Here it is:
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.n...2568700029076D
By the time he was 16, Jon was playing clubs. It was not long before he hooked up with keyboardist David Bryan (real name: David Brian Rashbaum), who played with him in a ten-piece rhythm and blues band called Atlantic City Expressway. Jon also performed with bands called The Rest, The Lechers and John Bongiovi and the Wild Ones.
Meanwhile, Richie Sambora was also performing locally with a funk and fusion outfit called Extremes, before hooking up with Alec John Such in the band The Message. After The Message broke up, Alec played with Tico Torres in Phantom's Opera.
The members of Bon Jovi hade crossed paths in these early days, but the current lineup didn't come together until March of 1983 after th first Bon Jovi single, "Runaway," had become a minor hit.
In one of those right place/right time/right person scenarios, Jon managed to get a job sweeping floors at a recording studio through a relative. His second cousin, Tony Bongiovi, was a co-owner of the power station in New York City. Jon had written "Runaway," and in 1980, he recorded a demo of the song at his cousin's studio, with back-up by studio musicians whom Tony had hired, including
Frankie La Roca, Tim Pierce, Hugh McDonald and Roy Bittan.
A local radio station included "Runaway" on a compilation tape, and the song started getting some serious airplay. The success of "Runaway" got Jon noticed, and he realized that he'd need more than session players if he wanted to capitalize on his success by touring the New York clubs to support the single.
Jon gave Dave a call, who in turn tapped Alec and Tico. A succession of guitarists (including Dave "The Snake" Sabo, who went on to form Skid Row) followed, until finally Richie signed on, and the band came together as a whole. They began gigging around New York in earnest.
At one show, where they opened for Scandal, the band caught the attention of record exec Derek Shulman, who signed them to PolyGram. "With Jon, I felt he had an unbelievable desire to be a star", recalls Shulman. "he had a burning desire to be huge".
PolyGram toyed with the name, throwing out monikers like "Victor" then "Johnny Lightening", before Shulman anglicized John Bongiovi's name to Bon Jovi.
Their self-titled debut came out January 21, 1984. Filled with the group's now-signature power ballads and hooked-filled tunes underscored by soaring guitar riffs and well-crafted melodies, the album went gold (sales of over 500,000).