[FighterBJ]

From an online magazine I found a good while ago, translated by me. It's an interview with Hungarian rapper Big Daddy Laca from the band "Ganxsta Zolee és a Kartel", and one of the most detailed stories about Alec I ever heard! I left out some uninteresting parts that aren't connected to the story, the original link is here:
https://csajokamotoron.hu/big-daddy-...arosanal-jart/

(please excuse my not-so-great english)

An article by Rácz Edina, 2015-03-19

...In 1993, when Bon Jovi was in their prime, and Alec John Such of Hungarian origin was still a member, him and Big Daddy became good friends. Laca even stayed at Alec's new Jersey home.

- The year was 1993. I worked in a night club, I was a doorman on Kálvin Square. It was around 4-5 in the morning, we were about to close. This is when a familiar taxi arrived, but we were tired by then and wanted to go home. "Who is he bringing here at this time?!" - we thought.

I opened the car door, and Alec John Such, the bassist of Bon Jovi got out. I was a big fan at the time, so you can imagine how I felt when he stood right in front of me.

I went "Hi, Alec!". He was surprised that I called him by his name because people usually don't know it. He asked how much the entering fee was, I told him he was my guest for anything he'd have tonight. Then came the boss and asked "Who is this man?". I informed her, that he is a member of Bon Jovi, and they are playing a concert here in a few days. I already had my ticket for the gig.

Alec enjoyed himself a lot that night. At noon, when I was already resting at home, the cleaning lady called that a man is here and he's looking for me. I jumped in the car, and Alec was waiting for me. The night club opened at around 8-9, so until that we went out to eat and here and there.

On the third day, he showed up with 4 VIP / backstage tickets to the Bon Jovi concert. I went with three friends, I had dinner with Richie Sambora & Tico Torres. The night was fabulous for us, we could even watch the concert from special seats.

-Did the party go on?

-No, and unfortunately I also didn't get to thank Alec for the favour because they were packing and we couldn't find each other in the usual whirlabout. One week later he sent a postcard to the nightclub from Bangkok.

Then in early-1994, my phone rang. Alec called. He told me he was coming to Hungary to accept an Arany Zsiráf award and he'd like to meet me. He stayed in Hotel Kempinski. I watched the Keep The Faith videos to find out what he likes to drink and I saw he likes Johnnie Walker, so I bought a bottle for him. At the hotel gate they already knew I was coming. I went up to his room, the door was open and he was practicing "Keep The Faith" on a small amplifier. I handed him the whiskey, he thanked me but told me he was an alcoholic for 25 years and doesn't drink anymore.

He didn't like the hotel so he moved to someplace else. He was in our little country for a week, we hung out, I went with him to interviews, we had good conversations.

-Does he know his Hungarian relatives?

-No, and unsuccesfully, but he was looking for them. I was so sympathetic to him he introduced me to everyone as his Hungarian cousin. They were fascinated by me. I wasn't a known guy back then, I didn't even have a band.

-And how did you get to New Jersey?

-He noticed I was wearing biker clothing all the time and asked what motorcycle I own. I said I wanted a Harley one day. He then told me he's got one and I should go to New Jersey if I wanted to try it. It didn't really work like that in Hungary back then, you had to send an invitation from America which was checked and a permit was granted. First he sent a funny letter but I told him he needed to send a formal one. He did that and also sent me a plane ticket.

I flew to New Jersey on July 1st. I saw a man at the airport with a sign in his hands saying "Mr. Laszlo Kalmar". We went to a limousine and got to his house where he waited for us with his mother.

-I have no words... Alec's gotta be a nice guy! And how were your days with him?

-I lived there for two weeks. Being a well-raised child I asked if I can open the fridge. Alec asked me to not ask questions like that and to feel at home. He rented me a Lincoln Continental and I could go anywhere, he only asked me to find my way back. He took me to his garage, and there sat 2 Harley-s:
a Custom Softail Turbo and a Heritage Softail - I could use both of them.

The bonus funny thing is, he bought a sidecar Ural but couldn't start it because of some ignition issues. I was a car mechanic and I knew my way around it, I started the machine for him. He was so happy he wrote "Laszlo the magnificent!!!" on the garage wall. He sat in the sidecar and I drove, we were circling around the neighborhood like two kids.

We were in New York, in the Hard Rock Café, he showed me his girlfriends, we visited his friends. Once we went to Tico Torres' house, who was still together with Eva Herzigova at the time. Eva was sunbathing beside the pool and waved to us. Alec told her that his Hungarian relatives are here.

Soon after, Tico arrived in a black pickup. He is a very short guy with a very deep voice. It rings back, how he greeted us: "Hi everybody!". He showed us around the place, his garage was filled with oldtimer cars, the inner height was large with a shelf system and 5-6 drum kits on them. My jaw almost dropped to the ground!

-How is Alec as a person?

-He always tried to be kind, organise things to do, for example he once took me to a lake to boat. Another time he disappeared for an entire day, so he was a bit of an amused man. He was also very much into CB-Radios. He had an enormous antenna on the roof of his house and he was working on it all the time for it to have a wider range. He used to scream out of joy when someone copied. He was a child at heart at 40 years old. Brilliant guy!

-Did he live with his mother?

-Yes, with Ellen, who was a sweetheart. Alec's huge living room was full of gold- and platinum discs & instruments. He had a cimbalom (traditional Hungarian instrument) that he inherited from his grandfather, Szűcs Árpád. The only memory he had of him is when Alec was naughty, his grandfather used to tell him "Az anyád Úristenit!". It was quite strange to hear it in English...

-What came after the 2-week dream?

-After I went back home, Alec disappeared. Even at the time he was complaining about Bon Jovi, he wanted to quit the band. We later found out from the press that he did. His phone number and email address that he gave me were no longer active soon after. I had no way of contacting him.

Once, around ten years ago, we were in New York with Ganxsta Zolee és a Kartel to perform. The guy who invited us was a huge Bon Jovi fan and knew this story. I figured we should go to New Jersey and see what's happened to him. We jumped in the guy's car, but when we got to his house, a "for sale" sign was out. The farm was not as tidy anymore. Everyone stayed in the car but I got out, I knew the property and wanted to look around. I saw some movement in the kitchen. I rang the doorbell and Alec opened up. I asked if he remembers me, he said "Of course, you were here with me".

He looked a bit weared out but other than that he was fine. I told him we were performing in New York with my band and we came to visit him. He invited us in and the guys were amazed. The house was half-empty by then but he brought us a box of Corona. He was showing girls to Zoli on his laptop and I told him I now have 2 kids, he didn't have anybody even then. We chatted and invited him to our concert but unfortunately he didn't come. He gave me his email address again, then we went back home. One of his bass guitars got to me, he sold a lot of his stuff. I sent him a photo by email but didn't get a response.

-I see this whole thing bothers you...

-Since I'm in the music industry, I was thinking about when would I invite a random fan from a foreign country to my home, especially a simple doorman. It's possible Alec figured he'd do a favour for the Hungarian guy and that's it. But I thought that further! Now I could afford to invite him as a guest to Hungary. We could go to places and chat like long ago. When he comes to my mind, I try to search for him on social media, or see if he's selling any of his items. But if I find out he is coming to Hungary for whatever reason, I'll surely visit him.
I'd like this friendship to continue!

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That's it, I hope it was an interesting read for you all, it sure was for me! Here's one of the pictures from the site, I think this was taken when they visited Alec in the 2000s with the Kartel.

[Kathleen]

Thanks for that. It's probably one of the best stories that I have heard about him.

[Captain_jovi]

Very neat! I had no idea he was Hungarian!

[Alphavictim]

Thank you for sharing this!

[Eveline]

What a great story! *_* Thank you for sharing!

[Thinny]

What a great story. I find it quite sad that after he left the band he kind of seems to just cut himself off from everyone and everything. I suppose that's what he wanted, but just seems such a contrast from the life of the party he seemed to be when he was in the band.

[liljovi93]

Great story!! Love things like this.

Love Alec and as stated above, it's a shame we never see/hear anything from him. Was great to see him at R&R HOF but then nothing since is a shame.

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