David Coverdale Didn’t Expect the 1987 Album to Be Such a Huge Success
In an interview with Andrew Daly from Metal Edge, among other things David Coverdale talked a bit about the 1987 album and stated that he wasn’t expecting the album to do so well.
“After the ball was dropped with Slide it In, I have to admit I didn’t expect things with the ’87 record to go well. And once again, we had different players, who all were great, but that shift didn’t initially lend itself to stability in my mind. But then there was John Sykes, who I felt was the first guy capable of being a band leader in Whitesnake. Another thing going on was that I’d lost Jon Lord, who had rejoined Deep Purple with my blessing. But we had Don Airey record the keyboards for the ’87 record, and I felt we harnessed that sound well. Those sorts of keys made a big difference because it wasn’t reliant on guitars, though John Sykes did track tons of them.”
When asked about the sudden success he experienced with the 1987 album, David Coverdale replied:
“A lot of people feel it’s Whitesnake’s best record. And don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled with the ’87 record, but I can’t pick a favorite. But make no mistake; I am overjoyed with the ’87 record and how it did. I mean… are you kidding me? I had a job with Deep Purple and then left to form Whitesnake. I made a bunch of records, but by ’87, I was almost $3 million in debt. I had no idea that record would be a hit. I didn’t know if it would do anything at all. But then it suddenly took off through radio and MTV playing “Still of the Night.” And I think those who loved Slide it In were waiting for that record and had hopes for it, but there was no way to know it would be such a monumental success. While MTV had been around for some time, it was still a relatively new scenario. And then they started beating people over the head with “Still of the Night,” and it just went haywire.”
David Coverdale also talked about his time at Deep Purple, relationship with John Sykes and Steve Vai amongs other things.
You can read the whole interview at Metal Edge magazine website.
Check out our Ultimate Guide To All Whitesnake guitarists
