David Coverdale recording "Slide It In" to re-form Deep Purple. (Ian Paice had left Whitesnake in 1982.) In 1985, Sykes and Coverdale started working on new songs for the next album, but Coverdale soon contracted a serious sinus infection that made recording close to impossible for much of 1986 and which had doctors thinking he might never sing again. Coverdale eventually recovered, and recordings were continued. But before their upcoming album was fully recorded and released, Coverdale had dismissed Sykes from the band. The split with Sykes was, reportedly, not amicable. In many period interviews, Coverdale stated that the next album was
Gillan (band) time and the group gained popularity in Europe. In 1980 Gillan reached the peak of their success, releasing the album "Glory Road", with initial copies containing the free album "For Gillan Fans Only". However, the band remained unknown in North America and were unable to raise any interest there despite a long and difficult 1980 tour there. By 1981 the band members had become disgruntled that their European and Japanese success was not translating into increased financial rewards, and after the "Future Shock" album, whilst on tour in Germany, Torme left just before the band were due to fly back