Tag: Hugh McDonald

Bon Jovi – ‘Slippery When Wet’ (1986) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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Bon Jovi had two moderately successful albums under their belt. However, they weren’t happy with the fact they weren’t superstars yet. So, changes had to be made. Not in the band line-up as it was still Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Tico Torres, David Bryan and Alec John Such. Nope. They needed to change their approach. One of the first things they chose to do was bring someone in to help with the songs. That person was Desmond Child. Desmond didn’t try to change who the band was with the songs, but he helped refine them, make them better. Jon and Richie wrote well together, but with Desmond’s help, the songs became stories that connected with people, but first they had to record them.

To do that, they changed even more stuff. Jon was listening to Black & Blue’s album ‘Without Love’ and he loved the production of it. So, he reached out to Bruce Fairbairn and he was hired as producer..with some other cat named Bob Rock as the engineer. The band moved to Little Mountain Studios in Vancouver, Canada and the record was started. The album was finished and released on August 18, 1986 and would become a 12,000,000 selling album making it Diamond. It would spark 4 Top 40 singles of which 2 went to #1 and would see the band tour massively. They would start out the tour as an opening act, but by the end they were the headliners. The band got what they wanted and they were now Superstars!

But before we get to the music, let’s talk about the album name and cover. It was inspired by a trip to The No. 5 Orange strip club in Vancouver. The boys saw this stripper who stripped all the way down to nothing, stepped in to a shower and lathered herself all up. That was motivation for the boys to finish the album and inspired the Slippery When Wet name. One of the original names was ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ and had the boys dressed as cowboys, but that was scrapped. They did use that cover for the single though.

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Bon Jovi – ‘Bon Jovi’ (1984) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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By 1982, Jon Bon Jovi re-recorded “Runaway” which he had originally recorded back in 1980 and had shopped it around with no luck. This re-recording he did with what he liked to call The All-Star Revue which consisted of guitarist Tim Pierce, keyboardist Roy Bittan, drummer Frankie LaRocka, and bassist Hugh McDonald (remember this name). The song started getting a little traction and eventually Jon Bongiovi got a record deal and changed his name to Jon Bon Jovi. He was an artist with a deal, but no band. Jon wanted a band and he was going to go with Johnny Electric, but Pamela Maher that suggested he use the name Bon Jovi since a two word name worked so well for Van Halen. No one really liked that idea at first, but eventually Jon came around and Bon Jovi was born.

So, Jon called his old buddy from his old band Atlantic City Expressway, David Bryan Rashbaum, and the ball got rolling. David called his buddy Alec John Such to handle bass and a drummer he knew by the name of Tico Torres. Alec and Tico were formerly in a band together called Phantom’s Opera. They needed a guitarist, so Jon reached out to his friend Dave Sabo (or “Snake”) who played with them for a very short time. He never actually joined the band, but thankfully he would go on to something almost quite as good with a band called Skid Row…maybe you’ve heard of them.

But the band still needed a guitarist. Jon had seen, and was impressed, by a guitarist by the name of Richie Sambora. Richie had played with Joe Cocker and was in a band called Mercy. Hell, Richie even auditioned with Kiss to replace Ace Frehley, but that didn’t go well. Jon asked him to join and now the band was complete. The band had a new manager by the name of Doc McGhee and with his help, they went off to record their debut album.

The name of the album was going to be “Tough Talk”, but that didn’t end up as the title as the record company had other ideas. They felt a self-titled album was certainly the way to go and they wrote the checks so they got their way. The album came out on January 24, 1984 and has been certified platinum. It reached #43 on the album chart so not a bad start for a brand new band. There is even an Aldo Nova connection to this album as he supplied some additional keyboards and guitars as the band hadn’t been complete yet while Jon was in the studio. We will touch on him more later in the series.

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My Sunday Song – “Something to Believe In” by Bon Jovi

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For My Sunday Song #195, we are diving in to the fantastic song “Something to Believe” off the band’s 1995 underrated album ‘These Days’.  This song was never a single and probably one of the best deep cuts they have on any record.  It really spoke to me and to this day, it means a lot.

The song has been considered anti-religious with lines like “I lost all faith in my God, in his religion too”, but the song is really about fighting back and finding that one thing to hold on to and reach for and to believe in.  I know for me, I have struggled a lot in this world.  There were times I had lost my faith and I still struggle with my belief in religion.  Not with God or Jesus, but organized religion. I see the damage it has caused through the centuries, the charlatans out there wanting your money and our the first ones to sin.  The holier-than-thou Church goers that think cast the first stone and our cheating on their spouses.  The churches that hide the child molesting priest.  I could go on and on and talk about the hypocrisy of it all.   But I won’t.  You get where I am coming from.

So how do you find that one thing to believe in?  I don’t know, but dig deep and it just happens.  I believe in my wife and kids.  My brothers and sisters and those that have always been there. I believe in Jesus and God…BUT…in my own way.  As Jon states, “in a world that gives you nothing, we need something to believe in”.  And with what has going on in the world these last couple months, I think this song holds even more meaning.  Hang in there!  We will get through it and come out the other side even better as we always do.

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My Sunday Song – “We Don’t Run” By Bon Jovi

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For My Sunday Song #192, we are going to discuss the very last great Bon Jovi song to ever be written. The song is “We Don’t Run” and it is lead single from their 2015 album ‘Burning Bridges’. The album is a big F U to the band’s record label Mercury.  This was a total contract fulfillment album as the band lumped together some unfinished songs and wrote this particular one for the album.  It isn’t a terrible album, but far from their best.

The song is another in a long line of rock anthems that are meant to be uplifting and empowering which all started with song “It’s My Life” back in 2000.  The song does make you feel inspired as it is telling you to stand up for you believe in and do what you need to do to make it happen.  The song was written with John Shanks who also produced the album with Jon Bon and it also is where the album title comes.  Interesting note, this is the first album not to feature Richie Sambora…and with the exception of this song, it shows.

Musically the song is heavy on the bass and the drum which drives the beat home and is the force behind the song thanks to Hugh McDonald on bass and Tico Torres on drums. The guitar solo on this song is amazing and is handled by John Shanks who earned his chops playing with Melissa Etheridge.  Jon sings the lines in the same force as the drum beat, very powerful and perfect timing on the delivery.  The combo of the drum beat and his vocals, you get worked up and ready to fight for what you want.  On an album that was lacking a lot, this left you feeling good.

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My Sunday Song – “Runaway” by Bon Jovi

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For My Sunday Song #191, we are going to discuss the first of ten songs from Bon Jovi.  We will start it off with the first single and first song off their debut album called “Runaway”.  It was officially released in February 1984 and hit #39 on the Billboard charts. It was the first of many hits to come from this New Jersey band.

The song was written by Jon Bon Jovi and George Karak and was first recorded by Jon back in his Power Station Demo time period around 1981.  Then in 1982, he recorded it again as Jon Bon Jovi and The All Star Review.  This band included Hugh McDonald on bass…hmm…where have we heard that name before?  Oh yeah, he became the bass player for Bon Jovi in 1994 after original bass player Alec John Such left the band.  The band also had Tim Pierce on guitar, Frankie LaRocka on drums (cool name) and Roy Bittan on keyboard.  However, Mick Seeley actually wrote the keyboard intro for the song. I know Aldo Nova played a little on the album, but not sure exactly if he was on this song or not (BTW, I’m an Aldo fan so that any connection is cool to me).

If you haven’t figured it out, none of the original Bon Jovi band members are actually on this song.  And this is the version you hear on the album and the radio.  The band would be pieced together after the song started to become a hit on New Jersey radio and Jon needed a band.  And the rest is history at that point.

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