Jon admitting he wrote 18&Life by Skid Row
 

Well, sorta...

This is a pretty cool 8 part video of Jon's brother filming him while driving through his old town. Very cool to watch the entire thing.

Anyway at part 8 - about 1:40 is where he kind of admits it.


I know there was always speculation but here is the proof

When is this from?

He said it's where the song was written and that Snake and Bolan brought the idea for the song there to him, i don't necessarily think he meant he wrote it. by the way, thanks for this, never saw it b4! :)

It's from the making of Crush. They streamed so much for that album.

It's from 2000 and it's about the making of Crush. There's 14 parts uploaded by a different person.
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As for 18 and life, I'm not sure. I'm pretty sure that would've been leaked sometime before. But just think, if it was, what would it be like if Bon Jovi sung it?

Nice 1st post. Anyone for trolls this morning?

he doesn't SAY he wrote those he said they were written at his place when the skid row guys came visiting him .. that's all

the making of crush was something very genuine ...they have never done something like that since then ... I recall saving it on my computer was not an easy task LOL

He didn't write that song.

You're right.

I wrote it.

I've always thought he served as a co-writer for a few of the songs on Skids Debut. But that doesn't diminish the skids talent or Rachel and Snakes abulity as quality songwriters. But there's really no doubt in my mind that Jon and Richie served to 'clean up' some of the songs early on.....

I don't agree. I think he def had his involvement with the song writing. My impression was that the Skids brought Jon the riff and he supplied the lyrics and a few other things.

The lyrics are so Jovi. This song would have fit right onto the New Jersey album. Jon tried to start-up his own record co (JAMBCO - Jon, Anthony, Matt BonJovi Company) and he was receiving all royalties from the Skids. That’s why he gave them that song (along with a few others).

He states that 18 and Life was written in his apartment. Do you think that Jon just sat back at watched?

YES .. Jon is always ready to brag but not when it is 'dangerous' - listen he is so very cautious to not say what you wanna hear because if he said he wrote it then he would get sued

With him and Snake being childhood friends, I doubts that would be the case.....

Oh come on.

Firehouse - Don't Treat Me Bad?
Cinderella - Shake Me?
Winger - Seventeen?

Yeah, I can really picture Jovi playing those.

They dressed 80's hair metal. They played Springsteen working class.

Can someone explain?

I don't think he admits anything. That wouldn't be very smart of him after decades of speculation on who wrote that song. What he says in the video is very suggestive though, to say the least. We can't know for sure who actually wrote it, but to me it's pretty obvious Jon was involved one way or the other. I personally don't think he merely sit there giving tips on chords or lyrics, or tweaking it a little.

Don't get me wrong, I love Skid Row and that's one fine album. But 18 & Life has a certain je ne sais quois the other songs on the album don't. Not that it means he wrote it, but it makes perfect sense if he did. That said, I'm pretty sure Skid's version is much better than a Jovi version would ever be.

Well, listen to this:

Not a word about Jon, so I doubt it!

Ok, I know a little bit of Skid Row, let me try to clarify some things...

-Jon didn't write any song for the Skids, but he indeed helped them to get a deal with Atlantic Records at the time. Doc Mccgee was the manager for both bands also.
On the video you posted, Jon says that Rachel and Snake presented the song to him on that apartment... nothing else!!
For me this is far way from admiting he wrote the song, sorry!


-It is also true that Bon Jovi earned some royalties on the Skid debut album, NOT for the songwriting, but because of the record deal they arranged with Atlantic Records. Snake said that himself on some interviews.
Fair enough, since Bon Jovi helped Skid Row a lot by letting the band open up for them during the New Jersey tour.

- As for the songwriting, all the credits are for Snake/Rachel. PERIOD.

Another curious fact regarding both bands, this is retrieved from a Snake interview:

During the New Jersey tour, Bon Jovi often threw eggs and tomatoes on Skid Row while they were performing... the bands had a lot of fun together. They joined the stage several times also.
However, during one concert, Sebastian Bach introduced the song Piece of Me saying "If Jon Bon Jovi is man enough, why dont he come up here and take a piece of me"... he always said things like that while introducing the song.
It was a joke but Jon didnt like it at all. When Baz was walking down the backstage after the gig, Jon was furious waiting for him, and threw a nice uppercut on Baz... It took around 6 security guys to end up the brawl. They never spoke o each other since then...
Snake supported Baz on this, Jon attitude was ridiculous, Baz was only joking...

Hi Rachel. Nice to see that we have a rock musician posting in Jovitalk. I wish Richie or Jon would do the same.

Question for you, how does it feel to be in a well known all-male rock band, with a very feminine name?

I never said Bon Jovi haven't had their share of cheesy songs. That's not news to anyone here. But you're comparing them with other 80's hair bands, who went beyond cheese. There's a reason no one gives a crap about Firehouse anymore.

Yeah, but Moonlight Mile by The Stones is Jagger/Richards even though Mick Taylor wrote a lot of it. I know nothing about Skid Row, but credits can often be misleading.

I actually found them quite handsome.....:?

true but then the 'smaller names' are forgotten not the opposite ..I cannot see JBJ forgetting (or letting SR forget) he wrote it and giving up on the credits .. tsssk tsssk not his style


tons of song credits are misleading but it's always to advantage the same people ..the BIG PEOPLE (then non pro song writer are *oppps* out of the picture ... )well it's another story but of the same vein .. when I was at university many many years ago the big teachers used to ask their students to translate novels from japanese to french to improve our skills and a few months later it was common to see published a translation of some famous books we were asked to work on ...what a coincidence ... of course no students were paid for that ... I am sure it is the same with song writting but NEVER a big name like JBJ would be unmentionned by mistake )



... if he wrote those song he would have get the money and the 'fame' and the credits too

I was reading this silly, pointless thread and all I kept thinking was 'who cares about Skid Row?'

I do I do..... :)

I do too and so should you..

Great band that had a lot to do with the kind of music BJ used to play.. and you have Bach, one hell of a singer

A lot of people i'd say! If you don't have nothing to add to the discution, why bother posting?
Your post was indeed pointless...

Thank you! There are many people who care about the Skids yet! :D