# You're Always In Our Heart ....

.... from video: Steve Clark Remembered in post
http://guitarfans09.blogspot.com/2010/04/steve-clark-happy-golden-50th-birthday.html



"Steve was my friend, my brother, part of the family. I'll miss him like a brother."

"Ha had so much to offer, that'll never have the chance to express now. I believe if you've got it, flaunt it. And he had it."

"He'd be so quiet offstage. Then he would get up there and explode into this guitar god."

"He could really fill the stage. He used to do the Chuck Berry thing, strutting across the stage ... Where Chuck would do it 5miles an hour, Steve would do it 90in reverse. You had to get out of his way or you get knocked offstage."

- Joe Elliot


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"We certainly remember him with a smile on our faces. Obviously there's regret.. we wish him were still here ..."

"I remember him as being a very affectionate, very funny guy. I remember him on stage as being the typical showman."

"He brought a lot of happiness to millions of people. He also brought happiness to us, that's what we want to remember him by. "

"He was very shy, very funny, and very warm person. There ware so many more happy
moments we shared with him than we shared bad ones ..."

"... he was completely unique. He was an inspired genius."

- Rick Savage


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"I miss him, I think about Steve every single day. It's been 13 years but i still do, I always will."

"It was really frustrating seeing your best friend dying basically, you know, not being able to help him ..."

"It was a complete hoot! I loved it! Me & Steve got into a lot of trouble usually involve drinking, girls, the usual stuff."

"I was in a group called GIRL before this, but me and Steve knew each other and we used to have this silly jams in the clubs."

"It all started because we were sharing rooms on tour. We had a real laugh. Joe & Sav roomed together, Rick shared a room with his brother Robert, and that left me and Steve. We had such a laugh we would just hang out all the time!"

- Phil Collen



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"We realized that Steve would've wanted us to go on. We made Adrenelize for him."

"He was a really nice guy, but had major problems. It got worse and worse, and there was nothing we could do."

- Rick Allen


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"There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of him, speak of him, or miss him."

"He did not get a lot of support for his dreams, especially from his father."

"He played a mean Les Paul and with every note he bent, with every shape he threw, and with every toothy grin, he won a heart."

"Thanks to those people,(you know who you are), for helping to keep Steve's memory alive. I'm sure he is grateful and so am I."

- Lorelei Shellist (Steve's fiance)



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"When Steve played soccer with us, you could never tell what he would do or where he would go next ..."

"He was real fan though and could actually play pretty good(if he could manage to stop laughing for a few seconds)."

"My daughter's first steps, a trip of around 5 feet, which she made between pillars formed by Clark and Collen ... They both spent a few minutes on their knees encouraging her to let go and take the walking plunge."

"Helping him to pack his suitcase, at my insistence, whenever we were in a hurry..."
"...Steve, you can't check that bag with a cowboy boot hanging out of the zipper.. "

"I remember lighting a cigarette for him before God of War .... Something he really looked forward to .... 'cos he thought it looked cool (it DID!). "

"I shall always remember his smile. I shall never forget his kindness."

- Malvin, Steve's guitar tech


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"Some say he died because of his dad, some say he was haunted. Those things could of contributed to his death, but the truth is, we will never know and fully understand unless we hear him tell us himself. But that won't happen anytime soon.

He was such a lost soul, searching for his path in this world. And it was right in front of him. He was searching, but he just ran out of time. His guitar shown though his spirit like sun shines through crystal glass windows. He played with such fire, and such passion, everyday out on tour. It was his way of escaping just like we have ours.

The world can be very dark. So dark, we can't find our way. Steve was looking in so hard, searching, but yet he was haunted by his lost soul."

- WhiteLightningSMC
Original text : http://www.youtube.com/user/WhiteLightningSMC#p/u



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"As Steve would say, Martha(Lorelei), I love you!! Someday you two will be reunited in pure peace and harmony without any demons eating away at Steve and it will be the most blissful thing to ever happen to you. Reminds me of the night you two met in '83 I believe was the year. God bless Steve! May you always rock on in the big blue sky and the heavens above!!"

"I personally wish I had been old enough to seen him and Phil play live. I think they were so truly amazing together and the way they read each other and played together and they will always be brothers beyond this lifetime as well. Steve played with his HUGE heart and he loved every single minute of his playing live. Playing to his fan was so important... See More to him and he cherished EVERY SINGLE SECOND and never took it for granted.

I wish his demons never got the best of him but at least his heart, body and most importantly, his soul are at peace now."


"He is my favorite member ever of Def Leppard. The riffs that he came up with, you could ALWAYS tell that Steve played them, because he played so much with his heart out there and it was so amazing and the songs that he would write and help write. That sound will never ever be the same with Def Leppard. He was such a live performer and that was his favorite thing to do, play live for all of us, the Leppard fans.

It's too bad that family problems lead to his demise in the long run. I don't think he intended to kill himself at all. I think that he was in so much pain, mentally, emotionally and physically because of the broken ribs, that he just wanted to be in peace.

I hope that he finally found peace up in heaven, where his mind and soul are at ease. God bless "Steamin" Steve Clark, the one and only, "Riff Master"

- Andrew McGinnis

# Best of The Best: The Riffmaster & Stage Moves

Some of the best live shows that demonstrated Steve's greatest riffs, song composition and stage moves ..

Def Leppard - Too Late For Love (Live @ In The Round 1988)

... VERY stunning opening Riff ...that send chills down the spine ..


Def Leppard - Hysteria (Live @ In The Round 1988)

...the best of all versions of Hysteria, especially the opening riff.

Def Leppard - Gods of War





MORE coming next ...

# Golden 50th :: The Riffmaster

Today, Apr 23rd, marks what would be the 50th birthday of Steve, if Steve still alive.

How many 50 years does one has in his or her entire life time ? Once in a life time is the normal, and if one's life is long enough, maybe twice; and 3 times in a life time is pretty rare. Unfortunately, Steve had neither.

19 years on the road, have all the tears dried up ? Have all the pain, grief and suffering been washed away ? Have all the pieces been picked up ?

It is kind of hard to believe that it has been these long since the passing of Steve. That the tragic passing of Steve meaned the lost of a great friend, guitar legend and a kind humble soul; that it's a shame Steve didn't get enough credit in the world of greatest guitar legends in the past and only the good die young; that it is a kind of incompleteness for the band to lose an unparallel bandmate ...

Yet when seen in a positive ground, it is this incompleteness that knocks some senses into us; that allows the rest of us to discover, over time, all the most remarkable and finest music pieces, in addition to the gracious heart of Steve; that inspires us how far we could go in doing our best as a buddy, as a companion, as someone who feels for, thinks and cares about those suffering in pain and in silence, in their life.

In god's grace and blessing, Steve has finally found peace in heaven and realized that his life had been shined with much light and love..

A man with a much larger heart than most of the rest of people, and who had blown his soul into his music creation and riff. We know that Def Leppard love Steve and will always have his legacy to carry on..

Phil Collen has always been keeping Steve in mind and here's the heartiest birthday wish from Phil on his Facebook on 23 Apr 2010 ...

"Me and Helen are heading down to the Palms Studio in Vegas where I'll be playing live guitar that will be broadcast at the 'Prophetik' fashion show in Nashville. It'll be shown at 8:35pm Nashville time. It'll be coming to Nashville via Fender's 'E-Jamming'. If ur in Nashville head out to 8th & Commerce to see it. Happy Birthday Steve!"


This is the song Vivian Campbell, Def Leppard's current guitarist, wrote in dedication to Steve ..

To Be Alive - Studio version : album Euphoria



To Be Alive - Vivian Campbell's acoustic version - Live @ Mint, LA.
... credit to bigdigs26 ... Listen what Viv said : 0:09 - 0:10




Steve Clark Remembered - Watch the heart-wrenching comments quoted from the lepps ..and .. from Lorelei




Remembering Steve Clark (1960-1991)

"White Lightning - On a dead end street
White Lightning - Where the deadbeats meet
White Lightning - It's a one way ride
White Lightning - Oh, there's nowhere to hide
Such a lonely road you ride"

... credit to WhiteLightningSMC


Frank Hannon, Tesla's guitarist, talked about Steve
... mp3 streaming http://www.steveclarkguitar.com/FH_SMC_story.mp3

And this is the song written by Tesla dedicated to Steve ...

Tesla - Song and Emotion

"Then he starts to play
Suddenly the pain slowly fades away
Tattered, torn, and frayed
There's a place within his heart he'll always save
For the song and emotion ...."

"Where are they now?
Where are those people who promised him his dreams?
Where are they now for this lonely creature on the streets,
Broken, humbled by the cold reality?
Life at the top ain't always what it seems"



The solo which represent Steve, The Riffmaster -- composed and played by Steve ...

Steve Clark - Switch 625



The last solo Steve recorded ...

Def Leppard - When Love and Hate Collide - DEMO


And lastly, my humble dedication to Steve, Happy Golden 50th Birthday and keep heaven rocking!

# Phil Collen at NAMM 2010 - Abaheim

Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen brought some surprises to fellow fans and visitors in NAMM 2010, Jan 16 at Abaheim with his custom hand-painted anniversary Jackson guitars, live performance on stage with his own group Man Raze, not to mention the offstage interaction with his fans ! We could see Phil is very much energetic at his age..

NAMM 2010, Phil Collen video documenting building of the 30th Anniversary PC1

Video courtesy of Jackson Guitars & Mattsmusic.com; showcased Phil's unique skills in guitar painting, this time on Jackson PC1 guitar. Only 30 of these guitars have been made, as it is to celebrate Jackson's 30th anniversary.


In this clip, Phil even paint Japanese & Chinese word & having fun time with Japanese guy besides him :-
-his name Phil in Japanese, which he had been practicing for some times ...
-number (six in English) on the guitar !
-followed by some guitar shredding session

As Phil put it on his Facebook page ...
"The Jackson Splatter PC1 30th Anniversary History....These are 30 guitars that I painted myself to celebrate 30 years of Jackson guitars. I signed each one with my name in Japanese. I chose Japanese because it looks cool and I have a really good history with Japan; great memories as well as really loyal fans. "

Phil Collen visits the Jackson booth

Phil, in his usual personable & humble way, demo & talked about his hand painted,Custom Shop Dinky and other PC1 models at the 2010 Jackson Showcase booth.

Phil Collen talks about his PC1 guitars

Phil explained to visitors and fans about his hand-painted, Custom Shop Dinky and other PC1 models at the 2010 Jackson Showcase booth. Listen to Phil's humor about his hand-painting -- he used the word "splashing" !!

Phil Collen Signs Autographs

Phil was signing autographs near the Jackson booth, chatting and posing with fans for photo shoot.. 0:42 onwards ...

Mick Mars meets Phil Collen - Backstage @ Fender Booth NAMM 2010

Motley Crue guitarist Mick Mars greeting & posing with Phil for some photo shoot !!
"dark side meets the good side" -- as a fan GibsonWpg put it.


Phil as the frontman with his side-project, Man Raze team, showcased his unique vocal along with his great guitar riff on his signature Jackson guitar, the PC-1. It was in a small room at Fender area of the convention center during NAMM 2010 and Phil played Hendrix's classic "Fire" :-

Phil in Manraze @ NAMM 2010 by Margaret



Phil Collen @ Fender_NAMM 2010