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Story and photo by Debbie (DexterAnn)
I never got the opportunity, unfortunately, to meet Steve Clark but I have been fortunate enough to have gotten a chance to meet his parents and spend a bit of time with his youngest brother Chris, over the past few years.
The first time I met Chris was in June 1993. I was in Sheffield with some friends for Def Leppard's show at Don Valley Stadium. Since we were all Lep fans, we decided to spend part of our trip seeing the Lep sites, like their childhood homes, schools, the Wapentake Club, etc. During a stop at the Sheffield United Stadium, we happened upon a gentleman who had a friend who knew the Clark's. He was kind enough to pass along her name and number to us, and with one call, we were off on a personalized tour of Sheffield. It was on this tour, that we were taken to the Clark's house. We had been told that they were away on holiday, but as we stood out front of the house, the door opened and a young man, who looks amazingly like Steve, peeked his head out. After a word from the family friend, Chris came outside and talked to us for about 15 or so minutes. He was very interested in our favorite Lep songs, what we thought of the Don Valley show and surprisingly, what we thought of Vivian. He was so sweet and was even kind enough to pose for pictures. Right before we said good-bye, he asked us to wait a minute and then ran back into the house only to appear a minute later with Steve's black Les Paul guitar. After letting us have our pictures taken with it, he ran back in and brought out Steve's white double neck guitar.Being the huge Steve Clark fan that I am, I knew that this was a once in a lifetime experience, so I tried to keep my composure for as long as possible. It wasn't until Chris went into the house and we went back to our car's that I went behind a big hedge and freaked out.
I didn't see Chris again until October 1995 when I was in Sheffield for Def Leppard Day and their private acoustic show at the Wapentake Club. The day had started out with a plaque presentation from the city of Sheffield at the Crookes Workingman's Club. It was at the reception with the band that I first got a chance to meet some of the Leppard parents, including the Clark's. The are so amazingly sweet and down to earth. I got tears in my eyes, as did Mrs Clark, as I told her that Steve still held a special place among many Lep fans and would never be forgotten. Later that day, at the Wapentake show, I got to see Chris again. We only got a chance to chat for a few minutes before going into the show. After the show, I went to say goodbye to Chris, when his mum asked my friend and I to the after show party and we got to talk again.
On the day before we were to leave, my friend and I returned to our hotel to find a phone message from Chris. We rang him back only to find that he wanted to see us again to say goodbye. The three of us met at a pub near his house and spent a couple of hours sitting around chatting and laughing. I had to pinch myself every time he would say something about his brother, just so that I would realize who his brother was. The evening ended with us driving Chris back home and saying good bye.
I still wish that I had had the opportunity to have meet Steve but I am so thrilled and honored that I got to meet the people who loved him most.
