in the short-lived MGM. The band did some live dates (including the Reading Festival in 1987), but never really took off. A year after recording the backing tracks for Whitesnake / 1987 (1987), with work proceeding at a very slow and expensive pace on the album, Murray took the opportunity to redo some of the bass parts, but disagreements over leadership led to John Sykes quitting the band 16 months after recording had begun. In early 1987, Coverdale put together a completely new version of Whitesnake in Los Angeles, and Murray was no longer part of the band. Murray had to hire lawyers to get his financial due from the huge success of Whitesnake / 1987 (1987), the album that went on to sell well over 10 million copies worldwide. To this day, Murray remains the individual who has played on the second most Whitesnake albums, behind only David Coverdale himself. Vow Wow In 1987, Murray joined Japanese hard rock band Vow Wow, who had recently relocated to England, after having worked with its guitarist Kyoji Yamamoto on the second album by Phenomena. He recorded four albums with the band between 1987 and 1989, and toured the UK, Europe, and Japan. He also lived in Tokyo for a few months in 1988. Vocalist Genki Hitomi wanted to remain in Japan, so the group recorded what was supposed to be their last album titled Helter Skelter (1988), which was produced by Tony Taverner, who had previously engineered for Black Sabbath. Murray would later state that he never "really became a permanent member" of Vow Wow in order to keep his options open, partly because he was a member of MGM at the same time. Black Sabbath, Brian May and Beyond By 1989, with Geezer Butler's refusal to join the latest Black Sabbath line-up, Murray was asked by Cozy Powell to try out. He joined soon after the release of Headless Cross (1989) and toured with the band in support of the album. Murray stayed with the band until late 1990, recording the Tyr album and once again touring. Live, Murray was able to showcase various bass styles that had not been able to flourish in Whitesnake, ranging from Jack Bruce-type improvising to heavy metal soloing to delicate false harmonics. After Black Sabbath reformed their 1981 Mob Rules lineup in 1991 with Dio, Butler and Appice for Dehumanizer, Cozy Powell and Murray