Bon Jovi (Part I)

Bon Jovi is an influential rock band from New Jersey, USA. Fronted by lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi, the group originally achieved large-scale success in the 1980s as a hair metal band.

However, Bon Jovi has proved far more durable than most groups so labeled, blending elements of hard rock, heartland rock, and the "MTV Unplugged" style together to sustain a commercially successful career well into the 2000s.

Bon Jovi has sold more than 35 million albums in the United States, and over 105 million albums worldwide, and has played live concerts in major cities in Asia, Europe, Australia, Canada,South Africa, and South America, in addition to a large number of cities in the U.S.



The Band

* Jon Bon Jovi - Lead Vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano
* Richie Sambora - Lead guitars, vocals, talk box
* David Bryan - Keyboards, synthesizers, vocals
* Tico Torres - Drums, percussion
* Hugh McDonald - Bass Guitar, vocals
History


Formation

Lead singer Jon Bon Jovi (John Francis Bongiovi) began to play piano and guitar at thirteen, learning Elton John songs. At that same age, Bon Jovi founded his first band, called Raze. He was very christian and his dream was to change people views through christian values. Jon enrolled in St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, NJ originally, but was asked to leave before entering his sophomore year for an unknown violation. He went on to attend Sayreville War Memorial High School. At sixteen Bon Jovi met David Bryan (David Bryan Rashbaum) in high school (Sayreville War Memorial High School ) and founded an R&B cover band with him named Atlantic City Expressway. They played at New Jersey clubs, even though they were minors. Still in his teens, Bon Jovi played in the band John Bon Jovi and the Wild Ones, playing New Jersey clubs like the Fast Lane and opening for known acts in the area. By the summer of 1982, out of school and working part-time, one of his jobs being in a shoestore, Jon finally got a job at the Power Station Studios, a Manhattan recording facility where his cousin, Tony Bongiovi, was the co-owner. Bon Jovi made several demos (including one produced by Billy Squier) and sent them out to many record companies, but failed to make an impact.

In 1983, local radio station WAPP 103.5FM "The Apple" had a contest, held in conjunction with St. John's University, to search for the best unsigned band. Bon Jovi used studio musicians to play on the track "Runaway" (which was written in 1980). . After winning the contest, it became an instant hit in the summer of 1983. The studio musicians who helped Jon Bon Jovi record "Runaway" were known as "The All Star Review." They were:

* Tim Pierce (guitar)
* Roy Bittan (keyboards)
* Frankie LaRocka (drums)
* Hugh McDonald (bass).

Bon Jovi now desperately needed a band. The soon-to-be-members of the band had crossed paths in their earlier days, but the current lineup didn't come together until March of 1983. Bon Jovi gave Dave Bryan a call, who in turn called Alec John Such and Tico Torres.

A succession of guitarists followed, until Richie Sambora signed on. Such talked Bon Jovi into letting Sambora show what he could do, and Bon Jovi loved it. Before joining Bon Jovi, Sambora had toured with Joe Cocker, played with a group called Mercy and had just been called up to audition for KISS. He also played on the album Lessons with the band Message featuring vocalist Dean Fasano, which was re-released on CD through Long Island Records in 1995. Message was originally signed to Led Zeppelin's Swan Song Records label, although the album was never released.

Tico Torres was also an experienced musician, having recorded with Miles Davis and playing live with Phantom's Opera The Marvelettes and Chuck Berry. He had played on 26 records and had recently recorded with Frankie and the Knockouts (a Jersey band with hit singles in the early 1980s).

David Bryan was a natural recruit. He had quit the band he and Bon Jovi founded while in college, then quit college to attend Juilliard School, the prestigious New York music school.


1980s

Bon Jovi was now a band, and when they opened for the band Scandal, they caught the attention of record executive Derek Shulman, who signed them to PolyGram.
Bon Jovi
Enlarge
Bon Jovi

With the help of their new manager Doc McGhee, the band's debut album, Bon Jovi, was released on January 21, 1984. The album went gold in the US (sales of over 500,000) and was also released in the UK. The group found themselves opening for ZZ Top at the Madison Square Garden (before their first album had been released), and for Scorpions and KISS in Europe. They also made an appearance on American Bandstand.

In 1985, Bon Jovi's second album 7800° Fahrenheit was released, but the response was poor. The leading British metal magazine Kerrang!, who had been very positive about the debut record, called the album "a pale imitation of the Bon Jovi we have got to know and learned to love." Jon Bon Jovi himself later said it could have and should have been better.

Their third album, Slippery When Wet, shot the band to superstardom around the world with hits such as "You Give Love a Bad Name", "Livin' On A Prayer", and "Wanted Dead or Alive". Bon Jovi has said the album was named after the ubiquitous highway warning signs, but Bryan has said the following about the album's title: "During the recording of the record we frequently wound up in a striptease club where incredibly good looking girls were putting water and soap on each other. They became so slippery because of that, that you couldn't hold on to them even if you wanted to really bad. 'Slippery when wet!' one of us yelled out and the rest of us immediately knew: that had to be the title of the new album! Originally we were going to put a picture of some huge breasts, the really big ones, on the cover; but when the PMRC (a moral board under command of Tipper Gore, wife of former Vice President of the United States Al Gore) found out we were in big trouble. So we made it into a very decent cover."

The album has sold in excess of 26 million copies worldwide since its release in late 1986. On the tour that followed, singer Bon Jovi began having vocal difficulties. The extremely high notes and unrelenting schedule threatened to damage his voice permanently. With the help of a vocal coach, he made it through the tour. Bon Jovi has tended to sing slightly lower pitches since then.

The next album from Bon Jovi was New Jersey released in 1988. The album was recorded very shortly after the tour for Slippery, because the band wanted to prove that they were not just a one hit wonder. The resulting album is a fan favorite, a pop-rock masterpiece, and a mammoth commercial success, with hit songs such as "Bad Medicine", "Lay Your Hands On Me" and "I'll Be There For You", which are still nightly stalwarts in their live repertoire. New Jersey was a commercial smash and became the first hard rock album to spawn five Top Ten singles. "Bad Medicine" and "I'll Be There For You" both hit number one, and "Born to Be My Baby" (#3), "Lay Your Hands on Me (#7), and "Living in Sin" (#9) rounded out the list. "Blood on Blood" was also popular among fans. New Jersey was supported by video releases such as New Jersey: The Videos and Access All Areas, as well as a massive 18-month tour. In 1989, the band headlined the Moscow Music Peace Festival. Despite the band achieving massive success, New Jersey almost led to the end of the band as they went straight back out on the road so soon after the heavy touring for their previous album. This constant living on the road almost destroyed the strong bond between Jon Bon Jovi and Sambora. As mentioned in Behind the Music, the band members note that at the end of the tour, each band member went their separate way and departed in separate jets. However, the band made it through and took a healthy break before their next studio effort. To date, the album has sold 17 million copies worldwide.