Rock

Whitesnake's Here I Go Again Video

MTV Music Video

Updated Oct 29 2022

The first one up in our video review series is Whitesnake's Here I Go Again music video. It is, and will always be, the darling of our MTV-watching hearts. There's a girl dancing on the hood of two Jaguars for christ's sake. It does NOT get better.

80s & 90s Swag

Gorgeous model, Tawny Kitaen, crushes it in Whitesnake's Here I Go Again music video. Dancing on jaguars, vertical mic stand pumps, THE power ballad of power ballads. This video has it all.

Let's get things straight. It may not be the best video of all-time. That (probably) belongs to Sabotage from the Beastie Boys. But, it's arguably the most memorable, at least for anyone who loved hair metal.

This video crushes. It's got smoldering looks, power moves, hip thrusts, vertical mic stand pumps, a trio of synth players, expensive cars, and a girl dancing on top of them. We introduce to you, the Here I Go Again music video by Whitesnake, a video for the song on their 1987 self-title album, Whitesnake. Crazy enough, their self-titled album was their 7th studio release.

This song is upper echelon hair band excellence. So thank you, Whitesnake, for giving us this holy hair metal treasure. Also, thank you for giving us the video for Still of the Night, because the only thing better than one Tawny Kitaen Whitesnake video is two Tawny Kitaen Whitesnake videos.

Here I Go Again video commentary

This is a running dialogue of the events in the video. It's super hard to timestamp them, but they will roughly be in order, so follow along.

Slow motion front hand spring by Kitaen is the only way anyone should start a video.
Coverdale smoldering
Three guys behind the keys? Incredible
Hairflips are a class move
The white Jaguar is moving!
Tawny upside down is ultimately suggestive
That split! In the 80s, only Tawny and Jean Claude Van Damme could pull off that split. KUMITE!
First vertical mic stand pump by Coverdale. Love it.
Double drum stick twirl just before chorus 1, well done by Aynsley Dunbar. Unless that was Denny Carmassi.
Wait, is Kitaen outside of the Jaguar now? That's not safe. It's hot. But not safe.
Not to be outdone, Neil Murray gets duck-facey in keeping up with rocker Coverdale.
Kitaen is still not buckled up in that car. In fairness, that was still acceptable in the 80s.
1:57 bassist Neil Murray needs to adjust his teased locks. Hopefully he's leaning on an open string. Otherwise this just got musically awkward.
Kitaen's smoking hot face is way too close that tunnel wall.
Anyone notice that David Coverdale hardly moves in the entire video? Bret Michaels, Axl Rose, Joe Elliott, Jani Lane, and a handful of others would never be caught dead in an MTV video not sliding or slithering across the stage. Or, our personal favorite move, the synchronized, bent-knee group jump forward.
Coverdale is doing the sideways to the crowd arched back vocal powermove for the repeated, "Here I Go Again" part in the pre-solo. Choice move.
Coverdale his the major falsetto for "Here I Goooooooo", so, Tawny Kitaen makes out with him. Bravo.
Vandenburg's solo is compact and tasteful and we're ok with that.
3:26 Kitaen mouths the choral lyrics. She's in charge and we all know, including David Coverdale.
3:49 double vertical mic stand pump for the win!
Everyone is tossing smolder now, including Tawny
Those Jaguars have seen tons of action over the last 4 minutes. They might need an oil change.
Bass player licks the bass and singer David Coverdale goes for it with Tawny to not be outdone. Anything you can do I can do better.
4:23 Tawny pulls vocalist Coverdale into the back seat. Who's driving? Who cares ...
Annnnnnd scene

This video is so satisfying. So much leather. So much power. So much balladry.

Is there any video from the hair metal days that is more important than Whitesnake's Here I Go Again? Doubtful.

Where was Whitesnake's Here I Go Again video filmed?

The version that we are talking about is the musical re-release, "Here I Go Again '87". That is the one that features Tawny Kitaen. Presumably it was filmed in Los Angeles. Research doesn't seem to pinpoint an exact location.

Was Tawny Kitaen the first choice for the video?

Amazingly, Tawny Kitaen was not the first choice to be in the video. That honor went to model Claudia Schiffer. In an interview with singer David Coverdale, this was said, "Interestingly, Kitaen was not the first choice for the female figure featured in the video. “Claudia Schiffer was supposed to be ‘the Whitesnake woman,’ when she was the Guess Jeans girl. But that fell apart near the actual shoot. And I was taking Tawny out for dinner, when Marty Callner called me, and said, ‘You have to stop by, we have problems.’ We went to his house on the way to dinner, he opened the door, his jaw hit the floor — as you know, Tawny was an absolute beauty — and he said, ‘That’s her! She’s the Whitesnake woman!’ And I said, ‘Marty, this is a friend of mine. She’s an actress.’ And she said, ‘No David, I’m happy to do it!’ So, sorry Claudia — you did very well afterwards, too.”"

Further, it's told that 80's pop star, Paula Abdul was called in to give dance lessons to Kitaen. However, everyone agreed that her work between the White and Black Jaguars needed no additional help.

Who is Tawny Kitaen?

Tawny Kitaen, born Julie E. Kitaen, is an ex-wife of Whitesnake lead singer, David Coverdale. In the music video she is seen dancing suggestively across two Jaguar XJs, one black, one white. Those vehicles belonged to Coverdale (lead singer) and Marty Callner (the music video director) respectively.

Kitaen, unfortunately now deceased, was one of the biggest video vixens back in the day. She also appeared in Whitesnake's Is This Love video, also off of the self-titled album, Whitesnake.

She was also on the cover of Ratt's self-titled debut album, Ratt, as well as their second hit album, Out of the Cellar. She also appears in the music video for Ratt's hit song, Back For More. This happened due to her relationship with Ratt guitarist Robbin Crosby.

And, she was in the movie Bachelor Party (Tom Hanks) as well as the hit tv-show, Seinfeld as Jerry's girlfriend. Actress Tawny Kitaen also appears in the New WKRP in Cincinnati and Married with Children.

Lastly, as well as being Coverdale's wife for a spell, she was also married to California Angels pitcher, Chuck Finley.

However, beyond album covers and high school relationships, she is truly remembered for her role in this video for the hard rock band Whitesnake.