On my Summer vacation back in June, I found over 20 singles with the picture sleeve. I’ve been through a bunch of them so far and now we are tackling the Bon Jovi singles that I found. There were 5 Singles found and we kicked it off with the following:
Now it is time for another ‘New Jersey’ single with “Born to be My Baby”. This was the second single off the album and did pretty dang great going all the way to #3 on the Billboard Top 100 and it was one of 5 Top 10 Singles off this album…crazy!!! It was another track written by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and of course, Desmond Child. There is no denying his impact with the band.

As you can see from above that the B-Side is “Love For Sale” also from the same album. However, that is WRONG!!! Ok, not really, that is truly the B-Side, but my copy is not normal. It is actually a promo that was sent out using the regular single cover. So, my copy has “Born to Be My Baby” on both sides. It even says on the single label, “Promotional Copy – Not For Sale” which I think is cool. Like some older promos that I have which has one side Stereo and one side Mono, this one is all Stereo and the same song on each side, no differences.
The theme on the song is very familiar to you as Bon Jovi have used it before on “Living on a Prayer”. It is about a couple that is struggling to make ends meet, but they still know they were made to be with each other and that God has a plan. Back then, the band had a way of crafting these type of songs in to a great story that would draw you in and you’d root for the couple to work it out. I’ve heard this was a sequel to the song and if so, then the song is from Tommy’s point of view as opposed to coming from a third person like the previous song, this one is him looking out.
A keyboard heavy track and a bunch of na-na-na’s in the opening. It is an upbeat rocker that was really written as an acoustic track but Bruce Fairbairn talked them in to making it more of a rocker. It did go to #3, but Jon thinks it would’ve gone to #1 as an acoustic song. He might not be wrong. It does have a great Richie Sambora solo as he did so many great ones during this time. Jon sings with so much emotion and you could really feel the lyrics as a result. The song is classic sounding Bon Jovi and these guys were bigger than life at this point. They could do no wrong and this was a shining example of that thought.
And there you have the next single in the series. We still have 2 more to go so we will see you next week with another ‘New Jersey’ single!!
Another great track from ‘New Jersey’! That’s cool you have a promo copy of “Born to Be My Baby” because it’s more special. Looking at the back picture of the guys makes me laugh because I can’t believe there was a time when everyone wanted big, frizzy hair back then, lol.
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Subtlety didn’t play in the ’80s. Bigger was always better. Bright colors, loud music, outrageous hair, huge production, etc.
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Ain’t that the truth.
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Am I the only one who adore glam metal ? long hair ?
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trixter, lynch mob, bang tango, sleeze beez, enuff Z’nuff, Love/hate and of course bon jovi, poison, motley crue, ratt, wasp, twisted sister, danger danger, kix and more that I can say
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That is only the tip of the iceberg.
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I like glam metal too, but I don’t want to date guys that are prettier than me lol.
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Nope. I love it.
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My wife’s hair was huge too back then!!
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I guess that was the trend. Go big or go home!
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I’m disappointed Jon Bon wasn’t singing this song to his theoretical offspring. It would make the title so much more amusing. “Born to be My Baby”, yeah Jon, that’s how it works. Your sperm + human female egg = your baby. As for the song, I guess it’s better than the faux country shit he’s doing now. You’re a privileged pretty boy from New Jersey, dude. Quit acting like that Southern accent is remotely natural. Same goes for Springsteen, quit posing!
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Ha!! Opportunity missed.
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My copy is a cardboard sleeve with 3 postcards.
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Nice!
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Another classic from a classic album. It’s incredible, the contributions Desmond Child made during that era. He was an absolute hit making machine.
I agree with Holen. Too many rockers have gone country (Steve Tyler, what’s with the hair????). I get that it’s popular, but it doesn’t make it right. I would rather they retire or write for someone else.
I still have a little hope. Perhaps Jonny’s martial arts expert of a wife will get tired of it, give him a roundhouse kick to the face and say “bring Richie back and get rockin”!
Eugène, long live the hair!
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Desmond could do no wrong back then. And yes, rocker gone country is not a good thing. Aaron Lewis of Staind has had a lot of success in country though.
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Yeah, bring Ritchie back to Bon Jovi, Steve Riley back to L.A. guns and Paul Laine to Danger danger and make a band with more than one singer like Helloween (and please bring Robbin Crosby back to life)
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If only.
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One of favorite BJ videos
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Cool score with the same song on both sides! Good song and if my memory is intact when I saw them play this on the Jersey Tour JBJ laid down a harmonica solo at the end which I thought was genius.
Good track better write 🆙
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Thanks. That would’ve been cool to hear. I missed that tour.
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Talk about a win-win: enjoying a summer vacation + finding 20 vinyl singles!
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That was a good trip.
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The band was on fire here. While the lyrics are cliched the melody just sticks around forever.
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It is a catchy little thing. Yes, some of their songs were very cliched, but some were very deep and told some stellar stories.
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Agreed.
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Classic tune. Cool promo find! Odd that both sides were stereo, it’s like the record company wasn’t even trying lol.
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