∇
troperville

∇
tools

∇
toys

SubpagesMain
Music

main index

Narrative

Genre

Media

Topical Tropes

Other Categories

random

Subpages:

Music: Whitesnake

About three days later my landlord told me that I wasn't allowed to play "Here I Go Again," by Whitesnake at full volume at 3AM every morning. I politely said, "Well, what the hell time of day can I blast Whitesnake?!"

I called Derek back and asked if he liked Whitesnake. He said he didn't, but I assumed he was lying. I mean who the hell doesn't like Whitesnake?

— House of Shadows by Mat Stevens

Whitesnake is a rock band hailing from England, first formed in 1977.

The current members of the band are:

David Coverdale - lead vocals (1976—1982, 1982—1991, 1994, 1997—1998, 2002—present)
Doug Aldrich - guitars (2002—present)
Reb Beach (formerly from Winger) - guitars (2002—present)
Michael Devin - bass (2010—present),
Brian Ruedy - keyboards (2010—present)
Brian Tichy - drums (2010—present)

The band started in North Yorkshire, England. The style was primarily blues rock (or progressive R&B as they liked to call it). They were often compared to Deep Purple— David Coverdale being formerly of that band, and long-running Deep Purple members Jon Lord and Ian Paice being in the first few lineups. After Moody was replaced with a guitarist from Thin Lizzy they moved into more hard rock.

Some of their most famous songs are "Is This Love", "Here I Go Again" and "Still Of The Night".

Also, it's Lois Lane's favorite band.

Tropes related to the band:

Dress Rehearsal Video: "Here I Go Again" and "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City".
The Drifter: "Here I Go Again"
Genre Shift
Getting Crap Past the Radar: In the original music video for "Here I Go Again" Tawny Kitaen's left nipple was visible for a split second. The censors did not notice and the video aired on MTV for a while before people spotted it. The original version of the video was quickly pulled from the air and replaced by an edited version that removed the brief nudity.
- Also, the band name. It refers to the "white snake" of lead singer Coverdale, so to speak.
Hair Metal: If only by association. David Coverdale never liked it that his band was labeled as such and thus lumped together with others that were declared hair metal bands.
Heavy Meta: "Children of the Night"
Hood Ornament Hottie: In the videos. Bowling For Soup's "1985" makes a reference to it:
She was gonna be an actress, she was gonna be a star
She was gonna shake her ass on the hood of Whitesnake's car
I Am the Band: Infamously, Coverdale fired all his band members who played on their best-selling album Whitesnake after the album's sessions finished.
Intercourse with You: "Slide It In": "I'm gonna Slide It In, right to the top! Slide It In, ain't never gonna stop." Also "Still of the Night".
Love Hurts: "Fool For Your Loving": "I gave my heart, and you tore it apart, oh, baby, you done me wrong."
New Sound Album: Saints and Sinners began their move away from blues-rock towards a more hard rock style. The 1987 self-titled album confirmed them as a full Hair Metal band.
Old Shame: What David Coverdale thought of the earlier bluesy recordings of "Fool For Your Loving", "Here I Go Again" and "Crying In The Rain", in interviews during the band's hair metal days.
Pretty Boy
Rearrange the Song: "Here I Go Again" was first recorded as a blues-rock number in 1982. In 1987, the group re-recorded in an Arena Rock style, and it was this version that hit #1 on the Hot 100. The group re-recorded it a second time in 1987 for radio play; both of the '87 recordings can nowadays be heard on classic rock radio, while the '82 version is essentially forgotten.
- Similarly, "Fool For Your Loving", a single from 1980, was rerecorded for their 1989 album, "Slip of the Tongue", and given a much heavier spin, owing much to Steve Vai. It too outperformed the original on the charts.
- They did one more, "Cryin' In The Rain", from the early years, re-recorded for their 1987 album.
Revolving Door Band: The Other Wiki has a long list of former members. See how far it went under I Am the Band.
- Steve Vai: Arguably the most famous of the bunch.
- Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord and drummer Ian Paice, in the early years.
Spinoff Band: Arguably, of Deep Purple.
Three Minutes of Writhing: Tawny Kitaen often on the videos.