"Fool for Your Loving" by Whitesnake

Song#:  4096

Date:  11/04/1989

Debut:  83

Peak:  37

Weeks:  22

Genre:  Hard Rock, Glam Metal

Pop Bits:  Whitesnake's self-titled 1987 album would be a massive hit reaching #2 and eventually selling over 8 million copies. It got there thanks to the #1 and #2 punch of "Here I Go Again" and "Is This Love." As soon as they could, David Coverdale and the band made plans to get back in the studio to record a follow up. Initially, they hired producer Bruce Fairbairn (Bon Jovi, Aerosmith) to helm the LP, but then he had to bail due to scheduling conflicts. It left Coverdale feeling uneasy about the project and so he brought in two producers to take over, Keith Olsen and Mike Clink. Then there was another blow to the band when guitarist Adrian Vandenberg experienced wrist issues to bad that he couldn't play and needed surgery. Coverdale then hired in Steve Vai to handle the guitar parts. To pile on top of things, the band's label Geffen, stepped in and wanted them to re-record "Fool for Your Loving" and use it for the LP's first single. The track was originally from the band's 1980 album Ready an' Willing and was that LP's first single. It got to #53 Pop. The label thought it was a good idea due to the success of the band's re-recording of "Here I Go Again" for the Whitesnake album that ended up hitting #1. Basically, the label wanted a rinse and repeat. Coverdale didn't want to do it, but acquiesced and once the new album Slip of the Tongue was finished, this single was pushed out. While it would do very well at Rock getting to #2, it didn't seem to thrill the mainstream audience and the song petered out just inside the Pop Top 40. A second single, "The Deeper the Love" would fare a bit better getting to #28 Pop/#4 Rock while a third single would be a minor blip at the bottom of the Pop chart. The lack of a bigger Pop chart hit then left the album peaking at #10 and only going platinum, a sharp decline from their previous effort.

ReduxReview:  While the label's idea to re-record this track wasn't necessarily a bad one, the problem was that the song had already charted. "Here I Go Again" had been released as a single when originally recorded, but it didn't make the Pop or Rock charts, so that made more sense. Coverdale's lack of enthusiasm to do the cover didn't help. He could have chose to hop on board and do a complete makeover of the song - perhaps turn it into a big power ballad or something. Instead, he just finished the exercise and what came out was a basic retread of the song with crunchier late 80s production. It was fine, but it was nothing that was going to burn up the Pop chart and it certainly didn't. Sometimes artists can rise above challenges that come about when making an album, but for Slip of the Tongue it seemed like Coverdale may have buckled a bit under the pressure and it pretty much brought Whitesnake to a screeching halt.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  The results of Slip of the Tongue along with exhaustion, a dislike for what Whitesnake had become, and an impending divorce left David Coverdale in a not good state. So much so that he decided to put the band on an indefinite hiatus in 1990. A year or so later, Coverdale found himself collaborating with Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page at the suggestion of a Geffen A&R rep. The pair seemed to hit it off well and chose to work up an album. Early in '93 they were ready to release Coverdale-Page. It would end up being a #5 platinum success thanks to the hype around the collaboration and a pair of Rock Top 10s including the #1 "Pride and Joy." The one-off collaboration helped Coverdale get back in the game. He would reform Whitesnake in 1994 to tour and promote a Greatest Hits album. He'd then go for a solo career, but his '97 effort Restless Heart got credited to David Coverdale & Whitesnake due to label intervention. Coverdale would finally get a full solo album out in 2000 titled Into the Light. He would then revive Whitesnake in 2003 and has since then kept on going with various lineups with the band recording several albums.

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