stevebio

When Joe (finally) got to see him, he was blown away not only by his great talent on the guitar (playing the classic Freebird,) but also by how Rock N' Roll he looked, with his "masses of blonde hair, a denim jacket with no shirt underneath, and a waist this big. [Ve-ery narrow.]" Naturally, he was right in there.

Having joined in late January he rehearsed with the band throughout February, then March, then April, May, and June, and by this time he was getting mighty fed up with rehearsing. Of course, he then famously informed them that he would quit if they didn't actually get up on stage and see some action. This, happily, got results, and they began gigging.
If they hadn't, as Steve put it, they'd "probably still be re'earsing in a bloody spoon factory."

From the beginning he was the joint song-writing force with Joe, and came up with the vast majority of the band's earlier riffs that have now passed into rock history (earning him the nickname of Riff Master, along with his many other nicknames.)

Particularly noteworthy, to my mind, is his solo guitar piece on High N' Dry, the bizarrely named Switch 625. (No doubt there is a very sane story behind the name, and I'd love to hear it, if any of you know it!) Man, I just listen to that on repeat, over and over sometimes. I never get tired of it.

When Phil joined the band Steve and him became fast friends (and The Terror Twins - as their fellow band members nicknamed them.) Their interaction on-stage was a great joy to watch and made for some hot group dynamics; in the studio it meant that we got some blazing guitar parts throughout Pyromania and Hysteria; and in their personal time...well, see the above applied nickname ;)

I intend to extend this into something a little more impressive, and of course I will be getting a suitable amount of beautiful pictures up here ASAP, but for the time being I will close by saying that Steve is the reason I became a Def Leppard fan, and I firmly believe that he had the best hair - ever.

Steve was born April 23rd, 1960 in Sheffield, and given the impressive full-name of Stephen Maynard Clark, (Maynard being a family name, I think.)

He joined Def Leppard when it still consisted of a drummer, who the vast majority of fans have forgotten, (thanks though, whoever you are*,) Joe, Sav, and Pete.
Apparently, Steve and Pete met in the library at Sheffield University, and Pete invited him to try out for the band he was in...

Steve never turned up to this rehearsal.

Happily, not willing to let go of a good thing, Pete presumably listened patiently to his explanation of how he had been washing his hair that night, and invited him again.