the book nothing but a good time “the last thing that mexican amerid of me to make
Sources:
klaq.com/remem...
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