Mousebounce quoted some of this earlier, but here's the full article for anyone interested:
Bon Jovi's Jersey Bounce
On the eve of their N.J. homecoming, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora look back on the way they were
Sunday, February 09, 2003
BY LISA ROSE
Star-Ledger Staff
Back when he was a 19-year-old unsigned rocker, Jon Bon Jovi's ultimate goal was to play the newly opened Brendan Byrne Arena in his home state of New Jersey.
The aspiring singer, then known by his birth name, John Bongiovi, had a friend who worked for promoter John Scher. His pal gave him backstage passes and comp tickets to see his favorite bands at the East Rutherford venue, later renamed the Continental Airlines Arena.
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Bon Jovi was supposed to be handing out programs but he usually wound up lounging in box seats and critiquing the performances over a couple of brews.
"You name it, I saw it there," said Bon Jovi, 40, a Sayreville native. "I remember Tom Petty coming on stage and them announcing, 'Would you please welcome Tom Petty from the United States of America'. Everybody knows Tom Petty's from Florida but what a cool thing. I remember Split Enz' outfits glowing in the dark. I remember Billy Squier's stage being pink and saying, 'Bad idea.' I remember Steve Perry hitting notes I thought only angels could hit."
Five years later, Bon Jovi was no longer a box seat Ebert. His dream of playing the Brendan Byrne came true.
Riding high on the "Slippery When Wet" album, Bon Jovi's eponymous band played the Brendan Byrne twice in 1986. In September, they opened for 38 Special. Three months later, Cinderella opened for them on New Year's Eve.
Seventeen years, several haircuts and umpteen guitar solos later, the band's tallied nearly a dozen concerts at the Continental Airlines Arena, and four shows at the adjoining Giants Stadium. If the Continental is the house that Bruce Springsteen built, Bon Jovi surely has a spare set of house keys.
Touring with their latest album, "Bounce" ( Island/Def Jam ), the band adds two more concerts to their Continental total this week, playing shows tomorrow and Tuesday.
While Bon Jovi's brand of anthemic rock for the masses is about as fashionable as a feathered mullet at the moment, the band is still an arena draw, a hot seller on the charts and an inescapable media presence. They've sold 93 million records worldwide and they've played everywhere from Giants Stadium to Lenin Stadium in Moscow. They recently performed on the Super Bowl post-game show a couple of weeks ago, their "Everyday" single is up for a Grammy in the pop category and on April 19, the band will headline Tiger Woods' annual "TigerJam" benefit concert in Las Vegas.
Thus far, "Bounce" has failed to match the multi-platinum sales of its predecessor, 2000's comeback hit, "Crush." It did, however, jump from #149 to #104 on the Billboard chart last week, boosted by the band's Super Bowl appearance.
So, how do four blue-denim rockers compete with the flashiest flavors of the moment? The band's ceaseless touring has helped it transcend pop trends and critical lashings. Thanks to their global road trips, they've built a grassroots fan base that's stuck with them in the midst of a volatile musical climate. Of course, their catchy riffs and singable choruses don't hurt.
"We've been loyal to our fans by playing every market and coming to see all the people that have been loyal to us," said guitarist Richie Sambora. "Another reason Bon Jovi is still around is that we write songs that people can get their heads and their hearts around. You have to evolve but you also have to be true to yourself. If Bon Jovi ever put scratching on a record or tried to make a Pink Floyd album, our fans would just go 'bulls--'."
Scher knew early on that Bon Jovi had stadium potential. He helped them land an opening slot on ZZ Top's 1983 tour, which included a stop at Madison Square Garden in New York.
"From Day One, (Jon) was a guy who could grab people's attention," said Scher. "Girls always loved him. Guys loved the band, not just because of Johnny but because of the band. Richie Sambora is a monster guitarist. You had this great looking guy with a fabulous voice who's a great songwriter, you had another good looking guy who could play his ass off on guitar and you had a strong rhythm section. I never saw a show where they didn't win the audience over, whether the audience was familiar with their music or not."
The band, which features Bon Jovi, Sambora, Tico Torres (drums) and David Bryan (keyboards), does not bolster its performances with pyro dazzle or eye-catching props. Their shows are built around their songs, which fans sing along rapturously. Stadium anthems such as "Livin' on a Prayer" and "It's My Life" lift spirits while ballads such as "I'll Be There for You" and "Bed of Roses" lend a touch of intimacy to potentially impersonal venues. Plus, there's no denying Jon's affable presence, which has helped him land acting roles on TV ("Ally McBeal") and on the big screen ("U-571").
Jon learned stage craft through playing clubs like the Fast Lane and the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, opening for range of performers rather than just groups with a similar sound. Pre-Bon Jovi, Jon fronted a 10-piece R&B cover band, Atlantic City Expressway; and performed with Shore rock groups including the Rest and the Lechers.
"Playing a bar, there would be three original bands in a night so you're at two disadvantages," said Bon Jovi. "You're playing music that nobody knows and there's somebody coming on before and after you. Then, when you begin to make records you're thrust into situations as a support act where again you had to win over the crowd. We were able to play with Donnie Iris in Pittsburgh and Judas Priest in Vancouver. You learn how to adjust. We played wherever the bus stopped. It could be someone else's show or in a club by yourself or at a rodeo or a parking lot."
After wrapping a year-long sojourn in support of "Crush" and a live record, "One Wild Night," Jon and Sambora convened to write songs for their next release. They were two weeks into the new record when the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington changed their direction.
"We had to write about it," said Sambora. "We couldn't divorce our minds from it. Unfortunately, most of (the songs we wrote) were very sad and very dark. That's not the kind of record we want to make. Ultimately, there are only a couple of songs on this album that have to do with 9/11 and they have a thread of optimism running through them."
The bleaker songs may surface when Bon Jovi releases its planned box set commemorating 100 million record sales (they're seven million away from that total). The three tracks that did make the final cut are "Undivided," a rock-hard declaration of national unity; the carpe diem anthem "Everyday;" and the title track, which has multiple meanings to Jon. "With 'Bounce,' I started coming up with a song that related to the band's resiliency but without patting yourself on the back," said Bon Jovi. "I rewrote it post 9/11 with the idea of the resiliency the country, the band, my friend (New England Patriots coach) Bill Belichick winning the Super Bowl. It became a more universal theme to me."
Several "Bounce" cuts spring from films or television shows. "You Had Me at Hello" is based on an oft-quoted line from "Jerry Maguire" while "Open All Night" was inspired by Jon's role in "Ally McBeal." "Right Side of Wrong" is a western rhapsody about the modern-day outlaws you'll see on "The Sopranos."
Bon Jovi, who made his acting debut as a hunky house painter in the 1995 chick flick, "Moonlight and Valentino," said that his cinematic career has not interfered with his musical pursuits. He thinks his experiences co-writing a couple of yet-to-be-produced screenplays have enhanced his lyrics. And also, he added, balancing rock and film keeps him grounded.
"Movies gave me is the humility of knowing you're not the guy that headlines multiple nights at Giants Stadium," said Bon Jovi. "You're the little guy on the set. When I come back to the band, forget that you're the guy who headlines Giants Stadium. Consider yourself the fourth guy in the billing on the movie."
Sambora estimates that he's written some 400 songs with Jon. Their compositional rapport springs from musical and cultural common ground. There's only two years difference in their ages and though they did not know each other growing up, Sambora lived in Woodbridge, about five miles from Bon Jovi's native Sayreville.
"We come from the same place," said Sambora. "We have the same kind of family background. We speak the same language when it comes to being friends and being people. In this business, we grew up together. We've been through the ups and downs and we fought all the wars together in this business."
The two met after Jon's solo tune "Runaway" had been selected for a local talent compilation released by now-defunct New York radio station WAPP. Sambora, meanwhile, was in hot pursuit of a record contract himself, playing with several groups including a rock cover band, Richie Sambora and Friends, and a jazz/blues combo, Duke Williams and the Extremes. One night in 1983, Sambora went to see Jon perform at the now defunct Fountain Casino in Aberdeen.
"As soon as I saw him, I thought, 'the kid's a star,'" said Sambora. "I walked backstage that evening and said we should get together some time and play. I just knew that there was something there."
Shortly after Sambora entered the fold, they signed a deal with Mercury. Jon dropped the "H" from his first name and used an anglicized version of his last name for the band's moniker. Their ascent was swift, sort of. After two minor hit albums, a self-titled debut and "7800o Fahrenheit," they finally reached the big time with "Slippery When Wet," which produced two Number One singles, "Livin' on a Prayer" and "You Give Love a Bad Name."
They continued their reign with 1988's "New Jersey," which had twin Number One hits, "Bad Medicine" and "I'll be There For You." By the time 1992's "Keep the Faith" was released, glam-metal had been eclipsed by grunge. Bon Jovi's catchy anthems and glittery style began to seem garish in the face of the enigmatic self-analysis of bands like Nirvana and Alice in Chains. Though they hit the charts with the love song "Bed of Roses," the 1990's were lean years for the band. Finally, in 2000, Bon Jovi returned to the limelight with their "Crush" collection.
In the end, Jon's primary musical influence has been his home state. Seeing Bruce Springsteen and Southside Johnny at Jersey Shore clubs was what set him on the rock path.
"I wanted to be the guy that made records because of Jersey," said Bon Jovi. "I never aspired to be in Led Zeppelin or Kiss, I didn't look up to those things. The dream was alive because it was in your backyard. You saw those guys. They were real. It wasn't just a poster out of Circus magazine. There was a sense of community and (Southside) Johnny or one of the E Street guys would walk into a club and you'd go 'Wow, they make records.'"
http://www.nj.com/entertainment/ledg...7761999821.xml
02-10-2003, 04:02 AM
