I agree with this 100%. And call me optimistic - but I think it may be more than coincidence that Jon, during his acknowledgement of the induction in Toronto, made a point of including Richie and Alec among those who had supported the band's dream over the last 30 years and that Richie, during the TODAY interview, accepted a huge chunk of the responsibility for the current situation. (I'll go ahead and say "and rightfully so" for those who can't wait to point out that since Richie was the one who "bailed" - like that's news to anyone - he SHOULD take responsibility. :rolleyes:)

I don't know how many of you checked it out, but on the General Discussion board, RdKopper (I hope I got that right) posted the link to a great website that had archived some old issues of Kerrang! and other magazine interviews with the band from back in the day. I read through the articles and was totally stunned at the similarities between almost everything that is happening now and the comments they (especially Jon and Richie) made while promoting KTF when they were asked about the trouble they had after the Jersey tour. The funniest one was the Kerrang! interview where Jon told Kerrang! that the whole falling out was mostly Kerrang!'s fault because it was them and the "damn British press" that caused most of the misunderstanding in the first place, then once the rumors started flying, the guys just got pissed off and began believing everything that was was printed, without talking directly to each other, and the whole thing started feeding on itself.

I hope that they all learned from that experience how allowing someone else to do their talking for them can create a chasm that is difficult to cross; and perhaps, this time, they may have seen how they were possibly falling into that same trap. So rather than allowing internet 'news' sources (this decade's version of Kerrang!) and social media to create a stumbling block, maybe they ARE using the media to convey to one another a willingness to, at some point, work through all the rumors/opinions/misquotes and whatever issues are at the root of this whole mess.

Granted, straightforward conversation would do that a lot more expediently than "coded" messages (if that is what they're doing) but maybe they're not be in a position right now to do the Kumbaya thing, and at least they're hearing it directly "from the horse's mouth" and not reading something that has possibly been misquoted or misconstrued.

Since I used the word "bailed" a few comments up, I will assume this is aimed at me. The only person here I think needs to be convinced of the situation is Rolo, which is why I said it to him directly :rolleyes:

I'm a bit late posting this, but I've always wondered if Jon went back to smoking. The last I heard was he quit because his insurance as a smoker was so high. I haven't seen pics of him smoking since then, but I know that means nothing.

And like he couldn't afford the premiums. :D

Nah, it wasn't really aimed at any one person in particular and "bailed" was probably a poor choice on my part; maybe because it was the most recently used. I "quoted" it to indicate the inclusion of similar words (i.e., walked, deserted, abandoned, ditched, etc.). The comment was directed toward those who repeat the same thought almost every time they post - as if anyone who's reading this doesn't already know that the reason Richie's not on tour is because he didn't show up in Calgary and hasn't been at any show since; as if that alone should explain everything. Their record is as badly broken as Rolo's is - scratched with the same deep needle-hanging groove! ;)

I don't think anyone (those people included) would still be reading and posting 1000+ pages in, if they truly believed it was really that simple. We know he walked - we just don't know why (even now, as far as I'm concerned). The answers from everyone involved have been either confusing (at best), partial and 'politically' correct (understandable, if things are still being worked out), or downright deception (inexcusable).

In hindsight, my comment was snarky to begin with and I probably should have edited right there, because I didn't really mean to offend, I was just venting my frustration - with the people who post and, I realize now, the whole freakin' situation.

anyone hear the phone interview with richie from Ozzie breakfast radio?

he sounded absolutely tanked!

I don't think this was posted here yet:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/5/j6pd.jpg

Do I think Richie was telling the whole story during his interview with Today? No, but considering the band's history of keeping as quiet as possible about sensitive subjects, I didn't expect him to "tell all". It took the band years to admit what had happened with Alec...and even that was kept vague. To this day, Hugh was the only one to admit that he played on all Bon Jovi albums (except 7800 Fahrenheit) and not Alec. They are good at sweeping things under the rug.

The band said it was up to Richie to talk...and he did. That's all we're going to get. I'm sure the band will follow the same story line now.

I don't believe Richie honestly wants to return to the band. That's just my perception. Or maybe he just doesn't know if he wants to come back yet...

A guy who had a conversation with Richie at Melbourne Cup, said that Richie might be returning to the band in 2019:

@zandivad :

2019...


what

Five years. Makes sense?

It'll be a typo.