The Offspring's Dexter Holland On Def Leppard

Anyone who grew up in the '80s and has heard the new Offspring single "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" has already put two and two together. But for those who didn't worship at the throne of spandex during the decade that spawned some God- awful sounds, well, brace yourselves: the Offspring have tipped their hats to Def Leppard on "Pretty Fly." The intro to "Pretty Fly" is the intro to Def Leppard's "Rock of Ages" from their mega-seller Pyromania. It's a "one- two- three- four" countdown that goes like this: "unda, glieben, glauten, gloven."

The Offspring's lead singer / guitarist Dexter Holland lets out a how-did-you-know-that laugh when asked about the Def Leppard reference. "Yeah, I wanted an intro that would be in direct contrast to the song. It's just a funny part."

So does he happen to know what it actually says? "I don't know. I'm not up on my Def Leppard trivia," he says. "I should find that out." When pressed, Holland admits that he doesn't exactly dislike Joe Elliott and the crew: "Def Leppard was when I was in high school. You couldn't avoid it, so definitely I heard it. I hadn't bought one of their records or anything, but, well, OK, I have to admit, I did like 'Photograph.'"

"Pretty Fly" is the first single from the band's fifth album, Americana, due Nov. 17 on Columbia. A long-form home video of the same name is coming out the same day.

By Carrie Borzillo, from Allstar - October 2, 1998