DUMB LEPPARD … Accept guitarist Wolf Hoffman says Def Leppard is a Dumb band name

Blabbermouth — ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann spoke to RJ Bayley of Metal Empire about the origin of the band’s unusual name. He said (hear audio below): “It actually existed before I joined the band, believe it or not. The guys had already performed under that name locally a couple of times. It was basically a neighborhood band, and they had that name. I was never completely happy with it, but, of course, it stuck and we kept it over the years. I think if came off an album, or I know it did — there was an album by a [blues] band called CHICKEN SHACK, believe it or not. And they had an album [in 1970] called ‘Accept’. And I always thought, ‘How bizarre? How odd? Why would you name a metal band after an album by CHICKEN [SHACK]?’ But they did it, and it was already a done deal, and

we kept it all these years. But it’s still a bit of an odd mystery, the whole thing.”

Asked what

the ACCEPT name means to him personally, Wolf said: “Nothing, really. It’s just a name. I never thought it was a metal name. I mean, fans tell me they love the name; they think it’s great.

But I always thought, ACCEPT, the meaning of it is really not very metal, is it? … The name was already there when I joined the band, and we kept it for all these years.

And after a while, you keep forgetting about it, what it actually means, because you’re so used to it.

But I never thought it was a brilliant band name or anything. I thought other bands had much cooler names, like BLACK SABBATH, for instance, or JUDAS PRIEST — that’s totally metal. On the other hand, there’s some dumb band names, like DEF LEPPARD; I never thought that was very cool… That’s an odd one. I’m sure there’s examples in both ways, and we fall somewhere in the middle, I think.”


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