GUITAR GOD MICHAEL SCHENKER: “DAVID COVERDALE WANTED ME IN WHITESNAKE!”
UFO and MSG legend Michael Schenker has revealed for the first time that Whitesnake frontman David Coverdale wanted the German in his band – and the two musicians even jammed together with a view to forming a group.
Speaking to Rock Candy Mag for the cover story of the latest issue, Schenker told writer and editor Howard Johnson, “Back in the early ’80s when I had the Michael Schenker Group my manager at the time, Peter Mensch, believed we needed a new singer to replace Gary Barden. I’d picked Gary for a reason, but Peter wanted to take the band to the next level and he wanted David Coverdale to work with me.
“Coverdale probably asked Mensch to get me and [drummer] Cozy Powell and [bassist] Chris Glen over to Whitesnake to replace Bernie Marsden and Micky Moody and whoever else was in that band at the time. I think that was the idea, but I didn’t want to let go of MSG. I said, ‘No, you ask Coverdale to join us.’
“You know that song ‘Dancer’ from the MSG ‘Assault Attack’ album? I actually jammed that song with Coverdale. I already had the music and he sung it differently, with some different words. So we tried something, but I didn’t really want to do it.”
The Schenker/Coverdale collaboration didn’t work out, and Michael eventually recruited former Rainbow singer Graham Bonnet to front MSG. But the idea of these two rock greats forming a band together can only leave rock fans wondering about the potential of what might have been.
Read the whole of this revealing article in issue 18 of Rock Candy Mag, available in shops worldwide or direct from us online at the following link:
Official Rock Candy Mag website
Issue 18 features dozens of major features and interviews with legendary and obscure acts, including:
MICHAEL SCHENKER
SLASH
MEGADETH
THE BLACK CROWES
SAGA
METALLICA
THE ANGELS
FRANK MARINO
IRON MAIDEN
FASTWAY
STARZ
BRIAN ROBERTSON
DIAMOND HEAD
TRIUMPH
CHEAP TRICK
GRAND SLAM
NEW ENGLAND
BAD COMPANY
MANFRED MANN
MUSIC FOR NATIONS
KISS
RORY GALLAGHER
DEATH ANGEL
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About Rock Candy Mag:
Rock Candy Mag is a 100-page, full-color bi-monthly rock mag, created in the UK, but also available in stores worldwide. It covers the sights, sounds and smells from the greatest era in hard rock music, the ’70s and ’80s. Put together by respected UK rock journalists Derek Oliver, Howard Johnson and Malcolm Dome – all frontline writers for the legendary Kerrang! magazine in the golden era – Rock Candy Mag is available in print format with a free digital download version for anyone who buys the mag online at www.rockcandymag.com.
