Ever since the dawn of MTV and Friday Night Videos, the music video has significantly impacted musical tastes and pop culture. It might not be as extreme as when the Buggles declared that "Video Killed the Radio Star", but there is no arguing that the music video certainly could make or break a song's popularity. So this regular Flashback Video feature will serve to remember some of the music videos from the great '80s decade that made an impact on me in one way or another.
This issue we will cover "Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake. Many do not realize that this song was originally released back in 1982. It was not until the song was re-recorded and re-released in July of 1987 that it became a massive hit. That version would climb the U.S. pop charts and reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October of 1987. It is one of my favorite songs of that year and probably the entire second half of the decade.
The original version had a simple music video just featuring the band performing the song on stage. The 1987 version included a new music video which was likely directly involved in the song's success. This video was directed by Marty Callner who had previously directed music videos like Stevie Nicks "Leather and Lace", Laura Branigan "Gloria", Twisted Sister "We're Not Gonna Take It", Pat Benatar "We Belong" and "Invincible", Heart "Never", "Alone" and "Nothin' at All" among many others. This video would also feature some stage performance footage, but it had something new added which garnered plenty of attention (especially from the male demographic). The music video featured Tawny Kitaen dressed in a white negligee dancing across the hoods of two Jaguar automobiles. The two Jaguars XJ's used for the video belonged to lead singer David Coverdale and director Callner. Most viewers weren't looking at the cars, they had their eyes glued to the sexy Kitaen. She could've been dancing and cartwheeling across some old beaters and nobody would have likely noticed. Her routine was not choreographed, she just did what she felt. Here is that music video for “Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake…
Tawny Kitaen would also appear in other Whitesnake music videos including their other major hit "Is This Love". She actually married David Coverdale in 1989, but they would be divorced in 1991. Kitaen was a model and actress and many might remember as Tom Hanks' fiancé in 1984's Bachelor Party. She also had previous connection to rock music when she was dating Ratt guitarist Robbin Crosby and appeared as the album cover model on that band's debut EP Ratt in 1983 as well as their debut studio album Out of the Cellar in 1984. But most people will remember her best (and deservedly so) for her sexy car dancing in the "Here I Go Again".
Hope you enjoyed another trip back to the '80s thanks to Flashback Video!