Oh crap. I hate buying things online.

Does it not have a major distributer because they don't think it'll sell?

Firstly and on a side-topic, I think I'm right in saying that Jon fired Doc because the band were clearly burnt out at the end of the Jersey tour and he wanted to add 70 more shows. This made Jon realise that the welfare of the band was a distant second to world domination as far as Doc was concerned. That was the last straw anyway.

On the subject of this book, I think Jon will love the pictures being in the public domain. He's mentioned many times in interviews that they behaved like a rock band back then but I think people have always had a problem believing it (which, incidentally, is why these pics 'toughen up' the bands' image. Anyone breathing and listening to music in the 80s knows that if you didn't want to be lumped in with REO Speedwagon, you had to have an edge. These pics are Jon's attempt to provide it IMO).

I don't know Jon, I can't begin to verify anything, this is just opinion but I would guess that the pictures are a perfect scenario for him; 25 years ago so he doesn't have to work too hard to explain them ('it was a different time, that's what bands did' etc etc) and he gets a few 'Been there, done that' rock 'n' roll points also. The text of the book is another matter. Until we see it, who knows how the band would feel about it.

Anyone who says they don't know why these pics were even taken is either Amish or naive. As a teenager in the 80s, if RAW magazine had given me a free poster of my favourite band cavorting on a bed with semi-naked chicks I wouldn't have gone back to the newsagents, slammed it on the counter and said 'You can keep that SMUT!' I wouldn't have felt let down or disappointed... I would have wanted to be a rock star so badly I would probably have sold a kidney.

Times change and you won't see a pic of Jon doing this now. But this is Jon at 23 years old, with a record deal, with the stories of The Stones and The Who floating around in his head. Anyone who would judge him on this is frankly a bit highly strung. Anyone who would get upset over it needs to stop following a rock band and join a cult because you clearly have emotional dependancy issues that can't be resolved by 4 guys from Jersey.

Oh... hold the phone Rodney... is JBJ getting a BJ in that one?! Now I'm disgusted... I'd have let the one on the left do it...

Oh FFS. :rolleyes:

Now that it's confirmed that the book is the result of a disgruntled ex-employee who deliberately and vengefully concealed the photos, it's poetic justice that Bozzett should not look foward to cashing in on someone else's moral shortcomings.

I love the smell of vindication in the morning.

Has anyone gotten this book? I was just wondering what your opinion of it is? I have seen some reviews and they seem pretty good. Apparently, the pictures are great. Just wondering what Dry County thinks?

A friend of a friend got it and she said it was all hype and no substance. As far as "drugs" go one story was Jon and Dorothea were suspected of having drugs at an airport and they got full body searched. It's just crap like that that doesn't really amount to a hill of beans and no one is really interested in hearing anyway.

If anyone here got it...please, can you share some pics? :D

In other words, its a bunch of made up crap that you'd see in the likes of the National Enquirer and not to be taken seriously.

"Dirt and not even good dirt" sums it up from what I've heard.

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!

what you think about new bon jovi track Labor Of Love ?

its got U2 written all over it....

But the book is BRILLIANT! I truly enjoyed it, not very well written, but some of the stories & most of the pictures are excellent.

Just came across this:
(Found on https://twitter.com/FightClub1964/st...529056263?s=20)

Holy Crap - that book was released 18 years ago!? Time flies...

Netflix show would be interesting. I wonder what Jon's legal team will make of that....?

I really can't imagine Jon giving his okay for a Netflix show unless he's in charge and it's all done on his own terms and according to his own rules...

Does it even matter? He couldn't prevent the book so why should he be able to prevent a netflix show?
And I mean...it's been 18 years, the book's content is yesterday's news (at best). And although I loved reading the book back then and from a fan's point of view it still is a good read...it holds nothing too special or too secret about the band. In fact I think a Netflix show that is somehow connected to Bon Jovi might even help to gain attention for their current projects than it causes damage to their reputation.

Agree 100%!

A book is a different medium to TV and the rules are different. If JBJ is going to be portrayed in the show, then legally he may have to sign off on that.

And you know that Jon won't see it as a promotional opportunity. He has always been known for being a very private person and keeping things close to his chest. I'm sure he wasn't happy about a book that had a somewhat limited audince, let alone a TV show with a potential audience of millions. There is no way that he will not want to know how he is represeneted in it before it airs.

Anyways, i was just wondering out loud in my previous comment.

I don't think that they need JBJ to approve it!

If these stories are true - more or less - Jon or the band can't do anything about it.

But neverthless.. an "Insider" selling whats going on behind the scenes, is definitly condemnable and not OK at all... I gues he needs this money really badly!

It's not a documentary....the band (or rather their lawers) could absolutely put a stop on it if they felt it misrepresented them, put them in a negative light or was harmful to their brand. If Jon is going to be in it then Netflix will want to get Jon's approval to avoid any legal issues down the line.

Why do you think certain characters, such as the record company execs, in Bohemian Rhapsody were replaced with fictional characters?

I get the feeling that it may actually be reinterpreted for Netflix to be about fictional bands based around the stories in the book, rather than actually naming real bands. Too risky...

Summary?
 

Can anyone fill me in on this? What is it about and how’s the reaction/aftermath? It would be highly appreciated 😊

One of the things that was interesting about that book was how remarkably uninteresting it was. Skipping over the fact it was averagely written, it did not reveal anything of deep interest. I liked some of the stories but at the same time when reading I was constantly considering what is true, what is embelished, what is an outright lie, and what is just poor memory.

I wouldn't call it uninteresting. I always found it a nice look behind the scenes of a touring band. But you're right that it didn't reveal anything very special. For most part it revealed the stuff everybody expected from a rock band either way.

Talking about embellishment: I always found it quite amusing how he described that every band member and every roadie screwed every groupie they wanted to but that he himself alsways was the angel of innocence with no escapade ever happening.
Yeah, since he already was married with his current wife it absolutely makes sense that he didn't incriminate himself. But that always was a point that bothered me.

Seeing how much Francis is bragging with his „Johnny“ experiences on Twitter these days, I would be very surprised if they only used fictional characters…