Still of the Night (song)
Encyclopedia
"Still of the Night" is a single released by Whitesnake
, from their hugely successful self titled
1987 album. It reached #16 in the U.K., #18 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock
Tracks and #79 on the Billboard Hot 100
when it was released on March 9, 1987. In 2009 it was named the 27th best hard rock song of all time by VH1
.
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. It combines the blues origins of the band with the more distorted, harder sound driving the song, making for a powerful hard rock song. The current Whitesnake lineup and John Sykes both play the song as their live encore.
In 2009, in an interview with Metal Hammer
, Coverdale commented on the origins of the song:
The song has been cited as sounding similar to Led Zeppelin
's "Black Dog
", a possible source of inspiration for Coverdale and Sykes. The cymbal and hi-hat work, as well as the distorted guitar noise and Coverdale's moans in the breakdown of the song have also been noted to bear a resemblance to "Whole Lotta Love
," yet another comparison to Led Zeppelin
.
A music video, featuring Coverdale's then future wife Tawny Kitaen
, was shot for the song, and it was MTV
's most requested video in its first week of release. The video lends additional credence to the Led Zeppelin influence, as Adrian Vandenberg
is seen using a violin bow prop during the mid-section of the song, reflecting Jimmy Page
's use of the bow during live performances of "Dazed and Confused".
Whitesnake withheld licensing of "Still of the Night" for use in the video game Rock Revolution
; a cover version of the song was subsequently featured in the game.
The finnish
symphonic metal
singer Tarja Turunen
covered the song for her album What Lies Beneath.
Whitesnake
Whitesnake are an English rock band, founded in 1978 by David Coverdale after his departure from his previous band, Deep Purple. The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple, but by the mid 1980s they had moved to a more commercial hard rock style...
, from their hugely successful self titled
Whitesnake (album)
Tracks 12-15 taken from Live: In the Shadow of the Blues-20th Anniversary Edition DVD:-Singles:*"Here I Go Again" *"Is This Love"*"Still of the Night"*"Crying in the Rain" *"Give Me All Your Love"-Personnel:...
1987 album. It reached #16 in the U.K., #18 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock
Mainstream rock
Mainstream rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada.-Format background:...
Tracks and #79 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
when it was released on March 9, 1987. In 2009 it was named the 27th best hard rock song of all time by VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
.
The song was written by lead singer David Coverdale
David Coverdale
David 'Jack' Coverdale is an English rock singer, most famous for his work with the his own hard rock band Whitesnake which achieved massive commercial success.-Early life:...
and guitarist John Sykes
John Sykes
John James Sykes , is an English rock guitarist, who has played with Streetfighter, Tygers of Pan Tang, John Sloman's Badlands, Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, and Blue Murder, in addition to having a notable solo career....
, and proved to be one of the band's most popular songs. It combines the blues origins of the band with the more distorted, harder sound driving the song, making for a powerful hard rock song. The current Whitesnake lineup and John Sykes both play the song as their live encore.
In 2009, in an interview with Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer is a monthly heavy metal music magazine published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing, and in several other countries by different publishers. Metal Hammer articles feature both mainstream bands and more unusual acts from the whole spectrum of heavy metal music...
, Coverdale commented on the origins of the song:
"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 BlackmoreRitchie BlackmoreRichard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore is an English guitarist and songwriter, who was known as one of the first guitarists to fuse Classical music elements with rock. He fronted his own band Rainbow after leaving Deep Purple where he was unhappy because his favourite musical style wasn't adequately...
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 Sykesy when we were in the south of FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and he put the big guitar hero stuff on there. John hated blues so I had to work within those parameters. I manipulated 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."
The song has been cited as sounding similar to Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
's "Black Dog
Black Dog (song)
"Black Dog" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, the lead off track of their fourth album, released in 1971. It was also released as a single in the United States and Australia with "Misty Mountain Hop" on the B-side, and reached #15 on Billboard and #11 in Australia.In 2010, the song was...
", a possible source of inspiration for Coverdale and Sykes. The cymbal and hi-hat work, as well as the distorted guitar noise and Coverdale's moans in the breakdown of the song have also been noted to bear a resemblance to "Whole Lotta Love
Whole Lotta Love
"Whole Lotta Love" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin. It is featured as the opening track on the band's second album, Led Zeppelin II, and was released in the United States and Japan as a single. The US release became their first hit single, it was certified Gold on 13 April 1970, when it...
," yet another comparison to Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
.
A music video, featuring Coverdale's then future wife Tawny Kitaen
Tawny Kitaen
Julie "Tawny" Kitaen is an American actress and media personality. She became famous in the 1980s for appearing in several hard rock videos for the band Whitesnake, including the hit "Here I Go Again". Kitaen was married to Whitesnake lead singer David Coverdale from 1989–1991...
, was shot for the song, and it was MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's most requested video in its first week of release. The video lends additional credence to the Led Zeppelin influence, as Adrian Vandenberg
Adrian Vandenberg
Adrian van den Berg is a Dutch rock guitarist, best known for his tenure as one of the guitarists in Whitesnake during their successful late 1980s period.-Early years:...
is seen using a violin bow prop during the mid-section of the song, reflecting Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
's use of the bow during live performances of "Dazed and Confused".
Whitesnake withheld licensing of "Still of the Night" for use in the video game Rock Revolution
Rock Revolution
Rock Revolution is a music video game developed by Zoë Mode and HB Studios and published by Konami. It was first revealed on May 15, 2008, and released on October 15, 2008 for the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360...
; a cover version of the song was subsequently featured in the game.
The finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
symphonic metal
Symphonic metal
Symphonic metal is a term used to describe heavy metal music that has symphonic elements; that is, elements that are either borrowed from classical music or, as with progressive rock music, create a style reminiscent of it, e.g...
singer Tarja Turunen
Tarja Turunen
Tarja Soile Susanna Turunen Cabuli is a Finnish singer-songwriter and composer. She is a full lyric soprano and has a vocal range of three octaves....
covered the song for her album What Lies Beneath.
Track listing
- "Still of the Night" - 6:38
- "Here I Go AgainHere I Go Again"Here I Go Again" is a #1 hit song recorded by Whitesnake. Originally released on their 1982 album, Saints & Sinners, the song was re-recorded for their eponymous 1987 album Whitesnake. The song was re-recorded yet another time that year in a new "radio-mix" version...
" - 4:33 - "You're Gonna Break My Heart Again" - 4:11
Personnel
- David CoverdaleDavid CoverdaleDavid 'Jack' Coverdale is an English rock singer, most famous for his work with the his own hard rock band Whitesnake which achieved massive commercial success.-Early life:...
- VocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - John SykesJohn SykesJohn James Sykes , is an English rock guitarist, who has played with Streetfighter, Tygers of Pan Tang, John Sloman's Badlands, Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, and Blue Murder, in addition to having a notable solo career....
- GuitarsGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Neil MurrayNeil Murray (British musician)Philip Neil Murray is a Scottish bass player, best known for his work in Whitesnake and Black Sabbath.-Early days:Originally a drummer, Murray formed his first band with school friends in 1967 and his musical tastes were heavily influenced by the mid-1960s 'blues boom' bands and musicians,...
- Bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Aynsley DunbarAynsley DunbarAynsley Thomas Dunbar is an English drummer. He has worked with some of the top names in rock, including Eric Burdon, John Mayall, Frank Zappa, Ian Hunter, Lou Reed, Jefferson Starship, Jeff Beck, David Bowie, Whitesnake, Sammy Hagar, UFO, and Journey...
- DrumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Don AireyDon AireyDonald Airey has been the keyboardist in the rock band Deep Purple since 2002, succeeding Jon Lord...
– Keyboards