Released 1988 Recorded 1984-1987 | Format 7" Length 5:46 | |
B-side Billy's Got a Gun (Live) Label Mercury
DreamWorks (2000 re-release) | ||
"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.
Contents
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. 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).
The first part of the song says "If you got love in your sights, watch out, love bites." It is subliminally mixed in and many listeners have trouble clearly hearing what is spoken until they are told what to listen for lyrically.
7": Bludgeon Riffola / Vertigo / Polygram / 830 675-1 (USA)
- "Love Bites"
- "Billy's Got a Gun (Live)"
The live track was recorded at Tilburg, Netherlands in 1987