Richie - Front & Center interview
 

Interview done on July 23, 2014 at THE IRIDIUM in New York, NY
Still waiting for the concert, only 2 songs on YT so far.

http://youtu.be/OQO9l65D1bc

Same jacket but better haircut. Yes, it's the most important thing in this interview. ;)

Aloha !

This is interview number whatever in which he mentions Voodoo Child, how it's long, and how there's lots of improvisation done. It's remarkable how a guitarist like him just isn't able to do proper jamming anymore, and just doesn't hear how bad that rendition of Voodoo Child actually is. It's as if he's completely forgotten all he's learned over the 30 years he's been a musician now.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

Cheers! That's actually the first interview of Richie I found interesting ever since he left Bon Jovi. He still occasionally loses in the middle of the sentence and has developed weird habits (what's up with constant scratching?), but at least the content was interesting.

It still staggers me whenever I listen to Richie how much he thinks Bon Jovi is/was him. There is never any reference to Jon writing with him. In this interview when talking about Jon wanting to make a double record for New Jersey he insists that the pressure was on him. "For a guitar player that's 25 songs, 5 guitar parts per song...plus I had to write them...and then solos and then sing them. Dennis and I were good friends and I was venting to him saying 'man I can't come up with this much stuff'."

I find it hard to listen to.

Aloha !

Apart from it being hard to listen to it's just nonsense as well. You don't "write" 5 guitar parts. You come up with the main riff, and everything else you just build around it as you go. It's not like Bon Jovi songs were filled with complicated riffs. It's Richie again making things a lot bigger than they were/are.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

"them" here refers to "songs" not to "gtr parts" of course! ;)

he sounds so full of himself...like jon didnt co wrote all these songs...richies parts were really great, and sure there was a big responsibility on him but he sounds like it was all him...
the nj record has nicely worked guitars, brilliant guitarwork BUT jon was the mastermind and richie looks sad and bitter when he tries to act like it was all him, it was the chemistry between them...
ps.i m sure richie will produce the same magic now with orianthi...:mad:

I hardly recognize him anymore. :(

I'm not sticking up for Richie here, but I'm also not going to defend Jon here either. Jon does the same thing over and over again... "I wrote. My band. My song." Richie sounds like an egomaniac... just like Jon most of the time.

Me too..... D Shame.

I never understood why Americans think damn is a rude word O.o

Exactly! The funniest part is that their major hits were co-written with hit-maker/spin doctor Desmond Child. Jon's and Richie's parts in the writing process were minimal and yet... And Max Martin? Jon has always said that he just happened to be in the studio when they were cutting IML that's why they had to put his name on the credit sheet!!! But it's OK, you have to have a big ego to make it in the music industry. Listen to Child explaining how difficult it is for bands to accept the intervention of an outside songwriter. And pay attention to his definition of Jon's personality (around 32/33), he says that Jon "has a mission, he's like a tank" or, as Richie put it: "the show must go on!"
http://youtu.be/1MNGFa-rto0
NB: the interview was done shortly after Richie had quit the tour.

More detailed story behing LOAP:
http://youtu.be/X-vO_58XRKs

Bunch of fannies. (They won't get that insult)

Where do you come up with this garbage? You have no idea who wrote which parts? Jon and/or Richie penned a lot of songs themselves too without outside writers so I do believe they are capable. Although I have my doubts about song writer credits as a whole with all acts, there is no proof to any of the above. And the whole IML thing about Jon being in the studio is all bull too.

Yeah, I agree. Desmonds reputtion is for co-writing, not taking finished songs to artists. There are probably exceptions in his career though, but no one really knows with Bon Jovi because there are so many different quotes down the years from both sides that contradict each other.

As for the IML thing, we all know Bon Jovi's involvment is questionable, but I have never heard or seen Jon directly say he was in the studio when it was being cut and wanted in on it. Need a quote or link on that one Joysey.

Me neither - and I'm American. :p

The story is not about Jon being in the studio, but Max Martin, if I recall correctly. Jon has said that Max happened to be in the studio when they were cutting It's My Life, and that's why Max got credited for it as well. Though the song screams Max Martin, if his Backstreet Boys and other songs are anything to go by ;-)

Thank you, jovifan93, you understood me 5/5! :D
I didn' make this one up, it's all over the internet, a quick Google search returned at least 3 instances:
http://www.maxmartinfansite.com/bonjovi.htm

http://www.metalsludge.tv/?p=29511

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1584

Now, Rdkopper & semigoodlookin, you don't really expect me to listen to dozens of hours of interviews on YT and Dailymotion to find when Jon played down Martin's contribution, do you?!

And if you can't identify a songwriter's or a producer's touch in a song, I guess you need new ears!!!

You don't need to explain this or search the internet because it's been discussed to death on here multiple times.

You are kind of contradicting yourself on here anyway. You are saying that the only reason why Max got credit is because he was in the studio and then you say that it screams Backstreet Boys so he definitely wrote it.

Bottom line, no one knows anything as far as the writing balance goes so everything you wrote prior with this and Desmond is pure nonsense.

Finally got a chance to sit down and listen to this and i really enjoyed how down to earth and honest he came across ..... I think his different improvisions of voodoo child over the last year have been fantastic . I dont get all the hating of him being drunk, drugged , sloppy ect at all .... I think he got a bit carried away with the whole double jersey album bits , but thats cool ... Regardless of the amount of input he had in the hey day , bon jovi would not have had the chemistry and happened without him ... Anyway , Bon Jovi still my fave and Richie still my hero guitargod;)

No, JON said that Max got credit just for being in the room. And listen to Larger Than Life by the Backstreet Boys from the same writer around the same time and compare it to It's My Life. He may not have done anything lyrically, but the musical similarities on those songs are pretty easy for anyone to hear as you could pretty much play the lyrics for either over the music to the other.

i ve read there was a big dispute about how the song should be produced between jon and martin. jons version ended up in the album but when max martin was asked if he was wrong he stayed his ground and said if bj had done the song his way it was gonna be even bigger a single...who knows?
in this occasion i believe jon, jon likes writing with other composers and he mentions them in almost every occasion, in this occasion jon probably overstated this because he didnt want everyone to assume it wasnt their song...the guys have proved they are good songwriters, wanted is an excellent example...many people try to put down their skills without no proof...max martin probably helped desmond proved himself repeatedly to be asked back again and again but its my life was sth new and fresh mostly production and arrangment wise, it was simpler and to the point, it was nt sth they couldnt nail...
ps. i ve read somewhere a jons interview where he said the opening riff for blaze of glory was written by aldo nova but was not gonna give him a writing credit cause blaze was his song...and i find it fair in a way, what i dont find fair is dry county having only one credited writer, jon and not richie...anyway...
the song credentials are big discussion...one from u2...lyrics bono, music u2...while the band has stated that the guitar riff was daniels lanois, not the chords the riff...in a way every bands set its rules based on their own ways, profile, status etc

No, I never wrote that, not even close! I'll repeat myself: you're a desperate case! Learn to read and think before you post or else you just make yourself look plain stupid or like a troll... :rolleyes:

errrr... Jon never says he co-wrote his first hit "Runaway"... ;)

To make things clear for everybody, please let me explain my point: I never said Jon & Richie sucked as songwriters, I only underlined the true fact that their major hits were co-written with an outside songwriter. There's no shame about it, it's common practice and who says a band has to write their material alone?!

Here we're talking about commercial success/sales, not about artistic quality. Sometimes the two overlap, sometimes they don't, no big deal!
For example I think that many songs co-written by Richie for his solo albums are very beautifully written but they didn't have much commercial success. It's sad but it doesn't mean that the songs suck. The same with Jon's except that I'm really tired of his formula (his "life is tough but I'm strong and I'll make it through with you" and the likes).


At their beginning, the 4 U2 boys decided that they'd equally share the credits for all their songs no matter who really wrote them because they were friends, they were a garage band and they wanted the public to see them as such: a bunch of friends making it in the music business.
And on the economic level, they wanted to equally share their earnings or else Bono and Edge who write most of the songs would have been a lot richer than Adam and Larry who don't. Because they are smart and clever and know that money is the main source of conflict, frustration coming from the difference in earnings is what causes a split-up in most cases...

I'll quote you here cause I can't be bothered to go back a page. Anyway, I misundertood what you was saying, I thought you were saying Jon was in the studio no Max Martin, I retract what I said. As for the song, if has his (Martin's) production style for sure, but there is plenty of Jovi in it too.

I think all had a part to play, but I think Martin helped with the lyrics too. A Classic Rock Magazine from maybe 2000/2001 discussed this and Jon said something about one of the lyrics in It's My Life (I forget which one) and said (paraphrasing), "you have to give the kid credit, he did well".

Yes, obviously! But no problem, no drama! ;) You did so because you commented upon Rdkopper's post who tends to understand the exact opposite of whatever I say/write. :rolleyes:

It's not that I understand the opposite, I just know the facts. Regardless of what you meant about Max being in the studio and me thinking you meant Bon Jovi was in the studio has very little to do with the point you were trying to make which you continue to ignore and fail to address.

You were trying to imply that Desmond and Max wrote all the hits and Jon just put his name on the credits. You acted like you had some proof of all that... Jon in the 80s and 90s was a true artist in all crafts. He was a brilliant writer, producer, singer, and musician. You could make a greatest hits out of songs that Jon wrote himself and another one from songs that Jon and Richie wrote together.

Nothing has ever been stated about the levels of writing Jon added to a song in comparison to what outside writers added.

And that was your initial point which I understood clearly and still believe it's complete garbage.

WHAT!!!!! OH COME ON BRO

Wanted
BOR
Dry County
Always
Lay Your Hands On Me
I'll Be There For You
Living In Sin
Blaze
Never Say Goodbye
These Days
Hey God
Thank You For Loving Me

To name a few

Note to self: don't feed the troll. :popcorn:


When you translate my "major (hits)" into "all" and my "CO-written" into "Desmond and Max wrote all the hits" to underline just 2 of your nonsense comments, it's clear you don't understand anything and thus it's impossible to communicate with you and have an adult conversation. Your problem, not mine, "bro". Have a nice day!


http://www.ask.com/wiki/List_of_song...apn&ap=ask.com

You are all over the place and keep contradicting yourself. I just listed major hits that Jon and Richie wrote with outside writers so I don't know how or why you consider that trolling... Those are major hits released as singles and there are probably more that I forgot to include... If you want me to list all songs on all albums then multiply those numbers by 10

BTY, here is your initial statement which is complete BS and you trying to discredit them as writers...

"The funniest part is that their major hits were co-written with hit-maker/spin doctor Desmond Child. Jon's and Richie's parts in the writing process were minimal and yet... And Max Martin? Jon has always said that he just happened to be in the studio"

Half their hits were written with Jon and Richie and half with Desmond (and other outside writers). Half their album fillers were written with Jon and Richie and half with Desmond (and other outside writers). Considering that Jon and Richie wrote hits on their own and their co-written hits sound similar, I would guess that they have a heavy hand in the writing process. I think Desmond added hooks and some lyrics but the bulk was a joint effort.

Stop making crap up and be factual. If you don't know but think you have an idea or an opinion, state that. But don't make statements like "their major hits were co-written with hit-maker/spin doctor Desmond Child. Jon's and Richie's parts in the writing process were minimal and yet" without any proof

According to your link here.... If we stop at Crush, Desmond only co-wrote 7 "major hits" with Jon and Richie and I question a few of these as "major" hits but yet my list, that stopped around Crush, included 12 songs that were written with just Jon and Richie.

But to be honest, this is old news to me so unless you find some earth shattering article that discredits any of this, you are just coming off like a novice Bon Jovi fan to me. Sorry dude! Happy Holidays!

"You Give Love a Bad Name"
"Livin' on a Prayer"
"Bad Medicine"
"Born to Be My Baby"
"Keep the Faith"
"Something for the Pain"
"This Ain't a Love Song"

Just wanted to chip in that Rdkopper is wrong as always.

About what?

If I said you were a cock, would that be wrong?

I must admit Max Martin is impressive
http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...-hitmaker.html

He is the best at what he does.

What would happen if he co-wrote and produced the next Bon Jovi "comeback" single? It would be intriguing if he could get a hit out of them. I'm not talking Billboard no. 1 hit, but perhaps something "biggest since IML" territory. He's definitely capable. Or is the band at a stage in their careers where no matter what they do, they aren't going to attract anyone outside of their fan base?

It'll be interesting to see what Avicii, the other Swedish hot hit-maker of the moment has done with Jon on his 2nd album to be released next year...