 Few bands embodied the era of
pop-metal like Bon Jovi. By merging Def Leppard's loud but
tuneful metal with Bruce Springsteen's working-class sensibilities, the
New Jersey-based quintet developed an ingratiatingly melodic
and professional variation of hard rock -- one that appealed
as much to teenagers as to housewives. Bon Jovi skillfully
employed professional songwriters to give their songs,
especially their power ballads, an appropriately commercial
sheen, inaugurating a trend that dominated mainstream hard
rock and metal for the next decade. They also made simple
performance videos that emphasized lead singer Jon Bon
Jovi's photogenic good looks, and these clips helped propel
1986's Slippery When Wet and 1988's New Jersey into
multi-platinum status around the world. Both records were
criticized for being more pop than metal, as well as being
targeted toward teenyboppers, yet the group managed to
subtly change its image in the early '90s, moving away from
metal and concentrating on straightforward arena rock and
big ballads. The shift in style worked, and Bon Jovi were
the only American pop-metal band of the '80s to retain a
sizable audience in the '90s.
Jon Bongiovi spent most of his adolescence ditching
school to play rock & roll, usually in local bands with his
friend David Rashbaum.
Bongiovi's cousin Tony owned the famous New York
recording studio the Power Station, which was where
Jon hung out. He was hired as a janitor, and soon he was
recording demos at the Power Station with several famous
musicians, including members of
the E Street Band and
Aldo Nova. One of these demos, "Runaway," became a hit
on local New Jersey radio, and
Bongiovi formed
Bon Jovi to support the song, recruiting not only
Rashbaum, but also guitarist Dave Sabo, bassist Alec John
Such, and drummer
Tico Torres. Soon,
Bon Jovi was the subject of a major-label bidding war,
and the group -- or, according to some reports, just
Bongiovi -- signed to Polygram/Mercury in 1983. Upon
signing,
Jon changed his last name to
Bon Jovi in order to de-emphasize his ethnic background,
and Rashbaum adopted his middle name Bryan as his last name.
Before the group entered the studio,
Bon Jovi replaced Sabo with
Richie Sambora.
Bon Jovi's eponymous debut album was released in 1984,
and "Runaway" became a Top 40 hit. Following its success,
Tony Bongiovi sued the band, claiming he developed their
successful sound; the group settled out of court. The
following year, 7800 Fahrenheit was released and went gold.
Despite the band's respectable success,
Bon Jovi weren't becoming the superstars they had hoped,
and they changed their approach for their next album,
Slippery When Wet. Hiring professional songwriter
Desmond Child as a collaborator, the group wrote 30
songs and auditioned them for local New Jersey and New York
teenagers, basing the album's running order on their
opinions. After ditching the original cover of a busty woman
in a wet T-shirt for the title traced in water on a garbage
bag, Slippery When Wet was released in 1986. Supported by
several appealing, straightforward videos that showcased the
photogenic
Jon, the album eventually sold nine million copies in
the U.S. alone, helping usher in the era of pop-metal. Two
songs, "You Give Love a Bad Name" and "Livin' on a Prayer,"
reached number one, while "Wanted Dead or Alive" reached the
Top Ten, and
Bon Jovi were established as superstars.
Bon Jovi replicated the Slippery When Wet formula for
1988's New Jersey, which shot to number one upon its
release. New Jersey was only slightly less successful than
its predecessor, selling five million copies and generating
two number one singles, "Bad Medicine" and "I'll Be There
for You," as well as the Top Ten hits "Born to Be My Baby,"
"Lay Your Hands on Me," and "Living in Sin." In 1989, the
band supported
Cher, who was then dating
Sambora, on her Heart of Stone album, which was recorded
while the group was in the midst of an 18-month
international tour. Following the completion of the tour,
the band went on hiatus. During their time off,
Jon Bon Jovi wrote the soundtrack for Young Guns II,
which was released in 1990 as the Blaze of Glory album. The
record produced two hit singles in the number one title
track and the number 12 "Miracle," as well as earning Grammy
and Oscar nominations. The following year,
Bon Jovi reunited to record their fifth album, Keep the
Faith, which was released in the fall of 1992. While the
album didn't match the blockbuster status of its
predecessors, largely because musical tastes had shifted in
the four years between New Jersey and Keep the Faith, it was
nevertheless a big hit, and its more straightforward,
anthemic sound produced the hit single "Bed of Roses." A
hits collection, Cross Road, followed in 1994, and in the
fall of 1995, they released These Days, which proved to be a
bigger success in Europe than America. After appearing in
the 1996 film Moonlight and Valentino,
Jon Bon Jovi released his first official solo album in
the summer of 1997. Three years later,
Bon Jovi regrouped and released Crush. "It's My Life"
and "Thank You for Loving Me" were a chart hits and
Bon Jovi's star power soared beyond their wildest
dreams. Crush eventually went double platinum in the U.S.
and sold eight million copies worldwide, but
Bon Jovi stayed focus. Within a year they returned with
an eighth studio effort, Bounce, which appeared in fall
2002. Tours across the globe as well as dates with
the Goo Goo Dolls fared well. In 2003
Bon Jovi re-recorded many of their most well-known songs
for the release This Left Feels Right and followed it in
2004 with a DVD companion of the same title. The ambitious
100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong, four-CD/one-DVD
box set of rarities, arrived later that November, followed
by Have a Nice Day in September of 2005. ~ Stephen Thomas
Erlewine, All Music Guide
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