Hugh becoming "official" member?
 

:) Since Hugh has been playing for a few years now with BJ, does anyone know if they plan on making him an "official" member of the band? I've seen some promo material for the upcoming release, and he's suspiciously left out. The band is GREAT, and he's part of it. I'd just like to see all five in the pictures, press, etc.

hugh is a studio musician who works for other artists as well (e.g. ricky martin :D ) he also plays @ some charity concerts (i think i once saw him with pavarotti...) i think he likes it the way it is- he "is allowed" (<-- sorry) to play with the greatest band of the world in the studio and he also tours with them... all the stuff he's not in is the stuff no musician really likes (press conferences, photo shootings,...) and BTW for most of us fans hughey is an imaginary fifth member and i think he knows and appreciates that...

Hey fritz, couldn't agree more! Huey should be an official member, that's why we started the 'Huey For Member' campaign... Just visit www.hueymcdonald.com and sign the petition!!
And Martin, just a thought... all the guys in the band have played on other people's albums, I distinctly remember Richie playing on Pink's new album, does this make him less of a member?? Same goes for charity events...
Huey does the same work the rest of the guys do, he's there anyway when most of the interviews and photo shoots take place (just look at the new pictures from everyday: one picture he's in the next one he isn't.. doesn't mean he just dissapeared!) and I think it's about time he got credit for his work!!

Why can't we just accept that we have no say whatsoever on this topic. It's none of our business- it's between Hugh and the band (and not just Hugh and Jon...) We're not part of the band. All the petitions in the world are not going to chance something about which we have no say.

It's not our business what kind of contract Hugh and Jon have. For most of the fans he is a part of the band and that's the important thing. Who cares what stands in their contract?

i guess hugh must be happy otherwise he would have left ages ago!!!!!!

whenever richie plays on an other's artists album then he is a "special guest" because richie works for Bon Jovi (actually for jon- he's the only one with a contract)- richie doesn't play entire albums but plays on one or two songs when the artist specifically wants bon jovi's guitarist richie sambora to play these songs
huey plays whole albums (mostly) for solo artists- artists which have no band (e.g. ricky martin,...) he's not under jon's thumb but under the thumb of the record label

Didn't Huey say that he would like to be made an official member? I think he said somethin' like "Playing live with Bon Jovi is like Christmas everyday"... or somethin' like that. So he obviously loves bein' a part of Bon Jovi.
It might not be any of our business, but Jon always says that the band listen to their fans, so if this is what the fans want then wouldn't Bon Jovi listen to us?

Martin: I don't think Huey's under anyone's 'tumb'... and what wrong with playing on other people's albums when there's notthing going on with Bon Jovi? Sould he maybe design baby clothes or paint or write musicals to fit in more? Playing bass is what he loves, so when BJ's not recording or touring, that's what he does! And no, he doesn't play mostly on entire albums, he did in the past before BJ, but now it's mostly just a few longs (like Ricky Martin's sound loaded, he plays on 3 songs) - Not that this has anything to do with why he should or shouldn't be an offcial member.
Nor does what contract he and Jon have (Yes, Derek, Jon is the one who's making all the decisions, including if Hugh should be an offcial member)
The point of this whole campaign is to let the guys know the fans want Huey to become an official member... The way I see it is that a whole bunch of lies and cover-up's (the fact that Huey played on every album since SWW when 'officially' it was Alec, then the story about Alec 'leaving' the band cause he didn't want to tour anymore, but that he might come back, etc etc) that lead to Huey not being an official member... Anyway, the truth about this whole mess is out now, so I think it's time we fans said: ok, enough allready! the guy 's been with BJ for 16 years now, stop acting like he's not a part of the band... cause to us, he is! And I'm not talking about contracts here, I'm talking about 5 guys on stage and in the studio= 5 guys in the pictures= 5 guys in the interviews=5 guys in the video's etc... Jon's always takling about loyalty, why can't he be loyal to Huey?

Well said! :P :D :lol:
Thats what I feel aswell! I wanna see more from the man.

Exactly! I couldn't have said it better myself. If anyone thinks that Richie, Dave, and Tico have no say in the matter, you're just fooling yourselves. Alec is the one who was instrumental in Richie and Tico becoming members of Bon Jovi by letting them know about Jon. They're all going to be loyal to him. I think some people look for dissention where there is none.

Becky

If he wasn't happy with the current situation,
the guy wouldn't play now would he, at least
I hope he wouldn't.

Kris

See it however you want and continue your crusade to have Hugh a member of the band. I'm sure when YOU are a member of the band, your opinion might be taken into consideration but until that time, all the arguments in the world are futile. It is not up to you. This is not a fan issue. Fans don't deserve crap from the band, especially input on band decisions. You don't represent Hugh and you don't speak for Hugh. Don't question Jon's loyalty. You don't even know Hugh or Jon. You talk about them as if they're characters on a soap opera. This is real life. And you are not a part of theirs. This is a dead issue. I'd love to see Hugh be a member. It's none of my business. I have no say. I'm not wasting my time on petitions. It's laughable.

Who said Huey wasn't happy? he said it himself in 95: 'it's like christmas every day' ! hey, i'm happy when i get to a Bon Jovi concert! But I'll be even more happy if I made it to first row, and even more happy if I got onstage passes, and completly out of my mind if I got backstage passes!! so does this mean I'm not gonna go to any more concerts just because i don't have backstage passes? no! but does this mean I don't want backstage passes? hell no!
This is about fans wanting to see more of huey, wanting to see him in the pictures, wanting to see him in interviews, wanting to see as much of him as we do of the other guys...

Well apparently it ain't such a big of a deal
to him as it is to you, cause again, if he
wouldn't be happy with this he would probably
already be gone. And a petition for him is
almost like a protest against the rest of the band
for not giving him enough credits or something.

Kris

The whole point of this petition is to show the guys what the fans think... they say they're a fans band, well, here's how the fans feel...
Chances are they'll ignore this petition, sure... But the best to make sure your opinion isn't heard is to keep your mouth shut. It's also the easiest way. And that sure is your right, but please don't criticise people who have the guts to express their opinion by saying 'it's laughable'... cause that really is laughable!

my, my, some of you are blowing this thing waaay of out proportion.. geeezzzz, a crusade??? a protest against the rest of the band???
Hate to disappoint you guys, but I'm no Joan of Arc, and I will not give my life for the nobel cause (not even my money lol)
I'm a Bon Jovi fan, just not one who agrees with eveything the guys say or do... I still have a mind of my own (thank god)
I'm just expressing my feelings on a particular situation which I feel is not right and I'm giving other fans a chance to do the same through this petition. This doesn't mean I like any of the guys in the band any less, they're only human and they have their good and bad sides, and just because I don't always agree with everything doesn't mean I like those guys any less...

He should probably be an official member, but to me it is not that big of a deal. Hugh also played all bass on Destination Anywhere.

:? ... Like.. who cares? This is so old. It's like reading the same book over and over with you people.. Chapter 1, someone brings up the topic.. Chapter 2, someone goes along with it... Chapter 3, SAMBO-CHRIS gets his/her bitchy ass in the way and says that crap like "it's none of our business"...

Seriously, be a little less predictable.

huey is just very happy to be playing with the band, but more would make him even more happy!! (imagine the look on his face then)
i just can imagine him feeling good about it.
oooh you're part of the band, but we don't want you to be on the posters, cd covers, speak in interviews.
i would feel a bit left out actually. and isn't that normal, wouldn't you feel the same, like any normal person would feel???? :roll:
but we just want to let bon jovi know, that we would love to see more of huey, that it's ok. just let go of the past and let huey in.
it's not about we DEMAND that huey becomes a member, but we just let them know what we think, and with how many we would love to see huey.
and it is our business, because jon always said :"bon jovi is a fansband, we never been a radio darlin'" now that sounds to me that we do have something to say.
i rest my case!

Go Huey!!!
He is a champ.....I think that he should be accepted as a band member by now. He has been around long enough

@neurotica: i didn't say that i don't like huey, or that he's a bad bass player (as a matter of fast he's 10.000 times better than alec- rumours are that he played bass on bj albums ever since!!!), i didn't say it's wrong that he plays on other artists albums (it's his job) and i didn't say either that i wouldn't like huey to be an official member! i just said that huey has got a contract with the record company as an don't know what they call it... maybe additional musician- so there's a CONTRACT which is between huey becoming the 5th member and i think (<-- states a personal opinion which may be correct but mustn't be) that he's happy with the way it is- anyway it's not on us to decide so it's the best if we leave it at that

Captain Crash, it IS none of our business.

To tell you the truth, I'm getting a bit tired of reading that line... so, for the sake of argument, let's say you're right, this is none of our busniness. Then what is? The songs on the next album? No, it's the bands business what songs they wanna put on there and what songs not. And it's their business if the songs they wanna write are pop or rock songs, good or bad songs.. so let's stop all the discussions about the new album, it's none of our business. So, what can we talke about? Songs for the concerts? No, again, it's the bands business what songs they play at a concert, not ours, so no need for discussions about what songs should make the setlist, it's none of our business. What else? Jon's looks? Again, none of our business, he can look the way he wants too... Richie's guitarplaying? He can play whetever he wants to, good or bad, none of our business... you know what, let's all go to the non-BJ board and talk about other bands.. Unless that's none of our business too...

Sorry, but it is a difference if the fans talk about songs, concerts etc. because that is made for us. But to interfere in their business contracts that are absolutely behind the scenes is too much. And somehow I don't see a reason for that. Hugh plays bass on all albums and tours, even at Jon's solo-tours so what makes the difference if he becomes a contract in that stands "bandmember"? He would still play bass on the albums and tours.

And IF you really start such a petition you maybe should ask Hugh first if he wants it. Maybe you even act against his wish.

Chris, again, this petition isn't about a contract saying 'bandmember', the truth is I couldn't care less what that contract says (contracts are boring). It's about Huey being present in pictures, in interviews, in all the video's, therefore, this discussion is no different from a discussion about for example wanting to hear richie play some solo songs during the concerts or wanting to hear more from Obie at BJ HQ or wanting to see more from Dave on BJ TV...
Also we didn't just start this petition, It's been going for almost a year now (same as the site), so this is not some spur-of-the-moment thing, everything on the site has been thought about.
and without going into private stuff (which I'm not gonna do!) I can tell you this much.. I know for a fact Huey knows about the site and the petition... so if it bothered him, don't you think he would have said something by now??

Sorry, maybe I really misunderstood something. To me it sounded like "Jon, give Hugh a contract as an official member".

I agree, he should be involved in photos and all videos (not only in a few).

The wish to see him more often on photos is for sure a wish of a lot of fans, esp. since he is a part of the band for the big mayority of us.

I hope you can forgive me, but maybe the names of the topic and your petition were a little unfavorable choosen because it really sounds like something that goes too far behind the scenes and didn't really make clear what you really want.

Can you forgive me ;).

yours
Christine

I'm gonna add my two-cents worth.

I actually think its great that the Bass-Player is getting so much attention (as a bass player myself) - as they r usually the most overlooked member of a band.

To me he is an integral part of Bon Jovi (has been from the start), contract or not. I too would like to see him appear in more photo shoots / get more exposure than he perhaps is. However I'm sure he would only need to ask & this would happen - I personally think he doesn't really want all the exposure that would come about with being an 'official member'. The fact that he is happy with this arrangement is surely shown from the amount of work he does for BJ & the fact he goes on tour with them & doesn't miss a show. However if a petition would change this - then all the better & I'm sure he is flattered by the response.

Although if this fails to change things, then I think we all need to accept that the current arrangement is one that will not change.

Mike

hey, No hard feelings Chris, it's just that I was getting a bit tired of hearing that over and over again lol... i really don't care about contracts, just wish they'd start treating like a member, after all, he is a part of the band to the fans! and who knows, if enough fans sign the petition, they will finally realise how the fans feel about this! :)

Perhaps he doesn't wanna be a member of Bon Jovi?! Maybe he likes his place within the band....?

well, agian everybody is missing the purpose of our petition.
it's not what jon, richie, dave, tico or huey think, it's what YOU want!!
I seriously doubt that huey doesn't want to be in the videos, pix, cd covers.
because we have a few pix where he is posing with them and some videos you do see him. i'm just wondering why not in ALL the pictures, videos and on the cd covers.
so don't give me that maybe he doesn't want too, because then he wouldn't be on any pix or videos.
but just in case you should be right, and that huey doesn't wanna do it, well if he wants to be in the band he should take the good with the bad, as the rest of them. and do the long hours possing for photo-shoots, and getting up early, going to bed late for video shoots. why should he get off easy.

:wink:

Not that I know what Huey thinks, but he must feel that being a part of one of the greatest rock bands (if not THE greatest band :lol: ) the world has ever seen, is the best experiences anybody could experience.
I mean, lets face it Bon Jovi put on fantasic live shows, write some excellent rock songs - from ballads to more heavy rock, they have a huge amount of fans (just think about how quickly concert tickets sell), they earn buckets of cash just for introducing a song on radio, the band have huge talent - can write songs, play many instruments, act, sing - the list never ends.
So why wouldn't Hugh want to be a bigger part of all this aswell? He'd be mad not to. :D

Thats what I say anyway!