How Jon Bon Jovi had a hit before he even had a band

The eponymous debut album by Bon Jovi was made available in 1984, but since 1980 the vocalist Jon Bon Jovi he was already trying to score the band’s first hit. It may seem confusing, but this was the story of the group’s formation, which required a lot of persistence and resilience from the then young singer.

Since 1975, Jon — who still signed with his surname Bongiovi — was looking for a career in music. He had already sung in some bands and participated in recordings by other artists. There are records that the artist, in 1980, managed to gather some session musicians in his cousin’s studio, Tony Bongiovito record a demo, titled “Runaway”.

This first version was played on local radio and had some small success, but Jon I couldn’t get the contract I dreamed of with a record label. The demo was remade in 1982, now with more experienced studio musicians: the guitarist Tim Piercethe keyboardist Roy Bittan (E Street Band), the drummer Frankie LaRocka and the bassist Hugh McDonaldironically a future member of Bon Jovi.

Still without a response from the labels, the singer opted for a desperate strategy, which he reported in an interview with Virgin Radio UK (via website Igor Miranda). The logic of Jonaccording to him, was as follows:

It was 1982. I had written ‘Runaway’. I couldn’t get a recording contract. I couldn’t even get a band because, you know, original music bands didn’t make money. So I think to myself, ‘who is the loneliest man in the music business?’. The DJ. And there was a brand new radio station in New York. It was so new that they didn’t have a receptionist.”

The radio in question was WAPP-FM – currently WKTU – and the “lonely DJ” was called Chip Hobart. Jon went to him:

I knocked on the glass, he came out and said: ‘wait until I go off the air’. I said, ‘I have a song, you should listen to it.’ So he heard it after the show and said, ‘that’s a hit.’ And I said: ‘I know, it’s just that no one else thinks that’. So they put it on the radio in New York and that’s how I got a contract there in 1983.”

Of course, the singer summarized the story a lot. Enter the conversation with Hobart and the first contract, the embryo of Bon Jovi He also won a competition run by the radio itself that would choose the best local original band. Then, in 1983, things finally started to happen.

Bon Jovi Formation

With the success of “Runaway” on the radio, Jon began recruiting regular musicians for the new project. The first on the list was David Bryanwho he had known since he was 16 and with whom he had previously played. The keyboardist, in turn, indicated the band’s “kitchen” Phantom’s Operaformed by bassist Alec John Such and the drummer Tico Torres (also a member of the Franke and the Knockouts).

On guitar, the first name called was Dave Sabofriend and neighbor of Jon. The guitarist, nicknamed “The Snake”, would form the Skid Row in the following years. The vacancy was even Richie Samboralocal musician with some experience: nominated by Such (with those who were on the project Message) and Torreshe had already toured with Joe Cocker and carried out a test for the Kiss.

With this training, the Bon Jovi released his first album, self-titled, in 1984. “Runaway” it was the first and main single from the album and reached an impressive top 40 on the American charts.

In a recent interview with Classic Rock, Jon Bon Jovi he recalled the difficulty he had in getting the song out, but today the vocalist has a much broader view of the process. He said:

I didn’t get a response from anyone. But in retrospect, did it (the song) make it to anyone’s desk? Did she make it out of the mailroom? I will never know. I sent it to every record company with a handwritten note because that was the only way I knew how to get to them. It wasn’t like someone I knew in New Jersey knew the president of a record company.”

From the first album onwards, things became less difficult for the Bon Jovi. While still promoting their debut album, the band opened tours of Scorpions in the United States and Kiss in Europe.

The following year, the group released their second work, 7800° Fahrenheitand participated in the Monsters of Rock festival, where he played alongside Metallica, ZZTop, Marillion, Ratt and Magnum. With the third album, Slippery When Wet (1986), consecration came. And then they never left the top.

Collaborated: André Luiz Fernandes.