Atlantic City Expressway
 

I was just recently going through some old school recordings and I stumbled across a show that Jon did with ACE back in 1979 when he was 18 years old. Some sources say 1978 but I think it was Feb 1979 which would make Jon less than a month shy of being 18 years old.

The recording I have is a 8 song set of Jon doing mainly covers of Bruce and SSJ and I believe SSJ is on stage performing as well.

As I'm sure most die-hards have this recording, it really is a true gem. I've had this for many years but never gave it a true listen until recent. Jon's voice is so solid and he sounds more like the Jon we all want verse the Jon we have today performing with the KOS.

I cleaned up each song by removing the junk before and after, did fade in and fade outs, and adjusted the volume.

For those who own it, give it a true listen.

Here are 2 of the 8 performances:

Oh wow, those songs are great! I didn't know there is a bootleg this old! Jon's voice is instantly recognizable and the band sounds great for a school boys band! Can you upload the other 6 songs too? That would be great! :) To the first video, Jon wasn't the only one who made it from Atlantic City Expressway, David made it too. :) And Jon was 16 in 1978 or nearly 17 in Feb 79. ;)

Thanks for sharing these great songs!

I doubt Jon is 16 sounding like that. 18 seems more suitable. And yes, Dave has been with Jon years before Bon Jovi. Crazy!

Jons bands:
Atlantic City Expressway
The Rest
The Lechers
JBJ and The Wild Ones

Finally the one no one talks about - Jon played in Scandal for a brief period in '83 - I wonder if Jon played on any of the studio hits?

Here is Johnny on guitar:

Scandal - Goodbye To You

Wow, I had no idea about The Lechers and Scandal! It's so weird to see Jon in the background there playing guitar, the complete opposite of his position today and who knew he used to be a guitarist of all things! His haircut made me chuckle, trying to be Mick Jagger? lol

Thanks for posting these. :)

Ive never heard any of these . Thankyou . Wow .

Funny but True. Richie was a lead singer and Jon was a guitarist.

I've always reviewed Jon's abilities to be a lead singer as somewhat controversial. Some sources say that Jon was a born star and judging by these performances, I agree. He sounds like such a leader up there and his delivery is so confident with that raw vocal. On the flip side, others (including his father) stated that he was just ok. I guess when you reflect back to an unknown kid and compare him to what was current, as well as, the up and coming talent, the competition was a little challenging, unlike this crap we have today.

Don't forget, this is 1979. Before the 80's....If you think back to what the music scene was like during that time, heck what the world was like during that time, these performances really stand out as to what the future would bring.