Def Leppard - "Pour Some Sugar on Me" ('87 UK/'88 US), Live on McNichols Sports Arena, Denver 1988

--- B-side: "I Wanna Be Your Hero" (UK); "Ring of Fire" (US) Released: 8 September 1987 (UK); 16 April 1988 (US); 4 June 2012 (Re-recorded version) Recorded: December 1986 – January 1987 (original); 2012 (re-recorded version) Genre: Glam metal; Hard rock; Arena rock; Pop rock "Pour Some Sugar on Me" is a song by the English rock band Def Leppard from their 1987 album Hysteria. It reached number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on 23 July 1988, behind "Hold On to the Nights" by Richard Marx. "Pour Some Sugar on Me" is considered the band's signature song, and was ranked #2 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 80s" in 2006. Near the end of recording the album Hysteria, during a production break, lead singer Joe Elliott was jamming with a riff he had come up with two weeks earlier on an acoustic guitar. Producer Mutt Lange, expressing great liking of it, suggested that it be developed into another song. Although already behind schedule, Lange felt that the album was still missing a strong crossover hit and that this last song had the potential to be one.[citation needed] Within two weeks the song was completed, smoothed out, and included as the twelfth track on Hysteria. Elliott claims the song was at least partially inspired by the Aerosmith and Run-DMC version of "Walk This Way", which made him realize the potential of the mixing of rap and rock. The song's lyrics were written after Elliott and Lange went to opposite ends of the studio control room and delivered stream-of-consciousness words into a pair of dictaphones while the song's backing track played. They then swapped dictaphones and tried to determine what each other's words were. In the Hysteria episode of the Classic Albums documentary series, Elliott said he thought he heard the phrase "love is like a bomb" on Lange's tape "and that set the whole tone for the lyric." Two intros were recorded for the song: the studio version has "Step inside, walk this way, you and me babe, hey hey!" and then cuts immediately to the guitar, while the single version has "love is like a bomb" and a slightly longer progression. By the spring of 1988, Hysteria had sold 3 million copies, which was not enough to cover the album's $5 million production costs. Thus, the band edited footage from an upcoming concert film to make a new promo clip for "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and finally released it as the fourth single in North America. Lyrics Step inside, walk this way You and me, babe Hey, hey Love is like a bomb, baby, c'mon, get it on Livin' like a lover with a radar phone Lookin' like a tramp, like a video vamp Demolition woman, can I be your man? (Your man) Razzle 'n' a dazzle 'n' a flash a little light Television lover, baby, go all night Sometime, anytime, sugar me sweet Little Missy Innocent, sugar me Yeah Yeah, uh, c'mon Take a bottle Shake it up Break the bubble Break it up Pour some sugar on me Ooh, in the name of love Pour some sugar on me C'mon, fire me up Pour your sugar on me I can't get enough I'm hot, sticky sweet From my head to my feet, yeah Listen Red light, yellow light, green light, go Crazy little woman in a one-man show Mirror queen, mannequin, rhythm of love Sweet dream, saccharine, loosen up (Loosen up) Loosen up You gotta squeeze a little, squeeze a little, tease a little more Easy operator come a knockin' on my door Sometime, anytime, sugar me sweet Little Missy Innocent, sugar me Yeah Yeah, give a little more Take a bottle Shake it up Break the bubble Break it up Pour some sugar on me Ooh, in the name of love Pour some sugar on me C'mon, fire me up Pour your sugar on me Oh, I can't get enough I'm hot, sticky sweet From my head to my feet, yeah You got the peaches, I got the cream Sweet to taste, saccharine Cause I'm hot (hot), say what, sticky sweet From my head, (head, head), my head to my feet Do you take sugar? One lump or two? Take a bottle (Take a bottle) Take it up (Shake it up) Break the bubble (Break it up) Break it up Pour some sugar on me Ooh, in the name of love Pour some sugar on me C'mon, fire me up Pour your sugar on me Oh, I can't get enough Pour some sugar on me Oh, in the name of love Pour some sugar on me Get it, come get it Pour your sugar on me Oh Pour some sugar on me Yeah, sugar me