Talk:Whitesnake/Archive 1

US focus unwarranted
References to US or americans are out of line here. I came here from the article on Slow And Easy. That page also carries an unwarranted US focus. It's ok to identify the nationality of the group members. And that should be all. AFAIK the band has a strong European history also. We should strive to make a universal article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Marius63 (talk • contribs) 14:47, 29 June 2011 (UTC)

Doug Aldrich group status
Just to correct matters regarding guitarist Doug Aldrich; he has NOT left Whitesnake although he did perform with Dio in late 2005, filling in for that band's guitarist Craig Goldy. Doug Aldrich is slated to perform with Whitesnake for their 2006 live dates; the status regarding Dio is unresolved at the moment. 81.31.97.129 12:44, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

Origin of name ?
Anyone know anything about the origin of the band's name? [If this is in the article, and I missed it, perhaps it could be made more prominent(?)] 41.240.10.198 (talk) 13:04, 31 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Use your imagination ;-) 81.31.97.129 (talk) 19:54, 10 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Indeed! The band was initially billed as 'David Coverdale's Whitesnake', after all! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.128.47.6 (talk) 23:45, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Whitesnake = glam?
I think it is wrong to categorize Whitesnake as a glam metal band, because they didn't start out thet way. If they are a glam band in your opinion, then what those that make Bernie Marsden, Micky Moody, Neil Murray and other early members of Whitesnake ?. That is a shameful term for a classic band like Whitesnake, especially it featured a few members of Deep Purple, another classic band. Aishah Bowron16:37, 21 February 2006

Whitesnake = British?
Since the current members of the band are all American, bar Coverdale (who has been based in the USA since the mid-80s), can Whitesnake still be described as a 'British band'? The last time they had an all-British line-up was on the '1987' album! I suggest they be described as an 'Anglo-American' band. 81.31.97.129 23:42, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
 * The origin req'd in the infobox is for the origin of the band, not the band members.(their "origins" should be covered by their individual articles) The lead should match the infobox to avoid an edit war among different or newer contributors who feel one or the other is incorrect. English/British or whatever needs to stay in the infobox. As for the lead-in, one way to avoid any confusion...and still be within Wiki guidelines...is perhaps to remove nationality all together. Whitesnake is a Hard rock band that was formed in 1978. Plain and simple. Anger22 01:04, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Works for me: any objections to it being edited as suggested? 81.31.97.129 23:13, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Changed that first line as suggested - the infobox now says 'Formed in England' - used the Placebo article as a precedent there (they formed in the UK too, but also have only one British member). Hope that is still within the guidelines. 81.31.97.129 17:14, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

Once again reverted the 'English hard rock band' statement; in light of David Coverdale's recent granting of American citizenship, the present line-up is now all-American. 81.31.97.129 11:54, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

Whitesnake will always be renowned as an English hard rock band, formed in England, its their 1980's heyday as an all English line-up that they are remembered/known almost exclusively for, and because of their huge success during this period they are an 80's rock band. | 80's band Whitesnake to rock That Coverdale now holds dual is also irrelevant. JackFreeman190 12:27, 6 Sep 2009 (UTC)

Sorry - strongly disagree. It's not true that they're known 'almost exclusively' for their 80s English line-up (which ceased to be all-English in 1987, BTW) The '1987' touring line-up was described by David Coverdale himself as a 'league of nations' comprising a Brit (Coverdale) an Irishman (Vivian Campbell) a Dutchman (Adrian Vandenberg) a Cuban (Rudy Sarzo) and at that time the only American, Tommy Aldridge. No longer an English band. The 'huge success' that is best remembered TODAY is that period from 1987-1990; it was during this time Coverdale emigrated to the States also. I am well aware that the '1987' album was recorded with all British personnel, nevertheless it was toured with the line-up described above and it is that which is associated with the 'huge success' and indeed went on to record a follow-up album (Slip of the Tongue) - with yet another American (Steve Vai) in Campbell's place!

They were inactive for several years and when Coverdale reactivated the group with a new line-up in 2002, it was all-American save for him. Now he has taken on US citizenship himself and is a dual national, I think that this is completely relevant; he has lived there for decades, has an American wife and his son is an American citizen. To travel in and out of the States he would therefore be obliged to use a US, not UK passport. Despite the RP accent, he's American! The band he originally formed in 1978 is totally separate from today's band. They're an American hard rock band now. The original question was answered with the suggestion to remove nationality from the lead-in altogether; this was done and someone still reverted it and is pushing the 'English' POV. The facts are against this and it should be simply 'a Hard Rock Band'. I'd revert it but cannot be bothered with edit warring in spite of being both factually correct and within guidelines, someone STILL will defy it and change it back. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.194.13.221 (talk) 01:38, 20 June 2010 (UTC)

Rudy Sarzo
It should be noted that Rudy_Sarzo of Quiet_Riot fame joined the band for 1989's Slip_of_the_Tongue album. -- Axewielder 19:02, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

1987 tour
Rudy_Sarzo joined after the dismissal of the recording band for the Whitesnake 1987 album. Initially he was part of the line up employed to appear in the videos for that album, which then became the touring band. None of the touring band for Whitesnake 1987 played on the album (except Coverdale obviously). Rudy_Sarzo did play on the following release, Slip of the Tongue. [User:XSlater|XSlater]] (talk) 12:36, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Whitesnake used to play in the Middle Ages?
Whitesnake haven't been around since 1125! Please fix the date on the right side of the page. -- ICE77 88.107.98.205 17:50, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

Revert
I have reverted all edits since 13:06, 21 February 2007 due to the fact the article was padded out with unsourced statements and POV. If anyone can find sources for what I deleted, feel free to add it back in again. Also, if any helpful edits were reverted feel free to add/remove whatever it was. Thanks. ĤĶ51→Łalk 16:13, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

Chris Frazier
New drummer for Whitesnake is Chris Frazier, replacing Tommy Aldridge. 81.31.97.129 (talk) 12:25, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Band members..redundancy
Is it really necessary to list the former band members when there's already a link to the article List of Whitesnake band members?? Doesn't it make more sense to leave only the current bandmembers and a link "For former band members, see List of Whitesnake band members" ? GBrady (talk) 14:42, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I would say yes, it makes more sense to provide a link to the list of former members and remove the redundant info from this article. Grandmaster (talk) 18:30, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

I think that the band's former members,as many and as significant as they are should stay as is,beeing the bands great history.--85.74.236.142 (talk) 14:22, 11 February 2010 (UTC)

100 million records sold?
Was Whitesnake really that succesful outside of America? The band sold approximately 15 million records in the US, so that would mean it sold an additional 85(!) million records overseas?! I'm not sure as to how credible that number is... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.177.243.95 (talk) 21:25, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

I agree. There is no way that Whitesnake have sold 100 million records. Until recently they were said to have sold around 30 million, which seems far more realistic. As you said they have sold 15 million in the US approx, including 1987 which sold 8 in USA and 12/13 million worldwide. Even if you considered that 1987 sold 15 million worldwide, where on earth do the other sales come from? The Reuters link is factually incorrect. Def Leppard and Journey (much bigger bands) have sold between 65-85 million albums each, so Whitesnake are definitely way below them. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.225.24.133 (talk) 10:39, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

Racist?
''Also worth noting is that Whitesnake has the reputation of being a racist band. In their self-titled song "Whitesnake," the lyrics state, "White skin women leave me howling for more, brown skinned honey, oh no." The song "Girl" repeats the phrase, "Pretty little crazy white girl" over and over.''

What's all that about? I haven't ever heard about that and if someone could just clarify that a little bit... 82.181.29.93 (talk) 13:51, 6 June 2010 (UTC)

Merge Snakebite EP and LP articles
The main body of the LP's article is focused on the EP while the one about the EP is almost empty which is not very logical: it could be clearer to merge the two article in one (like the Magical Mystery Tour album and double EP). Otherwise, the Snakebite LP is technically a compilation album (and not a double EP regarding its article which states "the name typically given to vinyl records or CDs released as a set of two discs, each of which would normally qualify as an EP".). --Vegetable man38 (talk) 20:06, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

Makes alot of sense, it should all feature in one article, in alot of ways its already merged and it wouldn't really change much Niftey (talk) 09:01, 11 October 2011 (UTC)

John Sykes on "Slide It In"
Sykes was on the U.S. version, but what did he actually contribute to it? Also, was Micky Moody on the U.S. version? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.68.57.211 (talk) 03:30, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Whitesnake are not a heavy metal band
Whitesnake are not a Heavy Metal band. David Coverdale says Whitesnake were never a Heavy Metal band. They are Blues Rock and Hard Rock band.

It isn't often that a band releases one of its best albums five decades into its career, but Whitesnake have done just that with 'Forevermore'. The band's latest record finds the quintet revisiting the blues-based riffs of their earlier work, and features some of frontman David Coverdale's most inspired vocal performances ever.

Although the group's hardcore fanbase may disagree, some casual listeners would probably categorize Whitesnake as a heavy metal band. During a recent sit-down interview with Noisecreep, it was clear that David Coverdale isn't having any of it.

"The genre that I've found myself in -- not that I ever pigeonholed or catalogued stuff, that's for other people -- I loathe and detest seeing 'heavy metal' when I see my stuff come up in iTunes," Coverdale says. "I've never embraced that label on my music, other than I'm really loud. All of my songs have emotional and physical content. It has nothing to do with the emotionless metal." Strong words!

Coverdale theorizes that his stint with Deep Purple is a big part the reason why the metal comparison comes up so often. "It's gotta be from my association with Deep Purple from way back when. That [heavy metal] was one of the expressions related to Deep Purple. We were in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the loudest band in the world. Of course, those were in less saturated days."

Ironically, if you followed Deep Purple during the days when Coverdale fronted the band, you already know that their material with him often embraced soul and funk influences. "[Deep Purple bassist] Glenn Hughes, my soul brother, we were both immense fans of American black music," the singer lovingly recalled.

Noisecreep asked Coverdale which records had the biggest effect on him during his stint in Deep Purple. "The three albums that were irreplaceable in my life the year I joined Deep Purple were 'There's a Riot Going On' [Sly & the Family Stone], 'Live' from Donny Hathaway, and 'Music of My Mind' by Stevie Wonder. I still live and breathe all of them."

Surely the Whitesnake legend still cranked out some rock 'n' roll from time to time?

"Oh yes... I was a huge rock fan too [(laughs]. I was a big fan of turning people's singles down from 45 rpm to 33 rpm to make them sound heavier. Which I think is what Vanilla Fudge did too. If you listen to The Beatles' 'Rain' at 33 rpm, those riffs slowed down are really heavy. I once had the pleasure of telling George Harrison that I did that and he said, 'Oh really -- I'll have to try that!'" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.93.199.174 (talk) 19:47, 19 November 2012 (UTC)


 * Wherever you got that from, it's a source to say that Coverdale does not consider Whitesnake to be a heavy metal band. That can be added with the source if you think it's important. It is not a source to say that Whitesnake are not a heavy metal band. Coverdale (like all artists) is not the arbiter of what genre his music is considered to be. Bretonbanquet (talk) 19:54, 19 November 2012 (UTC)

Heavy Metal?
Aren't Whitesnake a hard rock band? The media classed them as a hard rock, not heavy metal.They are very clearly a Hard Rock band. They can not be heavy Metal. In 2005, Whitesnake was named the 85th greatest hard rock band of all time by VH1. So they are Hard Rock. Please tell me one heavy metal song by Whitesnake. Heavy metal bands are: Metallica, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Anthrax, Slipknot... All their music is more or less bluesy hard rock. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.93.191.121 (talk) 15:01, 19 September 2014 (UTC)

What about other genres?
Whitesnake also have blues, rhythm and blues, funk rock songs... Blues songs: Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City, Love Man, Steal Away, Carry Your Load... Rhythm and blues songs: The Time Is Right For Love, Outlaw, beautiful ballad Lonely Days, Lonely Nights, Trouble... The song Take Me With You is funk rock song. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.101.137.29 (talk) 10:51, 3 October 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
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NWOBHM?
As others have already pointed out; Whitesnake were/are not a Heavy Metal band. They occasionally wrote songs that crossed over into Heavy Metal, but rarely, and that was way beyond what one would consider to be part of the NWOBHM proper. Beyond that, the term "New Wave of British Heavy Metal" wasn't uttered for the first time until 1979. So, "Ain't No Love (In the Heart of the City)" does not prove that a NWOBHM band can have a "chart hit." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.188.41.10 (talk) 21:56, 23 March 2016 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 31 July 2016
Whitesnakeblog (talk) 16:58, 31 July 2016 (UTC)
 * You have not clearly stated what you felt should be changed. However, please see your talk page before making a request. - Sum mer PhD v2.0 21:49, 31 July 2016 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 16 October 2016
There is a change needed in the last sentence of paragraph #10: "The new lineup toured in 1982–83, headlined the Monsters of Rock Festival at Castle Donington UK in August 1983 and the single "Guilty of Love" reached No. 31 in the UK singles chart.[9]"

The actual song was "Victim of Love", as "Guilty of Love" was yet to be recorded.

Burninguitfiddle (talk) 18:48, 16 October 2016 (UTC) "Victim of Love" was from Saints & Sinners (1982) and included Bernie Marsden, Ian Paice and Neil Murray "Guilty of Love" was released on 13 August 1983 and included Mel Galley, Cozy Powell and Colin Hodgkinson, i.e the "new lineup" I suspect your confusion may be that "Guilty of Love" appears on Slide It In, which was released in January 1984, but the single was released before the album. - Arjayay (talk) 08:46, 17 October 2016 (UTC)
 * ❌ - as the article is correct:-

Malcolm Birch?
The comment about Malcolm Birch of Chesterfield based band Pegasus playing keyboards on 'Here I Go Again' isn't sourced, and seems unlikely. Jon Lord played keyboards as far as we can tell. Quick search suggests other sites mentioning this are all based on this page. Gastronaut (talk) 21:11, 27 May 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
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