Still of the Night (song)

This article is about the song by Whitesnake. For other uses, see Still of the Night.

"Still of the Night" is a song by the English band Whitesnake. It was released as the first single from their self-titled 1987 album. It reached #16 in the U.K.,^[5] #18 on the U.S. Mainstream rock Tracks and #79 on the Billboard Hot 100.

"Still of the Night"
Single by Whitesnake
from the album Whitesnake
B-side	"Here I Go Again" (UK) "Don't Turn Away" (US)
Released	9 March 1987 (UK)[1]
Recorded	1986
Genre	Glam metal[2][3] heavy metal[4]
Length	6:41 (album version) 3:58 (single version)
Label	Geffen, EMI
Songwriter(s)	David Coverdale John Sykes
Producer(s)	Mike Stone Keith Olsen
Whitesnake singles chronology
"Slow an' Easy" (1984) "Still of the Night" (1987) "Here I Go Again 87" (1987)
Music video
"Still of the Night" on YouTube

In 2003, Martin Popoff listed it as 58th in The Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs of All Time.^[6] In 2008, Guitar World considered it as "the best song that Led Zeppelin never wrote".^[7] In 2009, the track was named the 27th best hard rock song of all time by VH1.^[8]

Background

The song was written by lead singer David Coverdale and guitarist John Sykes, and proved to be one of the band's most popular songs. Both the current Whitesnake lineup and John Sykes play the song as their live encore.

In 2009, in an interview with Metal Hammer, Coverdale commented on the origins of the song:^[9]

"When my mother died I was going through the stuff at her house and found some early demo cassettes. One of them was a song that Ritchie Blackmore and I had been working on which was the basic premise of what would become "Still of the Night". It was totally unrecognizable, so Ritchie doesn't have anything to worry about... neither do I! Ha ha ha! I took it as far as I could then I gave it to Sykes when we were in the south of France, and he put the big guitar hero stuff on there. John hated blues so I had to work within those parameters. I manipulated it to be electric blues, but how he performed it was fabulous for his time and relatively unique because of the songs. There were a lot of people doing that widdly stuff but they didn't have the quality of those songs."

Music video

The director of the music video was Marty Callner. Initially the female role of the "Whitesnake woman" was planned for the pre-fame Claudia Schiffer, but the night before the shoot the plan fell apart. As such Callner called Coverdale to discuss changes on the story boards, but seeing the attractiveness of Coverdale's future wife Tawny Kitaen she was chosen to play the role.^[10][11] Part of the video's set design was Coverdale's idea inspired by Elvis Presley's movie Jailhouse Rock, but "it's like much more idealized prison cells, but this was done with a big full moon. And the band was fantastic – they sold the song brilliantly".^[12] The band in the music video is not the same as on the audio track. Of the original band that recorded the song, only vocalist David Coverdale appears. Studio bassist Neil Murray was replaced with Rudy Sarzo in the video. Likewise drummer Aynsley Dunbar was replaced by Tommy Aldridge, and both guitarists Adrian Vandenberg and Vivian Campbell appear on the video but do not play on the song.

Comparison to Led Zeppelin

The song sparked comparison with Led Zeppelin. Some have claimed Coverdale copied Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog" and "Whole Lotta Love".^[13][14] David Coverdale has denied this, stating that the song structure and the main riff were inspired by "Jailhouse Rock" and Jeff Beck's "Rice Pudding", respectively.^[15] In 1987, responding to the claims Coverdale jokingly stated "I guess it's quite a compliment to be placed in a class like that."^[16]

Track listing

1. "Still of the Night" – 6:38
2. "Here I Go Again" – 4:33
3. "You're Gonna Break My Heart Again" – 4:11

Personnel

• David Coverdale – vocals
• John Sykes – guitar, bowed guitar
• Neil Murray – bass guitar
• Aynsley Dunbar – drums
• Don Airey – keyboards

Charts

Chart (1987)	Peak position
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[17]	16
Ireland (IRMA)[18]	23
US Billboard Hot 100[19]	79
US Billboard Albums Rock Tracks[20]	18

References

1. "Still of the Night Advert". Kerrang!. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
2. "A&R Legend John Kalodner Talks Aerosmith and Why Rock Won't Reach the Masses Again". LA Weekly. 13 June 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2021. commemorating Whitesnake's self-titled 1987 album, which featured the band's epic pop-metal hits "Here I Go Again" and "Still of the Night"
3. "36 Essential '80s Pop Metal Tracks". Stereogum. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
4. Martin Popoff (15 August 2014). The Big Book of Hair Metal. Voyageur Press. p. 131.
5. "Whitesnake The Official Charts Company".
6. Popoff, Martin (2003). The Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs of All Time. Toronto: ECW Press. ISBN 9781550225303.
7. "Guitar World - Top 20 Hair Metal Albums of the Eighties". Guitar World. 12 December 2008. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
8. "spreadit.org music". Archived from the original on 4 January 2009. Retrieved 7 February 2009.
9. Lawson, Dom (29 July 2009). "Whitesnake: The Story Behind 1987". Metal Hammer. Retrieved 6 December 2020 – via Louder Sound.
10. Hotten, Jon (June 2001). "Year of the snake". Classic Rock #28. p. 28.
11. "Actress Tawny Kitaen Looks Back On Whitesnake's 'Here I Go Again' Video". Blabbermouth.net. 4 June 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
12. Kaufman, Spencer (13 March 2019). "David Coverdale Tells the Story Behind Whitesnake's Iconic "Here I Go Again" Video". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 5 December 2020 – via Yahoo!.
13. Popoff 2015, p. 141.
14. Epstein, Dan (23 June 2016). "12 Artists Who Ripped Off Led Zeppelin". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
15. "Whitesnake '87 Track by Track – Still Of The Night". Whitesnake TV. 2 December 2017. Archived from the original on 30 October 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2021 – via YouTube.
16. Popoff 2015, pp. 141–142.
17. "Whitesnake – Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
18. "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". Irishcharts.ie. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
19. "Whitesnake Hot 100 chart". Billboard. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
20. "Whitesnake Mainstream Rock Airplay chart". Billboard. Retrieved 27 August 2021.

• Popoff, Martin (2015). Sail Away: Whitesnake's Fantastic Voyage. Soundcheck Books LLP. ISBN 978-0-9575-7008-5.

External links

• Still of the Night 2020 HD at official YouTube channel WhitesnakeTV