Love Bites (Def Leppard song)

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"Love Bites"
Single by Def Leppard
from the album Hysteria
B-side Billy's Got a Gun (Live)
Released 1988
Format 7"
Recorded 1984-1987
Genre Rock, R&B, soft rock, synthrock
Length 5:46
Label Mercury
DreamWorks (2000 re-release)
Writer(s) Joe Elliott, Phil Collen, Steve Clark, Rick Savage, Robert John "Mutt" Lange
Producer(s) Robert John "Mutt" Lange
Def Leppard singles chronology
"Armageddon It"
(1988)		 "Love Bites"
(1988)		 "Rocket"
(1989)

"Love Bites" is a power ballad recorded by the English rock band Def Leppard in 1987 on the album Hysteria. It is Def Leppard's only number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 to date.

Song

When Robert John "Mutt" Lange originally brought the song to the band's attention, it was a country ballad, which the band thought sounded like nothing they had done before. The band then added power rock elements and emotive backing vocals similar to those used in R&B ballads at the time.[1] The title "Love Bites" was originally used for a very different song that was eventually re-titled "I Wanna Be Your Hero", and which appeared as a Hysteria B-side and later on the album Retro Active.

Following the huge momentum generated by "Pour Some Sugar on Me", the song was released in August 1988 and quickly shot to the top of the U.S. charts, dethroning Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry, Be Happy". It stayed there for one week before giving up the position to UB40's "Red Red Wine". The song also hit number eleven in the UK (their second best showing from the album).

Track listing

7": Bludgeon Riffola / Vertigo / Polygram / 830 675-1 (USA)

  1. "Love Bites"
  2. "Billy's Got a Gun (Live)"

The live track was recorded at Tilburg, Netherlands in 1987[2]

Charts

Chart (1988-1989) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[3] 21
Canadian RPM Top Singles[4] 6
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[5] 2
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[6] 11
US Billboard Hot 100[7] 1

See also

References

  1. ↑ Classic Albums: Def Leppard - The Making of Hysteria DVD
  2. ↑ notes on record label
  3. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Def Leppard – Love Bites". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  4. ↑ http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.8683&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=j6lbnjtepbb6iirr1bihaqkrn0
  5. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Def Leppard – Love Bites". Top 40 Singles.
  6. ↑ "Archive Chart: 1988-07-30" UK Singles Chart.
  7. ↑ "Def Leppard – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Def Leppard.

External links

Preceded by Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
8 October 1988		 Succeeded by
"Red Red Wine" by UB40
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