Bon Jovi – “You Give Love A Bad Name” – 12″ Single Promo

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic

Back before Christmas, Noble Records here in Charlotte came across an amazing Record Collection that was being sold and it was filled with so many rare and amazing rock and metal albums. He naturally bought it and offered it up in his store in a huge release on December 12, 2020. He called it Metalocalypse or something like that. It was full of great stuff and worth getting up and being in line almost an hour before opening and I was’t alone. I was sadly, about 20th in line and as a result I didn’t get everything I wanted. But there was one thing I saw on his instagram posts and videos that caught my eye and I was able to grab it.

That was a Promotional Copy of Bon Jovi’s single “You Give Love a Bad Name”. Doesn’t sound like a big deal does it? You’d be wrong because this is special for two reasons. First, It has the original banned album cover as the single cover art work. The woman in the wet T-Shirt. Yeah, I’ll take that shot any day. But that wasn’t the only thing cool about it. It was also autographed by Jon Bon Jovi himself. Of course, it is made out to Paul who was the gentlemen that originally had these albums. He owned a record shop back in the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s as that was the time frame of most of his albums. I am glad that I have one of his pieces and he can be happy it is with a fellow music lover. Paul has since passed away which is the reason the collection was up for sell.

Now here is the weird thing. Jon writes ’83. I find that strange because the song and the album came out in 1986. I am not saying I think it is a fake as what reason would Paul have to fake it as this was his own personal collection and he had a lot of signed stuff from artists in his collection. He was a record store owner and back then if he ever had in store promotions with bands, it wouldn’t be uncommon for him to have signatures. I would like to know the story behind the ’83 though. Or is it not an ’83 and has some other meaning. Either way, I’m curious.

The 12″ single is a promotional copy and the only song on it is “You Give Love a Bad Name”. It is on both sides and each side of the disc are labeled as Side 1. There is no difference I can see. There isn’t a mono on one side and a stereo version on the other. Both are stereo. Both packing and vinyl look mint. I mean everything I bought that day was in incredible shape.

The song itself was off “Slipper When Wet” and was the first single off the album. It was the band’s first #1 single and wouldn’t be their last. The song was written by Desmond Child, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora and is about a woman who has done her lover wrong. So wrong that she give love a bad name. The song is about 10 seconds longer than the album version due to a slight mixed ending with a better fade out.

A interesting note about the song is Desmond had written this song for Bonnie Tyler, but it was called “If You Were a Woman (And I Was a Man)” which had completely different lyrics. The song did poorly so he brought it to his writing session with Jon and Richie and pitched it. They completely re-wrote the lyrics and turned it in to the big hit it is today.

The video isn’t actually the song on the 12″ Promo as the video has added live crowd sounds and explosions to make it feel like a concert even though it really is the normal song.

And that is it. I hope you enjoyed this promo. I know I will.

24 thoughts on “Bon Jovi – “You Give Love A Bad Name” – 12″ Single Promo”

  1. It’s funny thinking that the record company was worried about using the girl in the wet t-shirt as the album cover, when it was nothing compared to the Scorpions’ ‘Virgin Killer’ or Witchfinder General’s ‘Death Penalty’ even!

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  5. You have to remember that when this album came out in 1986, it was at the height of religion’s war on rock and the PMRC bullshit. Therefore, an album cover like that would have no doubt drawn attention from those groups. “You Give Love a Bad Name” is okay in my book but there are other Bon Jovi songs I like more.

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  6. Very cool. This has always been my favorite Bon Jovi song. If I catch my wife painting her nails I’ll occasionally sing “blood red nails on your fingertips.”
    You should send that photo to Jon Bon Jovi’s twitter account and see what kind of response you get. My initial thought was maybe he signed a limited number (like 100) and numbered them all. But to have it made out personally to Paul would have either required him to have signed it again just above his name or to know beforehand that Paul was getting one. I don’t know, but it’s time for you play amateur sleuth!

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  10. Pingback: Coming Soon to 2 Loud 2 Old Music – The Bon Jovi Collection Series – 2 Loud 2 Old Music

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