WHITESNAKE's DAVID COVERDALE Says It Wasn't His Idea To Re-Record 'Here I Go Again' For 1987 Album

WHITESNAKE has revisited its multi-platinum career by remixing some of its biggest hits for a new collection, "Greatest Hits", which was made available on May 6 on digital and streaming services.

WHITESNAKE founder and lead singer David Coverdale had 16 tracks remixed and remastered for this collection, including "Here I Go Again", which was originally released on the band's 1982 album, "Saints & Sinners". The power ballad was re-recorded for WHITESNAKE's 1987 self-titled album and was released as a single, after which it hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 9 on the U.K. Singles chart.

Regarding the decision to re-record "Here I Go Again" and the role of MTV in making the track a worldwide success, Coverdale said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, first off, it was Geffen's idea to re… I never re-recorded things other than a song called 'Blindman' which was on my original solo album, [1977's] 'White Snake', and then we put it on [WHITESNAKE's 1980] 'Ready An' Willing' album because then that's when I felt we really had the solid idea of the early WHITESNAKE, with Bernie Marsden, Micky Moody, Neil Murray, Jon Lord and Ian Paice, and they did a masterly job on it. But I've never been one for re-recording. And John [Sykes, then-WHITESNAKE guitarist] and I had written enough for an album of original material. But [Geffen] wanted to do — and this has served us incredibly well — redo 'Here I Go Again'. John was not pleased, but history speaks for itself. And I said, 'Well, if we're gonna do that, I wanna redo 'Crying In The Rain',' which I was never really happy with the original recording of it. And we had arranged — John, Neil Murray and I had arranged — a special centerpiece, which was a great solo for John, a solo feature. But also the whole album was pretty much designed for [drummer] Cozy Powell — God rest his soul. And when we featured it in concert, it went from John's amazing, electrifying solo into Cozy's extraordinarily earth-shattering, thunderous drum solo.

"We had a great relationship with radio for the 'Slide It In' album, and they were actually waiting for a new WHITESNAKE album, rock radio. So we delivered this thing. And of course, at that time MTV was a huge element globally. So WHITESNAKE from being successful in a couple of territories became a global entity, which was super validation, as you can imagine."

A year ago, "Here I Go Again" saw a renewed interest following the death of actress Julie E. "Tawny" Kitaen, who appeared in the song's video. Kitaen passed away at her home in Newport Beach on May 7, 2021 at the age of 59.

While WHITESNAKE was working on it 1987 self-titled album, Coverdale started dating Kitaen, who had recently starred opposite Tom Hanks in the movie "Bachelor Party". Kitaen soon appeared in several of WHITESNAKE's music videos, including those for "Here I Go Again", "Is This Love" and "Still Of The Night". Footage of Kitaen writhing around on the hood of a Jaguar in the "Here I Go Again" clip has been called one of the most iconic — and sexiest — video moments ever filmed.

Coverdale and Kitaen tied the knot in 1989 but the union only lasted two years.

Soon after its release in April 1987, "Whitesnake" became a huge success around the world, selling several million copies. It peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard album chart and spawned four popular singles: "Still Of The Night", "Give Me All Your Love", "Is This Love" (which reached No. 2) and "Here I Go Again".

Coverdale previously stated about the new "Greatest Hits" collection: "We've definitely expanded on the original 'Greatest Hits', took them all out of the sonic time capsule of the '80s and '90s, and brought them up to date, sound-wise … as always, we have the original albums for those who consider them holy relics."

Keyboardist Derek Sherinian (DREAM THEATER, SONS OF APOLLO),who also appeared on WHITESNAKE's recent "Red, White And Blues" trilogy, adds Hammond organ to more than half the songs on the collection. His scorching contributions can be heard on the No. 1 smash "Here I Go Again", "Fool For Your Loving", "You're Gonna Break My Heart Again" and more. New performances by former WHITESNAKE guitarist Adrian Vandenberg can also be heard on "The Deeper The Love" and "Judgement Day" from the 1989 album "Slip Of The Tongue".

Along with those new additions, Coverdale also went back to the vault to unearth vintage performances by Sykes that didn't appear on the original recordings, including a solo on "Slide It In" and rhythm guitar on "Give Me All Your Love".

"Greatest Hits" focuses extensively on three blockbuster albums the band released during the 1980s: 1984's "Slide It In" (double platinum),1987's "Whitesnake" (eight times platinum),and 1989's "Slip Of The Tongue" (platinum). But the collection goes deeper with songs like "Sweet Lady Luck", a B-side on the 12-inch single for "The Deeper The Love" and "Forevermore", the title track from the band's 2011 album.

WHITESNAKE has just embarked on a farewell tour with special guest EUROPE. The first leg of "Whitesnake: The Farewell Tour" kicked off on May 10 in Dublin.

"Greatest Hits" CD/Blu-ray track listing:

01. Still Of The Night
02. Here I Go Again
03. Is This Love
04. Give Me All Your Love
05. Love Ain't No Stranger
06. Slide It In
07. Slow An' Easy
08. Guilty Of Love
09. Fool For Your Loving
10. Judgment Day
11. The Deeper The Love
12. Now You're Gone
13. You're Gonna Break My Heart Again
14. Sweet Lady Luck
15. Crying In The Rain
16. Forevermore

WHITESNAKE will team up with the SCORPIONS for a North American tour this summer and fall. The two-month-long Live Nation-produced trek will kick off on August 14 in Toronto, with additional concerts in Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, Dallas, and Denver, among others. Also appearing on the bill will be the Swedish band THUNDERMOTHER.

Last July, WHITESNAKE announced that it had enlisted Croatian singer/multi-instrumentalist Dino Jelusick for its current tour. Jelusick is a member of multi-platinum selling band TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA and was previously part of DIRTY SHIRLEY (with George Lynch),ANIMAL DRIVE and recorded with many others. The 29-year-old Dino has been singing, touring and recording since the age of five. Other than being a frontman, his main instrument are keyboards but he also plays bass, guitar and drums. He finished music academy and did theater work.

Coverdale, who turned 70 last September, recently confirmed that he plans to retire from touring after WHITESNAKE's next batch of concerts around the world.

Coverdale had both his knees replaced with titanium in 2017 after suffering from degenerative arthritis. He later explained that he was in so much pain with arthritis in his knees that it hampered his ability to perform live.

WHITESNAKE had been touring in support of its latest album, "Flesh & Blood", which was released in May 2019 via Frontiers Music Srl.