How important were external songwriters for their succes?

Its pretty obvious that most of their famous songs are co-writes with external writers. But how important were they? What influence did they have on their career? Lets find out.

* Runaway. I think George Kayak wrote the basis for this song? And then Jon made it his own. It shows at an early age he knew very well how to use the talent of others. Of course this a very essential song that started it all.

* You Give Love a Bad Name. Desmond Child already wrote the song If You Were A Woman for Bonnie Tyler. Bad Name is just a rewrite of that. This song was obviously their real breakthrough.

* Livin’ on a Prayer. I think this started as a piano ballad also initiated by Desmond Child? Of course Richie and Jon made it their own. Another pivotal song that is still considered as a hightlight in their career. Were they able to write such anthems without Desmond? I guess not, it didnt happen on Fahrenheit anyway, thats for sure.

* Bad Medicine. Also a Jon/Richie/Desmond co-write. Richie wrote the chorus and Desmond the pre-chorus (thats what you get for falling in love). Without the pre-chorus the song would have been way too one-dimensional. So again Desmond wrote an essential part of the song and helped them to show the world they were not just a one-day fly.

* Born to Be My Baby. Another hitsong by the same team. Not sure who wrote what.

This list goes on, Keep the Faith, I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, Something for the Pain, This Ain’t a Love Song, all songs Desmond Child helped them writing and kept them in the charts.

In 2000 they managed to return to the charts again thanks to Max Martin with It’s My Life. Which was basicly also a re-write of Larger Than Life by the Backstreet Boys.

John Shanks and Billy Falcon, played a crucial role in shaping Bon Jovi’s more recent hits.

Of course Jon and Richie wrote great songs together, without help, even some hits. Wanted Dead Or Alive is considered as one of their best songs by many people. Jon wrote stuff like Blaze Of Glory and Always on his own which were also big hits. But for the majority of their essential songs they needed help. Which is not a bad thing. It shows Jon is a very clever guy. He knows he needs other people to be succesful. So what do you think?

I mean, a big part of that question is very very very much "who knows?", but I'd wager they played a huge part. (As did the production. Slippery just SOUNDS so much better than, say, Night Songs.) The huge ass giant hits they had that didn't credit an external writer are: I'll Be There For You, Blaze of Glory (which Aldo Nova fought over), Bed of Roses, Always, Who Says.

As far as big songs with co-writers go, here's what I remember in terms of contribution details.

Runaway: David claims to have come up with the keyboard riff, and there's a demo on the Backstage thingy that's simply played on acoustic guitar. I thought George Karak was a keyboard player? So maybe he did come up with most of the song, not just the keyboard parts.

Prayer: Richie came up with the "wo-ah" on the fly, so that wasn't a complete song Desmond just brought in.

Bad Medicine: The "that's what you get for falling in love" came from an older demo, so supposedly - source here is Jon & Richie - they had a large portion of the song ready on their own.

Born to be My Baby: Jon came up with the basic chord progression (since it's SO damn basic, I'd assume he also had part of the riff or melody?). I think the title was Richie's?

KTF: To me, that song, with it's very unusual rhythm for BJ, had a heavy Desmond vibe. He had similar stuff on his solo record. What was the title of the demo - Revenge? If we ever get to hear that one, that'd be REALLY interesting.

It's My Life: Yeah, as you said.

Everyday: Not the biggest hit, but it is VERY MUCH just Bye Bye Bye by N'Sync and shares the same writer.

HAND: Shanks wrote the guitar intro and I think showed them a basic verse idea, too?

Make a Memory: Jon and Desmond wrote most of the song, Richie came in later and, I think, contributed lyrics?

Yes of course they all added stuff, but I think Desmond already had a demo song with lyrics about a guy named Johnny (Jon rejected that because he didnt want to give the impression he would sing about himself).

A piano ballad that probably sounded something like this:


This is not the demo he had back then, but I think this is the closest we can get to the original song.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BonJovi/com...u_documentary/

In this reddit thread Aldo Nova's songwriting role on Young Guns is discussed. It seems he got a flat fee for all his writing contributions on the album and it was agreed the album would be credited solely to Jon. In return they would promote Aldo's solo record.

I think you answered your own question.

They’ve always had the potential to be a great band, even without outside influences, but they needed that extra boost for radio success. That success gave them the opportunity to keep going, as they likely would have broken up without it.

I don’t really think “Runaway” was the turning point that got them to where they are. It makes for a great story, but while the DJ connection probably holds some truth, I believe there was already an album and contract taking shape with or without "Runaway." “She Don’t Know Me” would likely have been the first single and probably would have seen the same level of success. "Fahrenheit" would have likely followed in the same direction

Runaway became known by most after the success of Slippery and not during its initial run.


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What makes you think so? I thought record companies didnt want to check out his demos until Runaway caught some attention?

According to wikipedia:

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. After the song won the contest, it became a radio hit in the summer of 1983.

So this is incorrect?

No that's correct. Even Runaway had been rejected by record companies until it won the WAPP contest. Up until that point, no record label executives had shown any interest in John Bongiovi whatsoever.

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Not saying Desmond shouldn't get any credit but I think some people give Desmond too much credit sometimes. Slippery hit at the perfect time on MTV combined with Jon's charisma. If You Were A Woman wasn't exactly a hit when it was released by Bonnie Tyler. Not to mention Fairbairn put the perfect slick production on that album, so credit there as well. I really believe Jon's charisma and MTV is the main reason Slippery was so big not Desmond.
I just don't think if prayer and bad name was released by Loverboy it would have been anywhere near as big.

so yes, Desmond deserves some credit just not the lions share that some people give him. I mean if Slippery had not of hit like it did I probably wouldn't have any idea who Desmond Child is.

And while I do like songs Desmond co-wrote, I think Bon Jovi, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, and Kiss have a lot of great songs of which Desmond was not involved. Also his solo album Discipline is terrible, imo.

Ah really? I always really liked a lot of it. A few too many slower songs, but his version of Love On A Rooftop is miles better than Cher's. According To The Gospel Of Love and Discipline totally have the same vibe as something like River Of Love from Stranger In This Town. I also Enjoy The Price Of Loving You, I Don't Want To Be Your Friend and The Gift Of Life.