Melville John Galley (8 March 1948 – 1 July 2008) was an English

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

, singer and songwriter, best known for his work with

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English hard rock band formed in London in 1978. The group was originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their own entit ...

Trapeze A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes or metal straps from a ceiling support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances. Trapeze acts may be static, spinning (rigged from a single point), swinging or flying, an ...

Finders Keepers Finders, keepers, sometimes extended as the children's rhyme finders, keepers; losers, weepers, is an English language, English adage with the premise that when something is unowned or abandoned, whoever finds it first can claim it for themself pe ...

and

Phenomena A phenomenon ( : phenomena) is an observable event. The term came into its modern philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be directly observed. Kant was heavily influenced by Gottfried W ...

. Galley was born in

Cannock Cannock () is a town in the Cannock Chase district in the county of Staffordshire, England. It had a population of 29,018. Cannock is not far from the nearby towns of Walsall, Burntwood, Stafford and Telford. The cities of Lichfield and Wolverh ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. While a member of Whitesnake, he badly injured his arm in an accident at a fairground in Germany and had to leave the band, as he was unable to play the guitar because of nerve damage as a result of incompetent surgery. Later he became known for playing with "The Claw", a specially developed spring and wire device fitted to his hand which enabled him to play the guitar again. Together with his brother Tom Galley and Wilfried Rimensberger, he was a founding member of Phenomena where his songwriting and guitar playing skills had a major impact on its success. On 7 February 2008 Galley revealed that he was suffering from

esophageal cancer Esophageal cancer is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include difficulty in swallowing and weight loss. Other symptoms may include pain when swallowing, a hoarse voice ...

, and had only a short time to live. Galley died on 1 July the same year at the age of 60.

Discography

With Finders Keepers

"Sadie, The Cleaning Lady" (single)

With Trapeze

*''

'' *''

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...

'' *'' You Are the Music...We're Just the Band'' *'' The Final Swing'' *'' Hot Wire'' *''

Live At The Boat Club ''Live at the Boat Club'' is an album by the British rock band Trapeze. Recorded on 13 September 1975 live at the Boat Club in Nottingham for a UK live radio broadcast featuring tracks from their four mid-1970s albums ''Medusa'' (1970), '' You A ...

'' *''

Hold On Hold On may refer to: Music Albums and EPs * ''Hold On!'' (album), by Herman's Hermits, 1966 * ''Hold On'' (Trapeze album), or the title song, 1978 * ''Hold On'' (High Inergy album), 1980 * ''Hold On'' (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album), 1987 * ...

'' a.k.a. ''

Running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

'' *'' Live in Texas: Dead Armadillos'' *'' Welcome to the Real World'' *'' High Flyers: The Best of Trapeze'' *'' Way Back to the Bone'' *'' On the Highwire''

With Glenn Hughes

*'' Play Me Out''

With Whitesnake

*'' Saints & Sinners'' (Vocals only) *''

Slide It In ''Slide It In'' is the sixth studio album by British rock band Whitesnake, released in 1984. It was the first Whitesnake album to be released by Geffen Records in the US, but was remixed for the release. Because of this, two different editions ...

'' *'' Live In 1984: Back To The Bone'' (2014)

With Phenomena

*''

'' (Bronze 1985) *''

Phenomena II Phenomena is a rock music concept formed by record producer Tom Galley and his brother, Whitesnake guitarist Mel Galley. During the recording of ''Phenomena I'', they were joined by Metalhammer founder Wilfried Rimensberger. Contributors were l ...

'' "Dream Runner" (RCA 1987) *'' Phenomena III'' "Inner Vision" *'' Psychofantasy'' (Escape 2006) *''

Blind Faith Blind Faith were an English supergroup featuring Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Ric Grech. They were eagerly anticipated by the music press following on the success of each of the member's former bands, including Clapton a ...

'' (Escape 2010)

With Cozy Powell

*''

Octopuss ''Octopuss'' is the third solo album by English drummer Cozy Powell, released in 1983. Track listing Side one #"Up on the Downs" (Mel Galley, Cozy Powell) – 3:55 #"633 Squadron" (Ron Goodwin) – 4:13 #"Octopuss" (Powell, Colin Hodgkinson) ...

References

External links

Guardian obituaryGlenn Hughes' Trapeze page
English rock guitarists Whitesnake members Trapeze (band) members Finders Keepers (band) members 1948 births 2008 deaths People from Cannock Deaths from esophageal cancer 20th-century British guitarists {{UK-guitarist-stub