1} NOW EL PASO SHOULD APOLOGIZE
In 1983 Def Leppard came to El Paso on their Pyromania
tour. The show was great. Two days after the El Paso concert, they were
in Arizona. During the concert, Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott wanted to arouse
the fans, so he made a comment about El Paso. Elliott was explaining to
the crowd how much better they were than El Pasoans, and that El Paso was
“full of greasy Mexicans.”
Of course, El Paso went crazy about his comment.
Mayor Johnathan Rogers wanted to boycott the band, even after he presented
Def Leppard with the key to the city.
Elliott, of course, apologized. He tried to explain
that the comment was just to arouse the fans, and he thought there would
be no harm. The band even offered $10,000 to help the city’s homeless children,
but as stubborn as some people are, the money was turned down.
Now, on a new tour, Hysteria, the band was to perform
at University of Texas at El Paso’s Special Events Center. The tickets
were selling well, until League of United Latin American Citizens and officials
went haywire. Suddenly, some El Pasoans blew the whole subject out of
proportion. People were calling UTEP with bomb threats. The hotel where
the band was scheduled to stay was even threatened.
So the concert was canceled. The money that the band
was going to bring in for the city and for UTEP will never be seen. Money
was even lost by Rainbow Ticketmaster, who made and sold the tickets.
It is time that El Paso should apologize to the band
and just forgive and forget. People do it every day.
Matthew Murphy,
El Paso
2} DEF LEPPARD HANDLED POORLY
I give my honest thanks to a few ignorant people of El
Paso for not letting Def Leppard back into town.
I do agree that Joe Elliott, the lead singer, said
a drastic insult on the Mexicans of El Paso, but he said he was sorry.
What else can the man do? There is only so much a person can take, and
I believe Elliott has suffered enough.
I am a 15 year-old Hispanic girl and a rock ‘n’ roll
lover. I, too, was angry, but I forgave Elliott because we are
human and as humans make mistakes.
Now you just might think I am another one of those
rebellious teens who does not know anything. At least I am not acting
like an immature child who gets his thrills by calling radio stations
and writing in school newspapers threatening the lead singer’s life.
I recall an incident that happened with Southern
Methodist University was invited to the Sun Bowl. SMU called our city
a “pitiful town” and then later apologized for the remark. Our mayor accepted
this apology. Why did our mayor not even consider accepting Elliott’s apology?
I am really disappointed in the way El Paso handled
this whole situation.
Denise Herrera,
El Paso
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