Bon Jovi interview
a transcript of a broadcast on BBC Radio 1 in 1988 during The Classic Album
Series
Few people outside the band took Jon Bon Jovi seriously when he said this has to
be our Born to Run or Pyromania or it isn't coming out. It was 1986, the album
was Slippery When Wet, and it went on to sell in excess of 14 million copies
(remember this was 1988, its sold a lot more since then),thats more than
Pyromania and Born To Run put together.Looking back with me for the next 60
minutes are Richie Sambora and the man who made that statement,Jon Bon Jovi.
Jon:I meant it, if it wasn`t as good as those albums in my heart there was no
use putting it out. I don`t understand why there are time schedules, why you
have to put records out every so often. But my attitude was, if they're gonna
penalise me, go ahead, I`m gonna wait until the songs are great, until they do
as well, and that was a bold statement. My attitude was, chances were we
couldn`t sell half of what either of them sold, it would sorta disppear into the
sunset. Actually Slippery out sold both of them put together, it was an amazing
thing, I couldn`t make up lies like that!!
Bon Jovi's first two albums went Gold, but the band wanted more from their 3rd
album, so they hired a new producer, Bruce Fairbairn, and went to Vancouver to
record. Changes in work pattern that were going to pay off.
Jon:Switching producers, we considered how much better a live band we were than
in the studio, and why? What were we doing wrong? Basically, we weren`t having
fun in the studio, going in there to work. With Slippery we went in there to
have fun, and we did a lot of demos too, so there was no worry about "Can I play
this part?", or "Can I get this feel?", comfortable with everybody and it comes
across.
And the move to Vancouver? Richie....
Richie:I think through the first two albums, we didn`t have a lot of control,
there was a lot of things coming into it, record people coming down, and that
may not have changed anything as far as music goes, but it does change your
rhythm, and what you have going, all of a sudden you start second guessing, with
all the people around, and since we were so young, people put things in our
mind, so we started to second guess ourselves. So we went to Vancouver so nobody
would bother us, got away from all our families, friends and business people,
just kind of be isolated in a new place. It was a new city for us, we were
excited to be there, new things to do and stuff. So it was a good thing for us
to get away so noone could come and find us
LET IT ROCK
Jon:Let It Rock started the album off. The Keyboard intro was something that
when you make the mistake of leaving the studio for any given amount of time,
whoever is in there will take advantage of you, and this time it happened to be
Dave. I ran outta the studio, I came back in and he says "You gotta hear
this!!". The first thing that went through my mind was "You sonofabitch you just
wasted an hour of my time, a roll of tape at $500 to record this keyboard
intro". I said "Who Cares???". And it ended up becoming an integral part of the
show and the record. The song was written to be a show song, a real crowd
rocker, to give you the feeling of the eternal weekend and that was it.
YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME
Richie:Next track off the record was called You Give Love A Bad Name, our first
no1 single to date, a milestone in our career, matter of fact it was the first
song we had written with Desmond Child, Jon and myself, sat down in my mothers
basement, one day in the cellar, we had a converstaion for a couple of hours
about the world, the kind of people we were, just to get to know each other. We
walked downstairs and started to write and I think that one was done in what an
hour and a half? Jon:Yeah! Richie: and the song was finished, it was a magic
moment for all of us, it was just a fun song and thats what it was meant to be
and luckily it lightened up a lot of peoples hearts and turned them towards us.
I remember drinking Champagne that day, we were playing a gig, where was it that
night?
Jon:Sioux Falls South Dakota
Richie:There you go that represents it, Sioux Falls South Dakota, and I remember
gettin a call Jon:It was a hell of a phonebill that day!! We called everyone we
knew, it was a great day that I don`t think you`ll easily forget.
How soon after the release of SWW did the band realise they had a major release
on their hands?
Jon:It wasn't long after the album was out, it didn`t get added to radio
playlists, Bad Name was the first single, that didn`t jump on the charts, it
didn`t get the most ads. Eddie Money came out, or somebody came out the same
week as us, Triumph thats who it was, they got more ads, we never got a lot of
help from Radio. Bad Name came out and it did real well but it wasn`t anything
and what happened was the kids called up and requested it, the requests started
to break it, it was a real slow process, nothing came easy, it went down and was
recorded easy, but it didn`t go BAAMMM, it was a slow build for the first month
or so but it wasn`t because the record company pushed some button they`d never
pushed before, or radio took us to their hearts, it was just the fact that the
kids requested it.
LIVIN ON A PRAYER
Jon: Prayer was the second single and second no1 song for us, this hit a lot of
peoples hearts, I didn`t know why at the time, I didn`t want it to be on the
album, but everybody felt like they had been Tommy and Gina,they were the
characters in the song, and knowing the struggle of holding on, staying together
as a young couple or friends more importantly, it worked, it was something that
wasn`t contrived, it was just thought out in a way people say everyday in
lyrics, that were just conversation and thats not an easy thingto do. Its only
when you start to learn your craft you can start to do that.
SOCIAL DISEASE
Richie:Social Disease, a fun little ditty, a real lyrical workout, I thought
Jon, Jon wrote all the lyrics to this one and I thought it was a great lyrical
workout, a lot of fun and a lot of great catch phrases in the song. And it was
one of the heaviest tracks, as far as that goes. We also did a kind of
interesting thing with the Margerita Horn Section, with Bruce Fairbairn, didn`t
Dave play horn on that Jon:Yeah he did Richie: Dave our keyboard player played
some horn and it was kind of like The Gong Show of the record, its like a fun
fun song, some of the lyrical stuff, I just enjoy that
I asked Richie if there was much discussion in the studio about the way
individual songs should sound
Richie:When you have an idea, like Jon and I write the songs, we bring it to the
band to colour it, give them a sketch and say, now colour it in. Guess what
you'd call an arrangement, but we also have a lot of that in our heads, beause
the lyrics have to project a certain feel, just as in Wanted. Its almost like a
movie, you want to score with sound. Basically I remember us telling Tico "Okay,
imagine you`re on a deserted Western street, with Clint Eastwood, what sounds
would you hear?". Looking at the lyrical content, these sounds just come out,
most of its natural progression and the band knows where we should take it.
WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
Jon: Wanted is one of two songs we've written so far that when you`re kid looks
at you one day and says "So what did you do with your life?", I`ll playhim this
and say this is who I am and what I did. And its gotten a lot of recognition
from people, its really nice. I sat with Steven Tyler from Aerosmith one night
and he said "You know I heard the first single, it was a hit and I said, Oh
thats interesting, heard the second single, I said, Yeah thats nice too, then I
heard Wanted and then I knew you guys were serious!!". That was a real nice
complement from someone I admire. Richie:Yeah thats definetly the favourite
song, if theres one we`ve written so far that has to be it.
Slippery When Wet, an ambiguous title is in fact familiar to Americans as a road
side hazard sign, had any alternatives been considered?
Richie:Wanted Dead or Alive was the original title, we did a whole photo shoot
round that idea, in a mine shaft, but it was all so serious and we were looking
at the shots in a strip bar one night, having a few beers, the chicks were
dancing, thinking "Man this is too serious".
So who came up with the title Slippery When Wet?
Jon: Well, we were in the strip bar, the girls were dancing round us, and theres
this shower, with the girls soaping themselves up, trying to get our attention.
They were dancing to In & Out of Love off our second album, and we started
watching the girls and someone suggested Slippery When Wet. I wanted it to be
Wanted, with a little kid on the cover, but when I heard that, I just knew.It
was a lot dirtier in our minds than the road sign. That was it.
RAISE YOUR HANDS
Richie:Raise Your Hands is basically something to have the crowd participate in.
When we do a show, everybody is a star, the kids, its a party. We want everybody
to join in. Its one of those arena songs, thats what we wanted to accomplish
with that one. Jon:We opened with that song every night and it basically dares
them to be involved, just let your inhibitions go. Without a crowd it`d be one
big soundcheck. Our audience is based on participation.
WITHOUT LOVE
Jon:Without Love, is probably gonna be covered by someone someday, because it
should have and could have been a hit but we had no intention of releasing more
than 3 singles off the album, and its rather poppy. So had it been done
correctly, it would have been a hit. It was one of the first songs we wrote for
the album and after bouncing back and forth, we said lets keep it because I like
it.
I'D DIE FOR YOU
Richie: This was a song that evolved, it took a long time. We finished it up at
the breakfast table in Vancouver, one morning, two months into the album,
everything was recorded, we were working on the 2nd verse and the lyrical
content. What its about, its the kind of people we are from New Jersey. Maybe
I'm not gonna bring you flowers or do this for you or that for you but when it
comes down to the wire, I'd Die For You!!. Its a staement of friendship. We
really enjoy playing it live, we interjected into the set about half way through
the Slippery tour.
Jon:I love playing that song live, I look forward to it and remember it real
well. The 2nd song of the night. I was surprised, because it never was a single
or an exposed song,how much the kids reacted to it, they'd really be a part of
it, yelling the chorus back to you, or to see it on a banner at a show was a
great thing. I like this song, I really look forward to playing it every night.
NEVER SAY GOODBYE
Jon:The Prom song of 1986. Real popular with the kids, but what happened was a
lot of people, the teachers, wouldn`t let it happen because of a couple of lines
in there, one was "You lost more than that on my back seat", it really is open
to imagination, doesn`t say it was anyones virginity, it could have been the
keys. I caught a lot of fleck for that.
WILD IN THE STREETS
Richie: This is one I always have fun with, I really enjoy it. Jon writes
something on the record without me and I enjoy that because it gives me a chance
to be a musician and also be inside the embryo of the idea. So its interesting
for me to sit back and play, be a musician and look at things on the open end. I
always dug doing that, I always liked to play sessions for other peoples music
because I like to interject my freshness into it. Its a kind of thing from New
Jersey, people on the street having a real good time, we kind of do that a lot
in Jersey.
Jon: I was thinking of my brother, he gets pretty crazy, hes still wild for sure
and he isn`t tied down to anything or anyone, he lives his life like that, a
Brando, he doesn`t care about nothing, just gets on his horse and rides.
It was a good record and I`m usually pessimistic with predictions, I hoped if it
had done 2 million we`d be just the biggest thing. I never imagined it doing
more. I figured that, and a real strong support band, maybe we`d headline
theatres otherwise we`d be the eternal opening act, get paid real wee and just
be someone elses strong opening act and go through hell every night because the
headliner wouldn`t let me do my thing. So that was the greatest fear.
If Jon had the chance again, is there anything he would change?
Jon: No you don`t mess with that. I still like the album, I`m the last guy
you`ll see listening to our records but that did a lot of smiling for a lot of
people, made them feel good about rock n roll. I`m real proud of that, something
to take with you forever, you just gotta do it 10 more times, ha ha ha.