Originally Posted by Walleris

I think you're mostly spot on. Looks and stage presence was very important in the 80s the way Bon Jovi was marketed.

The only thing perhaps missing is Alec doing several stupid interviews bashing Jon at the end of his stint. That had to be a major contributing factor for Jon firing him and that is why the Alec-Richie comparison does not fully make sense. You don't see Richie saying anything negative about Jon even when he's out of the band.