#10 -- "Pour Some Sugar on Me" -- Def Leppard

(1988, #2)

Take a throwaway Joe Elliot guitar riff and a throwaway line from the Archie's "Sugar Sugar," add some 80s patented synth drums, stadium reverb and vaguely sexual lyrics, put the whole package in ripped jeans and bleached hair, and...voila! You have "Pour Some Sugar on Me," Def Leppard's bombastic smash hit that still has life in commercials, ringtones and karaoke bars everywhere.

I know this is hard to believe, but "Sugar" was an afterthought for Def Leppard's 1988 album Hysteria. Producer Robert "Mutt" Lange (best known for marrying Shania Twain and recording songs until they cry 'uncle') needed a stadium rocker for the album -- something that the boys could bang their heads to but also appeal to the five women in the audience. From this basic rock necessity, "Sugar" was born -- and recorded in two weeks, which for Lange is like recording it live.

The music might be head-bangin', but the lyrics are head-shakin':

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...

I like the rhyming scheme here most -- the way Elliot sings it, "saccharine" could rhyme with "margarine" or "tangerine" or "aubergine." Any of those words would have made as much sense -- although, I get it, saccharine is a substitute for sugar, much like "Sugar" is a substitute for rock.

Fun Fact: On their first attempt at recording Hysteria, the Leppards brought in noted bad composer/musician/producer/Meat Loaf enabler Jim Steinman to helm the project. Showing a moment of good taste and judgment, Mr. Steinman was let go.