After being approached by actor, Emilio Estevez, to use the Bon Jovi song “Wanted Dead or Alive” for the soundtrack to his new movie, the western ‘Young Guns II’, Jon declined the offer. Instead of flat out declining though, Jon offered to write a new song for the movie and that one song turned in to a whole album of songs from and inspired by the movie.

The title track, “Blaze of Glory” was written on a napkin while Jon was sitting with the cast while they were eating hamburgers. Keifer Sutherland said that Jon wrote it in like 6 minutes and it made him feel stupid as he wrote a number one song while they ate. Jon played the song to Emilio Estevez and producer John Fusco. Fusco took the song to his co-producers in the trailer and the decision was made right then and there to make it the theme song for the movie.

The single was released on July 21, 1990 and was Jon’s one and only #1 song on the Billboard Charts outside of his day job band Bon Jovi. The song had a hell of a line-up on it including Elton John, Aldo Nova, Randy Jackson, Kenny Aronoff and on guitar was Jeff Beck. Not too shabby. As you can see here my version of the single is a Cassette Single or “Cassingle”. The B-Side is the Jon and Little Richard duet, “Your Really Got Me Now” and no , not the Kinks’ song.

SIDE 1:

The title track, “Blaze of Glory”, starts off with a great line of the movie between Keifer Sutherland and Emilio Estevez…”William H. Bonnie, you are not a God”…”Why don’t you pull the trigger and find out”. The songs starts slow with some very twangy slide guitars and then Jon comes in softly and then gets more intense as the song goes on. It is powerful both musically and lyrically as it is about going out fighting. Stand up and don’t let up until it is over. Jeff Beck’s solo is killer and one of the best on the album. Jon took “Wanted Dead Or Alive” and took it up a notch with this one. A truly special track which is why it went to #1 on the Billboard charts.

SIDE 2:

One Side 2, we get “You Really Got Me Now” which sees Jon singing along with the great Little Richard. That probably wouldn’t have ever happened in the Old West and for that it does feel a little strange. An unconventional choice for sure. The song feels like a bluesy honky tonk and has an old school rocking sound to it. I will admit it is a little fun, but doesn’t fit this album for me. In the review I said, this would make a great Non-Album track B-Side, and here we are as a B-Side (still an album track though). See what you think.

And there you have it. Normally I have 7″ singles to share so it is cool to have an old Cassette Single, so I hope you enjoyed the shake up. See you next week for another post in the series.

NEXT UP: RICHIE SAMBORA – ‘STRANGER IN THIS TOWN’ (1991)

THE BON JOVI COLLECTION SERIES:

1. Bon Jovi – The Albums Box Set (2017)
2. Jon Bongiovi – The Power Station Sessions (1980-1983) (2001)
3. Bon Jovi – Bon Jovi (1984)
4. Bon Jovi – Shot Through the Heart: Live in Cleveland, OH March 17, 1984 FM Broadcast (Bootleg)
5. Bon Jovi – 7800° Fahrenheit (1985)
6. Bon Jovi – Slippery When Wet (1986)
7. Bon Jovi – New Jersey (1988)
8. Bon Jovi – New Jersey: Super Deluxe Edition – Disc 2/DVD (1988)
9. Bon Jovi – “I’ll Be There For You” – Cassette Single (1988)
10. Jon Bon Jovi – Blaze of Glory (1990)
11. Jon Bon Jovi – “Blaze of Glory” – Cassette Single (1990)
12. Richie Sambora – Stranger in this Town (1991)
13. Bon Jovi – Keep the Faith (1992)
14. Bon Jovi – “I Believe” – 7″ Single (1992)
15. Bon Jovi – Crossroads (1994)
16. Bon Jovi – “Please Come Home for Christmas” – CD Single (1994)
17. Bon Jovi – These Days (1995)
18. Bon Jovi – Live From London – DVD (1995)
19. Jon Bon Jovi – Destination Anywhere (1997)
20. Richie Sambora – Undiscovered Soul (1998)
21. Bon Jovi – Crush (2000)
22. Bon Jovi – Live From Osaka E.P. (2000)
23. Bon Jovi – “Thank You For Loving Me” – CD Single (2000)
24. Bon Jovi – The Crush Tour – DVD (2000)
25. Bon Jovi – The Love Songs E.P. (Promo) (2001)
26. Bon Jovi – Tokyo Road: Best of Bon Jovi (2001)
27. Bon Jovi – One Wild Night Live: 1985-2001 (2001)
28. Bon Jovi – Bounce (2002)
29. Bon Jovi – Unauthorized: Rock ‘n Roll Legends – Bootleg DVD (2002)
30. Bon Jovi – This Left Feels Right (2003)
31. Bon Jovi – Target E.P. (2003)
32. Bon Jovi – Wild in the Streets: Unauthorized – Bootleg DVD (2003)
33. Bon Jovi – This Left Feels Right – DVD (2004)
34. Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Part 1) – (2004)
35. Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Disc 1, Part 2) – (2004)
36. Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Disc 2, Part 3) – (2004)
37. Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Disc 3, Part 4) – (2004)
38. Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Disc 4, Part 5) – (2004)
39. Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Disc 5, Part 6) – (2004)
40. Bon Jovi – Have a Nice Day (2005)
41. Bon Jovi – Live from the Have a Nice Day Tour (Walmart Exclusive) (2006)
42. Bon Jovi – Lost Highway (2007)
43. Bon Jovi – Lost Highway: The Concert (2007)
44. Bon Jovi – The Circle (2009)
45. Bon Jovi – When We Were Beautiful Documentary DVD (2009)
46. Bon Jovi – Live at Madison Square Garden – DVD (2009)
47. Bon Jovi – Greatest Hits: The Ultimate Collection (2009)
48. Bon Jovi – Greatest Hits: The Ultimate Video Collection – DVD (2010)
49. Bon Jovi – Inside Out – DVD (2012)
50. Richie Sambora – Aftermath of the Lowdown (2012)
51. Bon Jovi – What About Now (2013)
52. Bon Jovi – Live E.P. (RSD – 2013)
53. Bon Jovi – Live 2 E.P. (RSD – 2014)
54. Bon Jovi – Burning Bridges (2015)
55. Bon Jovi – This House is Not For Sale (2016)
56. Bon Jovi – This House is Not For Sale – Live From the London Palladium (2016)
57. Bon Jovi – The Albums Box Set – The Extra LP (2017)
58. RSO – Radio Free America (2018)
59. Bon Jovi – 2020 (2020)
60. Bon Jovi – 40th Anniversary Box Set (TBA – I Hope it is out by the time we get here)

We’ve reviewed a bunch of pieces already over the years and won’t review again. They are as follows:

1. Bon Jovi – The Brotherhood Tour Book (1988-1990)
2. Bon Jovi – Bon Jovi Tour 2011 – Tourbook
3. Bon Jovi – The Rock History – Bootleg CD
4. Bon Jovi – “You Give Love A Bad Name” – 12″ Single
5. Bon Jovi – “You Give Love a Bad Name” – 7″ Single
6. Bon Jovi – Red Hot & 2 Parts Live E.P. – 12″ Single
7. Bon Jovi – “Wanted Dead or Alive” – 7″ Single
8. Bon Jovi – “Bad Medicine” – 7″ Single
9. Bon Jovi – “Born to Be My Baby” – 7″ Single
10. Bon Jovi – “I’ll Be There For You” – 7″ Single
11. Bon Jovi – “Lay Your Hands on Me” – 7″ Single
12. Bon Jovi – “Living in Sin” – 7″ Single