Clark was a classically-trained musician who knew the rules of music and could read and write music and understood the theory and science of the art, as well as studying/being influenced by Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin whereas Collen, like Willis, was self-taught and developed his fast, alternate-picking technique from studying Al Di Meola and listening to jazz players.
The fact that they came from entirely different musical backgrounds also contributed to their unique guitar partnership. Part of their success as a duo was attributed to their ability to swap between rhythm and lead guitar, with both playing lead or both doing rhythm within the same song. He and Collen became known as the "Terror Twins" in recognition of their close friendship and alcohol-fueled antics offstage. Clark and Collen quickly bonded, becoming close friends and leading to the trademark dual-guitar sound of Def Leppard. Toward the end of the Pyromania recording sessions in 1982, Pete Willis was asked to leave the band, and guitarist Phil Collen was recruited into the band to replace him. Clark and Pete Willis shared lead guitar duties, and Clark was nicknamed "The Riffmaster" due to his talent and ability to come up with guitar riffs. While a member of Def Leppard, Clark wrote or co-wrote over 90% of the band's songs. According to Elliott in Behind the Music, Clark auditioned for Def Leppard by playing all of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" without accompaniment. Clark finally came down to their rehearsal room and joined Def Leppard in January 1978. Clark never showed up, but when Willis and singer Joe Elliott bumped into Clark again at a Judas Priest gig, Willis re-issued his invitation.
He then invited Clark to come and audition for his band, as they were looking to add a second guitarist. Willis spotted Clark reading a guitar book and asked if he played. Around that time, he met Pete Willis (Def Leppard's original guitarist and founder) at a technical college. Career with Def Leppard īefore joining Def Leppard in 1978, Clark played cover songs with his band Electric Chicken in Sheffield. He was three years into a four-year apprenticeship with the firm at the time Def Leppard was signed to a record deal with Phonogram Records. When Clark left school, his first employer was an engineering firm called GEC Traction where he worked as a lathe operator. Clark studied classical guitar for a year before he first heard the music of Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin at a friend's house. At 11, he received his first guitar which was purchased by his father on the condition that he learn to play. From an early age, he showed an interest in music, attending his first concert featuring Cliff Richard and the Shadows at age six. Stephen Maynard Clark was born and raised in Hillsborough, Sheffield, to Barrie and Beryl (nee Beckingham) Clark.
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