helterskelter.ca

WHITESNAKE
1979 - Lovehunter.
1982 - Saints & Sinners.
1984 - Slide It In.
1987 - 1987
1989 - Slip Of The Tongue.
more WHITESNAKE.
way more Helter Skelter.

October 2, 1979 - 2024: 45 years of: Lovehunter.

Cmon baby, ride that thang.

Out of trouble ...and now on the hunt. The slick WHITESNAKE rises up, stiffin' the competition with rock hard bar-blues.

The arena-worthy "Long Way From Home" and "Medicine Man" pushes the loud-speakers to the breaking-point. Hittin' hard, the title-track for "Love Hunter" squeals for some sweet lovin', while the Johnny be goods are properly delivered on "Rock 'n' Roll Women".

Rough-rock gets a welcomed appearance on both back-to-back "You 'N' Me" and "Mean Business" ...not NWOBHM, yet so close. Building a future empire and foot-stompin' to perfection, the English snakes finally steps into the limelight while "Walking In The Shadow Of The Blues".

In a long line of scandalous rocknroll artwork-sleeves, the Lovehunter LP slides itself near the climax on the audacious-scale. And to paraphrase one famous rock-manager: "Well you should've seen the cover they WANTED to do ...it wasn't a snake believe me !" - Ian Faith.

Warming the crowds for the eventual British hardrock takeover, this WHITESNAKE bridged the gap between the 60s school and forthcoming 80s heavymetal revolution. The saints and sinners shall provide more Union Jack rocknroll, now featuring another ex-DEEP PURPLE gent, Mister Ian Pace, on 1980's Ready An' Willing LP.

RIP Chris Achilléos, illustrator (1947-2021)
RIP Bernie Marsden (1951-2023)

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Long Way From Home = video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ1PfB59zf8
Lovehunter = full LP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxMj_diW73Y&list=OLAK5uy_lCa_LeA8W1bfO1liCkqDckInYkwkl0Rwg
Live at Reading in 1979
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHLLGP-V1qo

November 25, 1982 - 2022: 40 years of: Saints & Sinners.

Come an' get some more !

After both 1980's Ready An' Willing and 81's Come An' Get It LP punches, this flesh-hungry WHITESNAKE would bring more suave slithering action.

Coverdale will meet you outside for some "Young Blood", a fast jab that goes straight for the vital-parts. Rugged-rock rocks off on "Rough An' Ready" and the skirt-raising and hell-raising "Dancing Girls".

The AC/DC-ish "Victim Of Love" and the "Saints And Sinners" title-track cracks skulls wide open with menacing minutia while the original versions of "Crying In The Rain" and the all-star "Here I Go Again" already had success written all over them, long before 1987's MTV make-over.

Even under high-stress tensions backstage, the LP was completed and on tour, would include another drum legend: Cozy Powell.

Before worldwide stardom and arenarock anthems, WHITESNAKE ruled in hard bluesrock signatures. Surviving both punk and NWOBHM tides, these now classic SNAKES would shake the foundation of British rock with their upcoming Americanized 1984's Slide It In LP.

RIP Mel Galley (1948-2008)

*
Saints & Sinners = full LP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeDK3OT8mbU&list=OLAK5uy_lUVskJRQVR_EkJ24Q2yKt0LEcFYmhNADQ
Interview in 1982
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQsqVx7pd1o
Live on Top Of The Pops in 1982
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy5xHoi5vZM
Live for German TV in 1983
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfq-uvYVz2k

January 30, 1984 - 2024: 40 years of: Slide It In.

The SNAKES are finally cracking the US-market.

1984: the year hardrock and heavymetal swallowed the world ...and especially the Red, White & Blue. The doors of hardrock have been wide opened by some deaf leopard, hence European monsters like JUDAS PRIEST, SCORPIONS and WHITESNAKE would now set bases of operation, right here in West-Hollywood.

The ass-kicking starts-off with style with "Slide It In" ...rough-rock with a sleazy attitude: the LPs motto. The high-gain AC/DC crunch of "Give Me More Time" keeps the clock in check, while the slick "Hungry For Love" leaves little to the imagination.

Headbangers worldwide rejoice under the spotlights as "Guilty Of Love" melts speakers into a pulp and diametrically, the soulful "Love Ain't No Stranger" takes form into the hard-bluesrock Stonehenge it is widely known for. Another amp-breaker bust fuses as "Spit It Out" blasts dirty southernrock, while the super-sexy striptease of "Slow An' Easy" might just be 1984's greatest song. A blues crescendo bursting into the loudest arenarock, there is none above.

Slide It In LP is so cool that two different mixes exist: a traditional one for the European-market and a louder one for the US-market ...it seems true that everything is bigger in America, as supported by the RIAA-certified 2x Platinum Award.

WHITESNAKE would continue to bite, harder and dominate the MTV 80s rock-scene with some of the hottest machismo available to mankind. In a total facelift, David Coverdale would surround himself with new Snakes on board, including ex-Ozzy drummer Tommy Aldridge, ex-QUIET RIOT bassist Rudy Sarzo and the newly-jobless ex-DIO Vivian Campbell. Hail 1987's killing machine 1987 LP ...also entitled Whitesnake LP for the US-market.

"Right to the top, babey..." - DC

RIP Cozy Powell (1947-1998)
RIP Jon Lord (1941-2012)
RIP Keith Olsen (1945-2020)

*
Guilty Of Love = video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu_PNCZ2gwY
Slow An' Easy = video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qqAtPV-kgs
Love Ain't No Stranger = video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unHzLEA6gvI
Slide It In = full LP UK mix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxtGR_Plj78&list=PLPKuDpih8oNmYF1abhekrRqfmbhL2EIEq
Slide It In = full LP US mix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWTuKhhYobQ&list=OLAK5uy_l5G1Ydm-6e_sQ9Vq69NhhGVCGa0N656jU
Interview in Japan in 1984
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPOcwhXRZUI
Live at Super Rock Japan in 1984
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uB_ciVq978

March 31, 1987 - 2022: 35 years of: 1987

An old formula for new hardrock-stardom.

Classic British agent David Coverdale cleaned house. To face the prettiness of the Sunset Strip tidalwave, the entire 1984 Slide It In lineup was let go. Coverdale wrote and recorded with bassist Neil Murray, ex-THIN LIZZY axe-man John Sykes and ex-Zappa and ex-JOURNEY drum-legend Aynsley Dunbar.

However in the medias, on TV and onstage, the union of: the hip and young ex-DIO guitarist Vivian Campbell, ex-Osbourne rhythm-section bass-licker Rudy Sarzo and octopus-drummer Tommy Aldridge as well as new-kid-guitar hair-icon Adrian Vandenberg where the appointed snakes.

The revamped high-voltage version of "Crying In The Rain" bursts-out of the stereo, right for the throat. Rough and rugged, the battering-ram continues with "Bad Boys" and "Children Of The Night", whipping the L.A. floor with riff-driven molten hardrock. DC is the man in charge as he goes "Straight For The Heart" and takes a bite out of the bedroom with the suave and sleek powerballad "Is This Love".

The 1982 re-recorded "Here I Go Again" a then/now/forever classic British-hardrock signature ravaged the US into submission. Still today, you just can't look away, especially from then wife Tawny Kitaen, the redhead dual Jaguar-rubbing vixen that dictated the entire hot MTV rock-generation.

Similar case for the other mid 80s trend-pusher, as the after-dark "Still Of The Night" lights up any city downtown. Part ZEP, part glamour, all snake ...this gigantic cut has also become synonymous with the rock-heads of the era ...all done under highly meticulous British supervision.

Modern, arrogant and sexy, the simply entitled 1987 LP in Europe / Asia and Whitesnake LP in the USA, went on to achieve RIAA-certified 8x Platinum. Making WHITESNAKE one of the biggest act of this euphoric biker-rock era, along the other Union Jack brummies of DEF LEPPARD.

Live on tour with the dangerous MÖTLEY CRÜE, all hell broke loose and excesses were the norm, all in the name of good ol' rocknroll. The great white ones shall sting again, one last time before the hostile 90s. Locked and loaded with 1989's heavy machinery Slip Of The Tongue LP, along it's rank yet another new snake ...the holy one: Steve Vai.

*
Still Of The Night = video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swPt9HBRXuE
Here I Go Again = video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyF8RHM1OCg
1987 = full LP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCdkuB8yaqs&list=PL3TvFpwurZYwigHvLdXx2lE5MYtTToGzA&index=1
DC interview in 1987
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2v8CHqVUhk
Live in Buffalo in 1988
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0JSaKWRRIs
some guy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Udl950xsWL4

November 7, 1989 - 2024: 35 years of: Slip Of The Tongue.

Monumental British arenarock.

1989: peak year for hardrock with huge hits, explosive guitar-solos, lotsa pyros, sleazy groupies, big egos, bigger hair and lavish videos and this time, the mighty WHITESNAKE goes all the way. The ultimate union in rocknroll heaven, the forces of Mother Nature unites: WHITESNAKE ...and the elite Steve Vai.

Following an unfortunate hand injury on guitar-player Adrian Vandenberg, ringmaster David Coverdale went for the shinny diamond. The classic hardblues band matched with the ultimate 7-string shredder of the decade. From Zappa to ALCATRAZZ to Roth ...at the crossroads, the flexable Vai is the hottest motherfucker around.

Following 1987's self-titled multi-Platinum Whitesnake LP, where could they go from now on ? ...lick this:

The fast ass-kickin' title-track for "Slip Of The Tongue" sets the world afire. "Girl you'd shame the Devil with that look that's in your eyes", heavyrock and kinky-attitude, this is the juggernaut you've feared. Top-gear production, classic heavyblues licks and street-level stamina ...hold on to dear life. Coverdale AKA the rock hard sex-symbol, shall not be outdone by the current Sunset-kids, as "Cheap An' Nasty" rips throughout the loud-speakers. Heavy-riffing, whammy-bar dives, chest-bursting drums and the voice of rocknroll, all packaged in an easy to swallow 3:28sec pill ...open-wide !

"Kittens Got Claws" possesses more razor-sharp shreds than Wolverine, while "Now You're Gone" is another SNAKE powerballad immortal signature-trick. The Titanic "Judgment Day" moves mountain, as über massive guitar-chords pushes and shoves you around like a Raggedy Ann doll, while DC reaches out and holds your hand to bring you back safely aboard.

Originally published on 1980's Ready An' Willing LP, the re-recorded universal classic "Fool For Your Loving" is an upgraded arenarock anthem and now MTV-staple. If you haven't heard this power-rock song ever before, you sadly must be deaf.

RIAA-certified Platinum, one question still remains: why Slip Of The Tongue wasn't as successful as the 1987 LP ? The 1990 scene was already hardrock saturated and in a status-quo state, after a decade of loud parties, it was a time for a change ...that change would come with late 91's Seattle-takeover. Showbusiness is all about timing and sometimes events don't always roll your way.

Slip Of The Tongue is firmly part of the classic SNAKE-trilogy: 1984's Slide It In, 1987's Whitesnake and 1989's Slip Of The Tongue. WHITESNAKE would disband after the tour and following a three year break, Coverdale would later arise with ...Jimmy Page.

RIP Tawny Kitaen (1961-2021)

*
Fool For Your Loving = video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t24PBn7KINU
Now You're Gone = video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHph4-OriXc
The Deeper The Love, featuring Tawny Kitaen = video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE0cRRU-J60
Slip Of The Tongue = full LP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyrgA7zzPHk&list=OLAK5uy_kQtx0MXhVtuuXn7c2gGb3sGOudwHPaRBo
The making of Slip Of The Tongue
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chPxgrb60cw
Steve Vai on the current situation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJiasZhKQTg
DC interview in 1989
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5vJijPczsE
MTV interview in 1990
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VOBI_nbZqI
Live in Donington in 1990
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATfQLwBiFvg
some guy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4eUtb_CJng

more WHITESNAKE:

VAI, Steve
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