Whitesnake deny Led Zep claims

David Coverdale is furiously denying he ever said anything about Whitesnake supporting Led Zeppelin and, you know, that the band are far too busy to have even considered joining such a tour:

"What fucking world tour, we ask ourselves? We're already out on our Good To Be Bad world tour, thank you very much," he wrote.

"I have no idea where this started, Geoffers. But, with the wildfire of the internet, my poor ol' German publicist is fighting them off with her rusty, but trusty, Luger.

"I assure you there is no… (of course there fucking isn't) …any foundation in this.”

The whole world, David, knew that it wasn't true. The question, of course, is who said it was in the first place.

Led Zep to tour, announces, erm, Whitesnake

The inching towards the possibility of a full-blown Led Zeppelin tour continues, with an announcement from David Coverdale that it's going to happen. Or, at least, that he thinks it's going to happen. And how does he know? He's fully expecting to be on the bill:

"I'm expecting a call from Jimmy any day asking my band Whitesnake to support them on their world tour. Am I on board? You bet. Probably worth billions,” he said.

"Unlike rolling out the wheelchairs with the umpteenth Rolling Stones world tour, a Led Zeppelin tour will be incredible."

Perhaps. But if it's going to be that incredible, wouldn't having Whitesnake as an opener be a bit underwhelming?

"You were the music - I was just in a band"

Whitesnake and Trapeze guitarist Mel Galley has been given a grim prognosis for his cancer. He's issued a statement - or, rather, sent a letter to his fans:

"Well, as some of you may already have read in the press or seen/heard on other websites, the verdict from the doctors following a full MRI scan is that my condition is terminal. Rather than sit around feeling sorry for myself, I intend to make the most of the time I have left with my family and friends. I am blessed with a fantastic wife and two sons who I am very proud of. For now am just aiming to make my 60th birthday in March.

"I have enjoyed a great life, travelled the world having some amazing experiences, met all sorts of people and played with some of the best musicians there are.

"Back in the late '60s when I first started playing in local bands I never imagined how far I would go and the shows I would play. I seemed to tour non-stop with Glenn and Dave in TRAPEZE in the early 70s. We supported THE KINKS and THE MOODY BLUES while still very young men, had people like John Bonham come on and do encores with us, and the likes of ZZ TOP as our support act. We loved to play live and the fans seemed to love us, especially in the Southern States of the USA — HELLO TEXAS!

"Playing on the same bill as THE EAGLES and THE ROLLING STONES, with MONTROSE opening, in front of 100,000 fans in Dallas in 1975 and headlining the 1983 Monsters of Rock festival while in WHITESNAKE are two shows that I will treasure. There have been so many highlights that it's impossible to name them all.

"Glenn still occasionally throws in a TRAPEZE song during his shows and they sound as fresh as if written yesterday. That tells me how good they are. The fact that he has always had one of the most amazing voices you have ever heard helps too! God bless you, Glenn.

"Due to my arm injury, my time in WHITESNAKE sadly only resulted in one album. Playing with those guys was a buzz and both line-ups I was involved in contained tremendous musicians. I'm sure John Sykes and I could have written some great songs together. It was so nice to meet him again recently over 20 years later and to see him still playing the same Gibson as back then.

"Over the last 12 months, since the launch of my page and the TRAPEZE page, I have regained my love for playing and taken real pleasure from reading the comments and messages you have all left. I have heard from people I had lost touch with years ago. It has been fantastic and I thank you all. I honestly didn't realise the amount of people out there who still remember or have discovered my music. I just wish I could have had the chance to play the shows I had planned for this year.

"Thank you all so much for your love and support over the years.

"You are the music — I was just in a band!"

Me! I'm Mel Galley!

Identity theft - nobody's safe. Not even Mel Galley, once of Whitesnake. Apparently, he's got a ringer using his name:

"I would like to inform your readers that a conman is operating in the Nottingham and Derbyshire areas pretending to be the guitarist and singer Mel Galley who is best known for his work in the bands TRAPEZE, WHITESNAKE, and the PHENOMENA project. He introduces himself to bands in pubs and elsewhere as Mel, offers advice, hands out plectrums, wears a snake ring and tells about how he is set to go and work with Tony Iommi (BLACK SABBATH) in studios in Birmingham or play with ZZ TOP in the USA etc. He told one band that he hadn’t spoken to former colleague Glenn Hughes for over five years. These are all lies. He even has the cheek to autograph CDs and albums and have his picture taken with fans. It would appear he has being doing this for a number of years.

"How do I know all this? Well, apart from actually being Mel Galley myself, last year I set up my own Internet page on MySpace and also for my band TRAPEZE and ever since then I have had messages thanking me for watching bands I have never heard of, in pubs I have never been to! The only actual band I have met this year is an excellent American one called BLANCO DIABLO who toured the UK recently. The imposter tells people he can’t play the guitar due to a well documented injury I suffered whilst in WHITESNAKE. If you visit my personal site you will see that I actually played live very recently.

"Sorry to disappoint those of you who think you have met me."

The odd thing is that this other Mel Galley doesn't seem to be doing this for any sort of personal gain - unless 'having people think you were once in Whitesnake' is a bigger buzz than it seems.

Of course, we only have the Mel Galley MySpace's word for it that he is the real Mel Galley. At least the fake one seems to be better at putting himself about.

Exit David Coverdale, pursued by a bear

Or, rather, exit a bear, pursued by David Coverdale. Oh, yes, the bears at Lake Tahoe took on the wrong guy when one of them went into Coverdale's house. Black bear versus Whitesnake? It's not even a fair battle, is it?

The singer said he could feel the animal's breath on his hand as he closed the kitchen window, before he "ran around" the house to make sure all the other entrances and exits were secure.

"I'd like to think it was the smell of my fab cooking that seduced him," said Coverdale, "but it was only a slightly charred bagel!"

Coverdale, 55, recounted how he ran at the animal with an air horn canister and scared him into the garden.

Still, Mr Bear, at least he didn't sing at you. Small mercies, eh?