Be-Bop Deluxe played Sheffield City Hall on 05/02/1976. This was part of their “Sunburst Finish” UK tour (the album was released that same month), with Doctors of Madness appearing on several dates of the tour. Still active today, the Doctors’ Richard “Kid” Strange shared this photo from backstage after the gig, where Joe Elliot (Def Leppard) told them how much he loved the band and asked if he could hold his KID guitar. He and his mates came to every gig the Doctors did in South Yorkshire in the mid 70s. 50 years later he is a dear friend of the Kid.

Doctors of Madness were a highly theatrical British proto-punk / art-rock band formed in South London in 1974 by singer-songwriter Richard “Kid” Strange. Emerging in the gap between glam rock and punk, they mixed the dark theatricality of Bowie and Roxy Music with aggressive, street-level energy that anticipated the coming punk movement. Doctors of Madness released three albums:

Late Night Movies, All Night Brainstorms (1976)
Figments of Emancipation (1976)
Sons of Survival (1978)

Although never commercially successful, the band became hugely influential. Strange later revived the name for reunion performances and new recordings. As for Def Leppard….

Joe guested several times with the reunited band, performing with them at London performances connected with their revival. He also Joe contributed backing vocals to new Doctors of Madness material and promoted it on his Planet Rock radio show. He called them “one of my favourite ever bands.”

Joe has also spoken warmly about Bill Nelson’s guitar playing and songwriting, and Be-Bop Deluxe sit among the wider group of artists he has championed over the years alongside figures such as Ian Hunter, Bowie and Mott the Hoople, so that gig was an important one for him.