Slide It In

1984 studio album by Whitesnake

Slide It In is the sixth studio album by English rock band Whitesnake. Originally released on 30 January 1984 in Europe, by Liberty/EMI, it was remixed for the American market, later issued on 16 April 1984 in North America by Geffen. In Japan, it was issued a "European" Mix release date on 23 March 1984, and an "American" remix on 21 December 1984 by CBS/Sony. Widely regarded as a moderate success, it helped open the American market to the band`s sound and breakthrough throughout the later 1980s. Historically, it was the final Whitesnake recording to use the band`s original "snake" logo.

Two different editions of the album exist, each with its own unique qualities. The original "European" mix was criticized as "flat" sounding, while the "American" remixed version took a more modern approach, giving Whitesnake the "voice" that it wanted. The remix ultimately marked a change in the band`s sound, closer to the American glam metal rock scene.[9][4][10]

The album peaked at number 9, marking their fourth Top 10 appearance in the UK.[11] In the US, it peaked at number 40 at Billboard 200. In 1988, the album re-entered the US charts due to the success of the self-titled Whitesnake album (1987), and would be eventually certified double platinum,[12] among the album with the most weeks spent on the Billboard 200 chart. The album has sold more than six million copies worldwide.

The album spawned four singles in the UK to promote the album: "Guilty of Love", "Give Me More Time", "Standing in the Shadow", and "Love Ain`t No Stranger". In the United States, "Love Ain`t No Stranger" and "Slow an` Easy" (used for a promo) were the band`s best-known songs, ultimately becoming hits on rock radio, and creating further recognition with music videos receiving substantial MTV airplay.

Throughout the promotional tour, the line-up for the band changed. Guitarist Micky Moody, who had been in the group since its formation, left after the recording of the album, eventually replaced by John Sykes, who had been in Thin Lizzy and Tygers of Pan Tang. Guitarist Mel Galley was dismissed after an injury that impacted his nerves, while Coverdale`s longtime friend and bandmate, Jon Lord dropped out of the tour to rejoin Deep Purple reformed `Mark II` line-up that would eventually release Perfect Strangers (1984).

The album was well received by critics and accolades in North America. In 2010, Martin Popoff listed it as #241 in The Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time.[3]

Background

In 1982, Whitesnake released their fifth studio album, Saints & Sinners, which proved to be difficult as tensions between band members persisted, including a major change to their management supported by the lack of financial payouts despite being a top draw in the UK. David Coverdale had temporarily put the band on hold and made permanent changes to their management personnel at that time before the record was released. New members of the band were introduced to the supporting Saints & Sinners tour as a result, with Micky Moody and Jon Lord returning. Geffen Records A&R executive, John Kalodner who had been a longtime fan of the band, convinced the label`s founder, David Geffen to sign the group.

I thought [David Coverdale] was a star frontman, a star singer, I felt he had a mediocre band and just average songs. My job was to make them a commercial rock band for the United States.

—John Kalodner on his role working with Whitesnake.[13]

Being cognizant of the band`s future, Coverdale set his sights on the United States by signing to a major record label with Geffen, distributing Whitesnake`s upcoming releases in North America.[14] The band has also signed with Sony (known as CBS/Sony at that time) for future distributions in Japan.[15][16]

Writing and recording

After the supporting tour, the band rehearsed for their next upcoming album at Lord`s house in Oxfordshire.[17] Coverdale had written most of the lyrics, alongside Mel Galley, who recently joined the group. Moody only had writing contributions to "Slow an` Easy".[18]

Recordings of Slide It In began in 1983 at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany with producer Eddie Kramer, who had been suggested to David Coverdale by John Kalodner. In the studio, the album featured drummer Cozy Powell, bassist Colin Hodgkinson, keyboardist Jon Lord, guitarist Mel Galley, and with guitarist Micky Moody returning to the band, all of whom had performed on the previous supporting Saints & Sinners tour. However, while recording, Moody`s relationship with the band became strained over time, stating in a 1997 interview:

"(…) I realised that as soon as we started rehearsing and playing that it wasn`t the same band, it never felt right. Mel Galley is very talented, a good singer, a great guitar player, but that band just didn`t work out. Powell was a great drummer, I always had a lot of respect for him, but he just didn`t have any feel for the old Whitesnake sound. Cozy Powell brought with him a bass player called Colin Hodgkinson. Me and David knew Colin in the North East back in the sixties. He was a great legendary bass player, worked with the jazz/blues styles, but he never struck me as the bass player for Whitesnake. It was more the heavy metal attitude, probably because of Cozy`s influence. He was a more heavy drummer than Ian Paice. There were flames and explosions going on, not really my cup of tea. It seems to me now that maybe Cozy wanted the band to be much more heavier and flasher."[19]

Originally, the album was slated to be released in October following to the Monsters of Rock festival show, however, failed to meet the deadline.[20] Internally, the band was not satisfied with Kramer`s style and production, particularly the mixing of the record. Kramer only had contributions to the Guilty of Love/Gambler single before he was eventually let go from his duties. As a result, the band had rehired Martin Birch, who had produced the band`s albums in the past, to finish the record.[17] A new release date was scheduled to be in mid-November with the upcoming supporting tour for the album in December.[21] Yet, both of these dates were delayed until early 1984 due to personnel changes and troubled production.[22]

John Sykes introduction and line-up

According to Coverdale, John Kalodner had convinced him that in order for the band to achieve their full potential, they needed a "guitar hero" that could match Coverdale as a frontman.[23] Candidates were looked to Michael Schenker and Adrian Vandenberg. Schenker claims he turned down the offer to join Whitesnake, while Coverdale insists he decided to pass on Schenker.[24] Vandenberg reluctantly declined the offer to join as well, due to the success he was having with his own band at the time. According to Coverdale, Vandenberg told him that it was the most difficult decision of his life, but agreed to maintain contact with each other. Vandenberg was however approached for the second time and agreed to join Whitesnake in 1987.[25]

John Sykes (pictured in 1983) was approached to join the group.

Coverdale then approached Thin Lizzy guitarist John Sykes, whom he had met when Whitesnake and Thin Lizzy played some of the same festivals in Europe.[26] Sykes was initially reluctant to join, wanting instead to continue working with Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott, but after several more offers and Lynott`s blessing, he accepted.[27] Sykes recalled on the moment he had been offered and accepted on that premise:

"I had a phone call, and it was Coverdale or his people or something. They called me up and asked me if I wanted to join, and I said, “No, I don’t. I’m not interested. I’m staying with Phil.” They called up again and said, “Just come over.” I think it was Munich we went to then? They were recording the 1984 "Slide It In" album or something. I thought I’d go over and take a look. I think they called me two or three times. I went over and met David and Mel Galley, who was a really nice guy. I hung out with them for a couple of days and jammed on a couple of songs. When I came back to London, they rang out for me, offered me the job, and I said: “No, I don’t want to do it.” Then they basically said, “How much money would it take for you to do it?”, so I threw a number out there that I thought I would never get, and they said, “Okay”, and gave me the money."[27]

Around that time, Moody had completed the upcoming record with Birch as the band finished up a European tour in late 1983. According to Moody, Coverdale`s personality had changed compared to when they got to know each other in 1976.

Me and David weren`t friends and co-writers anymore. David never said anything to me. He just didn`t socialise with me anymore. David was a guy who five, six years earlier was my best friend.

—Micky Moody[19]

Moody finally decided to leave Whitesnake when Coverdale embarrassed him in front of Sykes who were touring alongside Whitesnake.

"Then one night we were in Germany and we did kind of a mini festival with Thin Lizzy and John Sykes was on guitar. Back at the hotel we were all sitting around and David was really talking a lot to John Sykes. I was sitting there quietly and David just turned around to me, pointing his fingers and said, `Don`t you ever turn your back on the audience again`. I went, `Pardon?` He said, `That`s really unprofessional`, in front of John Sykes to make me look small and I thought to myself, `That`s it`. I nearly said to him, `Get him in the band`, cause even I knew by then he wanted somebody like John Sykes, cause he looked good and he was a good guitar player. I decided to leave after finishing the end of the tour. The last gig was in Brussels in Belgium in October 83."[19]

Apparently, this did not seem to be a major problem to Coverdale, as, according to Moody, "After the gig, I said to the tour manager, `I want to have a meeting in my room with all the band: I have something to say`. The other band members arrived and I said, `Where is David?`. The tour manager came and told me, `David is entertaining people in his suite, and he won`t come down.`"[19]

Soon after Moody`s departure, John Sykes was announced to the press as the new Whitesnake guitarist.[28] At the same time it was in the news that Hodgkinson had been fired, as Coverdale felt that his style did not suit Whitesnake`s new sound. As a result of Hodgkinson`s departure, Neil Murray was asked to rejoin Whitesnake, simply explaining the decision by simply stating: "I`d missed his playing".[17] Lord informed Coverdale of his intentions to leave the group, but Coverdale convinced him to stay until the next supporting album tour was over.[29]

Release and promotion

Slide It In was released on 30 January 1984 by Liberty/EMI in Europe,[30] and 23 March 1984 by CBS/Sony in Japan. It was remixed and later released on 16 April 1984 in North America by Geffen. The album debuted at number nine on the UK charts and number twenty-four on the Japanese Oricon albums chart. The American remix of the album debuted at number 193 at US Billboard 200 on 16 May 1984,[31] but eventually peaked at number forty on 25 August 1984.[32] The album ran for a consecutive 42 weeks between 1984 and 1985, only to re-chart on 23 May 1987,[33] likely resurging in sales due to the success of the 1987 album. That later added up to 85 weeks in the end, the most weeks any Whitesnake album spent on the chart, with their follow-up "most-successful" album only to be charting for 76 weeks. In total, Slide It In charted in only ten countries, with one in Hungary in the 2019 reissue. Amongst the reissue, the album recharted in the UK at number sixty-four, alongside being placed on the top of the `Rock & Metal Albums` chart in their native.[11]

The album was a commercial outbreak in sales, selling over 6 million copies worldwide as of present.[34] In the United States, it was certified gold on 15 April 1986, then platinum on 10 November 1987. It was eventually certified double-platinum on 24 July 1992 as its last updated certification by the RIAA, selling over 2,000,000 copies.[35] For digital sales, the album has sold 3,000 digital albums and 167,000 digital tracks as of 2011 according to the Nielsen SoundScan figures.[36] According to Coverdale, the album sold over four million copies in the United States alone to this date,[37] only half the certified units sold (8 million) on their follow-up album.[38] The album was certified platinum in Canada, selling over 100,000 copies by March 1988.[39] It also earned gold certifications in Japan[40] and Sweden.

"Guilty of Love" was the first single from the album released on 1 August 1983,[5] charting at number thirty-one in the UK. Following that came "Give Me More Time", released on 3 January 1984,[6] peaked at number twenty-nine, also managing to chart at number twenty-seven at Ireland. The promotional single, "Slow an` Easy" provided a commercial breakthrough in the American market, charting at number seventeen in the US Mainstream Rock charts, becoming the band`s first top 40 mainstream rock song in the US. "Love Ain`t No Stranger" debuted at number forty-four in the UK, but notably debuted at number thirty-three on US Mainstream Rock Airplay, the second US top 40 rock hit there.

Release problems and remix

When the UK release of Slide It In came out, it was a chart success, but was heavily criticized for the "double-entendre drenched lyrics and titles for which Whitesnake were already infamous" and for the album mix, which was deemed "resoundingly flat".[41]

As a result, Geffen Records refused to release the album in the United States unless a new remix was commenced, due to the bad reviews about the production in the UK press. Coverdale then flew to Los Angeles to meet up about the change. Coverdale was first against the idea, but reluctantly agreed with the record label on one condition:

1. John Sykes and Neil Murray will re-record the guitar and bass parts, respectively.

Sykes and Murray flew to Los Angeles to replace the tracks on 19 January, with the help of famous producer Keith Olsen remixed the album at Goodnight Los Angeles studios, further delaying its American debut until 16 April. Slide It In had its sound revamped, having a bigger and at the time a more modern sound approach.[42]

While Cozy Powell`s drum tracks are virtually not re-recorded but instead increased its clarity into the mix, Sykes` guitar stems were served as a top layer recorded by Galley and Moody, and would also created some different guitar solos compared to the European version. Bassist Neil Murray, who returned to the band, completely replaced the bass tracks made by Hodgkinson. Bill Cuomo added additional keyboard parts to the record.[42]

In Olsen`s mixing, the American remix noticeably added and removed redundancy in instrumental and vocal parts, predominantly the echo on Coverdale`s vocal and backing parts, of the record compared to the European version. Coverdale stated that the only subtle difference in the remix was that it gives "the voice" in that record "a lot better."[43] The remix also has the tracks in a completely different order. Both the European and American mixes were recorded and mixed on analog tapes, therefore were the very last Whitesnake albums to be recorded on analog.[42]

Touring

Originally, the original album tour was slated for December, but was moved to February. Rehearsals for the album tour started on 2 February, later to be finished on the 15th. The European tour began in Dublin on 17 February with the Coverdale / Sykes / Galley / Murray / Lord / Powell line-up (with Sykes` first appearance and Murray`s first since re-joining the group). The band however ran into trouble during a tour stop in Germany, where Mel Galley broke his arm leaping on top of a parked car. He sustained nerve damage, leaving him unable to play guitar. He continued as a Whitesnake member for a time but was forced to leave not long after, changing the line-up as a five-piece. Galley`s last appearance with the band was at Manchester on 5 April 1984. It was not long until a week later that the Deep Purple reunion was imminent, and Jon Lord played his last Whitesnake concert on 16 April at Grand Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden which was filmed for the "Måndagsbörsen" Swedish TV show. The show itself appeared in a 2014 video album "Live in `84: Back to the Bone" (later re-released in the 35th anniversary reissue). Lord`s departure now left Whitesnake as a four-piece, not counting the off-stage keyboard player Richard Bailey, who was brought into the band.

The band toured extensively in the continuous United States all cross the country, along with the US version of the album rapidly gained airplay there. As a result, it helped the American market to open itself for Whitesnake, which the band further supported opening for Quiet Riot and Dio.[44][45] The band had toured in Japan for a spot at the Super Rock `84 festival that included Bon Jovi and Scorpions.[46][47] The supporting tour would extend throughout to mid-January 1985, where they played the first musical festival installment of Rock in Rio at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to replace Def Leppard.[48] It was the very last appearance for the four-piece lineup as drummer Cozy Powell left after the tour due to a relationship strained with Coverdale caused by a lack of financial payout disputes,[49][50] while Sykes and Murray would be later dismissed during Whitesnake 1987 recording sessions a year later.[51][52]

Reissues

On 30 June 2009, the album was re-issued as a two-disc digipack to commemorate its 25th anniversary. On the first disc, the CD contains the entire US mix of the album and 8 of the original UK mixes digitally remastered. The UK mixes of "Hungry for Love" or "Love Ain`t No Stranger" are not included, but the acoustic version of "Love Ain`t No Stranger" is featured (taken from Starkers in Tokyo). A DVD containing promo videos and live performances is also included. Another version of the 25th reissue was released by Rhino in 2017.[53]

A deluxe remaster version was released on 8 March 2019 in a number of configurations: CD, 2CD, 2LP, and a super deluxe 6 CD+DVD box. The 6CD/DVD collection features remastered versions of the UK and US versions of Whitesnake`s sixth studio album, a 35th-anniversary remix, along with previously unreleased live and studio recordings, music videos, live footage, and an interview with vocalist David Coverdale, preciously released on the Japanese American mix on the album. The reissue also came separately as a double CD edition and 2LP formats featuring the remastered versions of the UK and US mixes along with bonus tracks, while a new CD/2LP contained the 35th-anniversary remix by Christopher Collier, featuring yet a different track listing.[54]

Title and artwork

The title of the album (or song) was a "tongue-in-cheek" comment that was involved in a play with people`s relationships whereas a woman continues to be in an argument repeatedly while David Coverdale is responding to de-escalate the situation by being "anatomically conversant." He also stated that the title is actually "not about bananas" (a vulgar pseudonym for the word "penis," which was actually taken from the inspiration of the band`s name).[42] In a 2009 Metro interview, Coverdale remarked that people "popped their cherry" (a slang for losing their virginity or a misconception to have sex) to the album as it was intended for "pole dancing."[55]

The album`s front cover is a photo of a model with the snake wrapping around her shoulder eventually descending to her cleavage shot by Jurgen Barron Reisch, who also shot for the front cover of well-known pop/R&B artist Prince`s 1979 eponymous album.[56] When asked about the story of the album`s cover art, Coverdale stated that there were two models sent in to be photographed for the upcoming album, with a seventeen-year-old female model named Franzeska on the front cover who passed out caused by a movement from the "python that draped around her shoulders [...] between her substantial glow."[37][57] The original photo was cropped between the model`s nose because "her eyes were rolling up" as a result of her fainting. For the back cover of the album, another unnamed model was brought in with the same situation that involved a snake`s head around her neck with a similar dress that covered from her shoulder to the opposite hip.[58]

Reception and legacy

Track listings

UK release

US and Canadian release

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album`s liner notes.[43][63][37][64]

Charts

Certifications

Release history

Release formats for Slide It In