I think that's what frustrates a lot of fans including me... we want to know more about the band but they only let you know what they want you to know? What's up with that? I mean I love them, but why won't they let us get to know them better? I know they don't mean it, but it almost feels like they have contempt for the audience... we're good enough to pay for a ticket but not have in your circle. I love the band, but there's always that distance between them and the fans. Like they don't want to get too close. I had a boyfriend like that! Oh well..

That would be my reaction too. But that's not what the book is about. The story is different than meets the eye. Its not sex and drugs the way you typically think of them being used by the band everyday although of course they were involved in that like you said. But the news here is that Doc McGhee was a big-time drug smuggler, and that led to constant confrontations with the law as they traveled from one country to the next. Bozzett and Bon Jovi were nearly arrested on more than one occasion because they were suspected of being involved in smuggling with McGhee. Then there's those 'scandalous' pictures that showed up on Bozzett's doorstep MONTHS after the photographer who took them was killed. Amazing story there too. The book's not at all what what I expected! There's a real story going on. And I am finding it quite captivating!:p

I think you're onto something with that my friend. The Europeans aren't hesitating to buy this because they read and they're not easily shocked... its a great book from what I've seen so far. Intend to finish it over the weekend!

Bon Lefsetz' review:


Sex, Drugs And Bon Jovi

This book should be required reading for everybody who wants a career in rock and roll.

How do you make it?

You take one good-looking performer with focus and an unyielding desire to make it.

You connect said person with a manager willing to bend every corner, lie, cheat and steal in order to see his charge succeed so he can take his twenty percent.

And you get your songs written by Desmond Child.

Desmond is the unsung hero of the Bon Jovi story. Reading this book, you realize that without him, Bon Jovi is just a band of big-haired wannabes with a minor radio hit featuring the piano playing of a member of the E Street Band.

Oh, where to begin.

This book was written by Rich Bozzett, Bon Jovi’s original tour manager.

I don’t know about you, but from the time I was conscious I remember my father telling me I was going to college. It was not an issue of choice. He demanded it. Had it inserted in my DNA. If I’d dropped out, not only would I have been cut off financially, he would have killed me. Literally. That might not be his intention, but his rage would have gotten the better of him. I know, I saw that rage in action. I remember bringing home a bad report card. My father took me out to the garage and started banging my skis on the concrete floor. I wasn’t so worried about these wooden Northlands, I was just stunned that an adult could lose control in this way, could almost be foaming at the mouth.

My dad wanted to protect me. Wanted to make sure I didn’t earn a living with my hands. That I used my brain to get ahead.

Jon Bon Jovi’s parents lived by their hands. His father was a hairdresser and his mother a florist. Maybe this is what imbued him with a desire to make it, to escape the almost poverty of his upbringing.

But in order to make it, you need a team. Which is how he got hooked up with Doc McGhee and Rich Bozzett.

Doc McGhee wanted to make it in the world of rock management. That requires money. Sure, you can get rich if your band breaks through, but how are you going to keep that band on the road in the meantime? In Doc’s case, by dealing dope.

And his man on the touring front, Rich? He’s an uneducated bloke who gets mixed up on a dope run to Colombia where the plane gets hijacked and ultimately crashes in the Caribbean and…

Who makes choices like this?

People without opportunities. Rich details the sad saga of his best buddy Richie Fisher, who ended up in a psych ward after trying to commit suicide by jumping off the Waldorf Astoria. Richie’s big job before that? Road manager for Motley Crue.

And there are certainly some Crue tales here. But the really interesting story is of the crew itself. The ragtag bunch of dope fiends, you’ve got to be high to do this job, setting up and tearing down every day you’ve got to be up, yet able to sleep. You can only do this with the aid of pharmaceuticals. You work for almost nothing, then you’re thrown upon the scrapheap. Like Rich Bozzett.

Do I believe every word of this book? Hell, his description of record royalties is so off it throws into question the veracity of so much more. And obviously he wrote the book because he’s pissed, he never got his promised 5% of Bon Jovi.

Then again, I know this story. Bands will screw you not only to make it, but to keep it. The music business is a microcosm of life at large. Everybody trying to get some bread when there’s not enough to feed all the hungry mouths. What would you do if confronted by famine? What laws would you break? What choices would you make? Meanwhile, the record companies hide behind a facade of legitimacy when they’re the biggest thieves of all.

But the real story is Bon Jovi just didn’t have enough talent.

Jon highlighted his hair upon the advice of stylists. Research was done amongst the target demo in order to plot direction. But after the second album stiffed, there was no road to success, because Bon Jovi, the band, just couldn’t write hit material.

And that’s when Doc McGhee brought in Desmond Child.

Would David Krebs or John Scher have made the same move? They wanted to manage Bon Jovi too. But Jon went with the upstart. Sometimes you want someone hungry. And as important as money is, it’s the idea that ultimately triumphs.

They wrote "Livin’ On A Prayer" the very first day. In a bedroom in Jon’s house. Jon, Richie Sambora and Desmond. According to Bozzett, it was all about Diane Lane. Who could party harder than any member of the band and ended up partying too hard with Richie when Jon thought she was HIS girlfriend. Mmm…

Then again, what broke up the band after "New Jersey" was money. Because Jon thought it was all about him. And the four others were getting screwed.

You pay your dues, work ultra hard, but eventually you want yours. Do you get it?

Rich never got his 5%. If only he had a lawyer. But did he have an educated father, did he grow up in an environment where people said it was wise to pay a little now to make a lot later? I doubt it.

Then again, Jon’s wife-to-be, Dorothea, was afraid to order room service in the early days, for fear Jon would become incensed over the expenditure. I’ve got to give Jon credit. How many acts have started off broke and ended up broke because they didn’t know the value of a dollar.

This book is horribly written. It’s one man’s viewpoint.

But I know it’s true.

I’ve worked in the music business. I’ve met these characters. It’s one field where education is not a requirement to play. You’re thrown in with a bunch of rapacious scoundrels, and only the smartest, with the sharpest elbows, succeed. If you haven’t been ripped off, if you haven’t been physically threatened, you’re not in the music business.

This is one man’s tale. Published by an outfit I’ve never heard of. I’m sure major publishers passed, they didn’t want the lawsuits, didn’t want to get on Jon’s bad side. As a result, impact will be limited.

The supposed draw is black and whites from an aborted publicity shoot with naked girls. You can see better stuff on the Internet for free.

But you can’t find the true story of how one inexperienced, uneducated limousine driver did whatever he was told to earn a one in a million shot as the right hand to the biggest band in the world only to lose it all six years later.

Actually, that’s a long ride in this business.

You’ve never heard of Rich Bozzett. And there are a zillion more faceless people who work to make these bands succeed you’ve also never heard of. You can’t do it alone. As Rich Bozzett says, be loyal and take care of the little people, keep your promises.

Then again, without Jon. Without Doc. Without Desmond. You’ve got nothing.

The best team can’t do anything with a stiff.

A mediocre team can have some success with a highly-talented performer.

But combine a great team with a great front man and you can achieve world domination.

But I know my father was right. You’re better off going to law school. Or becoming a doctor. You want to be a professional, with a leg up. Otherwise, you’re Rich Bozzett, pledging fealty to people who need you today, but discard you like a dishrag tomorrow.

Sex Drugs and Bon Jovi

http://www.sexdrugsbonjovi.com/

Bad Name was supposed to be about Diane Lane not LOAP..
.. I don't give much credit to what else he is saying, if he can't get the story about the bands biggest hit right.

IMO A better read is Starman by Michael Francis. Most of it is Bon Jovi related and that touches on the Doc stuff too.

I read a book out of the local library about KISS. Kind of interesting.
I would not buy this BJ book, I might read it, however.
It doesn't make me think any differently of the band, or their music.
Spend money on it so someone else can profit...NO!
I'd rather take a vacation.;)

this facebook page for the book has some cool outtake shots not in the book, of the band at Graceland and some '85 pics.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sex-Dr...15154941868110

An old thread here! I love sex, drugs and rock n roll tales, hence my favourite book is The Dirt. Don't know why I love it so much but I do! I'd be disappointed if Jovi didn't have their fair share of that lifestyle while they were young - single or otherwise. They were just young lads in the early 80s having some fun and finding their way around the industry.

Great book, Picked it up in my local poundland too!