Episode 8 - Repurpose Your Content Like Whitesnake
Listen to the Super Space Robot Podcast Archives
Note: This episode and all episodes of the Super Space Robot Podcast pre-dated the current podcast on this site, The Rock and Roll Content Show. Though the format is new, these episodes have been collected and archived here as the content is still relevant.
Sometimes content inspiration can come from the unlikeliest of places. Today we are taking a lesson on how to refresh and repurpose your content from one of the most successful content creators of the 1980s: the hard rock band Whitesnake.
Episode 8 Companion Guide
If you're not familiar with Whitesnake, they were formed by vocalist David Coverdale out of the ashes of Deep Purple Mark III and IV - there's a lot more to that story, but this probably isn't the podcast for that. What's important about that is that David Coverdale released a couple of solo albums, one of them called Whitesnake. He then repurposed that name into the name of his band a short time later. This is where we need to start paying attention to Mr. Coverdale because he did a lot of repurposing over the next dozen years or so.
Whitesnake the band began in the late 70s. If you're from the US, you didn't know much about that as they weren't really distributed over here. Remember, this is before the time of digital content distribution, and we had to rely on what the record labels and radio stations fed to us. Whitesnake was essentially a UK and Europe band at that point despite Coverdale's international success with Deep Purple.
Content Lesson 1: Don’t Be Afraid to Make Changes
Several albums were released like this, and the songs on these albums are great. It's hard to know why they didn't make it across the Atlantic, but they didn't until their 1984 album Slide It In. This is interesting in that the original UK version of Slide It In was a little different. The album came out to mixed reviews, mainly due to a critique of its sound and production. The songs were great, but they didn't sound very good to some ears. I don't necessarily agree with that. Guitarist Mickey Moody left the band after the album was complete and was replaced by John Sykes. The US release of the album was remixed from the UK version with Sykes' heavier, more blistering riffs and leads. The new improved "Slide It In" started to get more attention from U.S. rock radio, allowing Coverdale and Whitesnake to expand their audience.
There's a lesson to be learned here. If something doesn't quite work how you'd hoped, it's not a bad thing to make some changes.
Content Lesson 2: Reintroduce Yourself to Your Audience
By 1987, Coverdale was ready to release Whitesnake's follow-up, simply titled "Whitesnake," which would go on to become their biggest album and one of the greatest hard rock albums of the 1980s.
This album was an introduction to the band for many, especially in the US. They had the full backing of their record label in terms of promotion and distribution. They were ready to take on the world. Whitesnake is the perfect name for an album meant to announce the band's presence atop the charts.
Whitesnake re-recorded their 1982 songs “Here I Go Again” and “Crying in the Rain” for their 1987 self-titled album.
Content Lesson 3: Update Your Old Favorites
That's not all they did. Coverdale picked a couple of great tracks from earlier albums and re-recorded them with his current band for inclusion on this album. One of the songs is my favorite from Whitesnake: "Crying in the Rain". The other one is the favorite of most other people on the planet and soundtrack to numerous Gen X-targeted commercials: "Here I Go Again."
The songs featured slightly different rhythms, orchestration, production, and even some slightly different lyrics (which you can hear about in today's episode).
Do you have some great old content that not many people saw because of your audience size at the time? Update it. Refresh it. Re-release it. Reintroduce your greatest hits to your new audience. Sometimes it can just take some minor tweaks to your content to make a huge difference.
Super Space Robot's Whitesnake-o-Rama
As a free gift to you, "Super Space Robot's Whitesnake-o-Rama Playlist", which includes both the older and newer versions of “Here I Go Again”, “Crying in the Rain”, and a 3rd track that I didn't talk about today, “Fool For Your Lovin'“, which the band updated for their 1989 album.
Super Space Robot and I have also included what we think are highlights from the entire Whitesnake catalog, as well as a few pre-Whitesnake favorites from the Mark III and IV eras of Deep Purple, and David Coverdale's first solo albums. Enjoy!
Apple Music
Spotify
Note: The Spotify version doesn’t include David’s solo album content. I guess Spotify doesn’t have it.
Podcast Episode Details
Episode Credits
Super Space Robot: Mark Dauner
Mark Dauner: Mark Dauner
Announcer Voice: I worked with a great voice actor named Joy for all of our announcer narration as well as your favorite customer service chatbot. If you liked what you heard and would like to work with her, send me an email and I’ll send you her link.
Thank you for joining us today. Super Space Robot Will Return.