Chart Performance: Pop (#28) & Mainstream Rock (#4); 1990
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
Whitesnake’s line-up was ever in flux, even after selling over eight million copies of its self-titled album in 1987. Gone was one-time Thin Lizzy guitarist John Sykes, who’d co-written most of the songs on Whitesnake with David Coverdale, replaced by guitarist Adrian Vandenberg for Slip Of The Tongue. The new album also featured fret board wiz, Steve Vai, fresh from the David Lee Roth band. Keith Olsen and Mike Clink (who’d made his mark with Guns N’ Roses’ 15-times-platinum Appetite For Destruction) were brought on board to produce. Lead-off track Fool For Your Loving got things off to a good start at rock radio: holding down the #2 spot for four weeks. Although follow-up Judgment Day didn’t do well, The Deeper Your Love returned Whitesnake to the Top 5. Despite this strong performance with the mainstream rock crowd, Slip Of The Tongue was a relative disappointment, and Coverdale disbanded Whitesnake in 1990.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2023 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Mike Clink
- Keith Olsen
Lyrics Written by:
- David Coverdale
- Adrian Vandenberg
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).
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