Tag: Runaway

Bon Jovi – ‘Live From Osaka E.P.’ (2000) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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Bon Jovi’s 7th Studio album was ‘Crush’ and it was released on June 13, 2000. The Japanese Edition, which I have in my collection, wasn’t released until September 27, 2000. It contained 2 Bonus Tracks, which we discussed when we went through the album on the last post, as well as an entirely new disc which is an E.P. of a live show from Osaka, Japan. The E.P. is called ‘Live from Osaka’ and that is what we are discussing today.

Before we get to that, let’s talk a little about the Japanese Edition. My copy has the OBIT strip as you can see below. That is the prize you want when you get a Japanese Edition CD. Also included, but not pictured, is a booklet that gives the lyrics to the songs in both English and Japanese as well as some commentary that is all in Japanese so I have no idea what it says. All together, it is the copy to get if you want this album…which you do! Bet you didn’t know that.

The Crush Tour started in Japan during July 2000 and this recording is taken from the July 20th show at the Osaka Dome in Osaka, Japan. There are only 6 tracks taken from the show, but it is a great snapshot of the show. We would get a full DVD from one of the stops on that tour which we will review later. It wasn’t the Osaka show, but that’s okay.

The CD opens with the classic Bon Jovi song “Runaway”, but it is done in a way that has never been before. It opens with David on piano and Jon talking a little about the song how he wrote the song 18 years earlier. The song is slowed down, done only with Jon and the piano and it changes the whole dynamic of the song. It is as if This Left Feels Right actually worked because this new interpretation really works. The song feels so dramatic and important. It is the best versioin of this song I’ve ever heard live. Yes, it is that good.

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Bon Jovi – ‘Cross Road’ (1994) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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After the release of their last album ‘Keep the Faith’ in 1992, the band set out on an extensive worldwide tour. They hit 37 countries while performing over 177 shows and those shows saw reached over 2.5 million people. The boys were busy and as a result of this tour, very tired. They also needed more time to work on their next album. To hold fans over, a greatest hits compilation was released by the band and the label. The album came out on October 11, 1994 and contained songs from every album including 1 from Jon’s solo album and 2 unreleased tracks. The U.S. version got a special track of Livin’ on a Prayer which had been redone and called “Prayer ’94”, however, my vinyl set of the album does not have that song.

The album was titled ‘Cross Road’ which is possible that was where the band saw themselves at. The music landscape was changing rapidly, their 80’s rock glam style was no longer popular, yet this band kept on chugging. ‘Cross Road’ sold went to #8 in the U.S. and #1 in so many country. Worldwide they sold over 21,000,000 copies as Bon Jovi was even bigger around the world than at home. The cover art was taken at a diner called the Roadside Diner and it was near the crossroads of Rout 33 and Route 34 so it was a very appropriate cover.

The one strange thing about the album was inside they had a picture of all the band’s albums including Jon’s solo album and even Richie’s solo album, but no song from Richie’s album made the set yet Jon’s did. Another prime example this was Jon’s band and even the back cover only had Jon on it. A picture says a 1,000 words I believe is the saying.

The compilation kicks off with one of their most popular songs, “Livin’ On A Prayer” off the album ‘Slippery When Wet’. It opens with a wicked bass line, finger cymbals and a talk-box. But that wasn’t all that was great about it, it is the story of Tommy & Gina in “Livin’ on a Prayer” that makes this such a great song. Jon has a way of making the songs human and easy to connect with. The everyday person with problems just like you so the songs feel personal.  The song is loosely based on Desmond and his girl-friend as she worked in a Diner, but he was a taxi driver and not working at the docks.  It was that Blue Collar feel to the song that made it resonate with so many people.  It was a time when Bon Jovi actually wrote songs that told a story that connected with people and not try to write just to make a hit. The funny thing about this one is that Jon didn’t like it, but Richie was able to convince Jon that this was a hit and it should be on the album. Thankfully for the band, it was as it went to #1 as well. Hugh McDonald who is currently the bass player for Bon Jovi in 2023, was the bass player on this song back in 1986.

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Bon Jovi – ‘Shot Through The Heart: Live in Cleveland, OH – March 17, 1984’ (Bootleg) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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Bon Jovi the touring act was extremely fresh and new as the band hadn’t been together for very long. Even Jon said the band was terrible until their third album when things started to click. While out crate digging years and years ago, I found a Bon Jovi bootleg of a radio broadcast from only 2 months after their debut album, ‘Bon Jovi’, was released. A great snapshot of the young band in all its rawness and newness.

The show takes place on March 17th, 1984 at the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland, OH. The show was broadcast on WMMS-FM Radio so of course we get some of the radio DJs on here during the show. The bootleg I have was released in 2015 and 2 LPs (both black) and it was limited to only 500 copies. The cover is pure Bon Jovi with the denim blue jeans with a picture of Jon on the front and the band on the back. I mean, it is Jon’s band don’t forget. The band plays all but “Burning for Love” from the debut and you get a Sly & The Family Stone cover. Let’s get to the music.

The album opens with a Radio DJ introducing the band and they come out slowly with a very long drawn out build which you mostly hear the crowd screaming. Some weird distorted voice says something and then the guitar kicks in and we get the opening to “Breakout”. There is no doubt it is live as it is rough, raw and not very tight. Jon actually sounds pretty decent, still a little unpolished, but he can still hit some high notes that he can’t now. And he should be able to hit them since he is only about 22 or so here. Richie lays down a great solo and things start getting better as the band jams it up a little here.

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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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Jon Bongiovi – ‘The Power Station Sessions (1980-1983)’ (2001) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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Before there was a band called Bon Jovi, there was a young man, named Jon Bongiovi, who worked as a janitor at a recording studio called The Power Station which was located in Hell’s Kitchen in New York City. During his time as janitor, he’d be allowed to use the studio when it wasn’t in use. The years were 1980-1983 and this release is a collection of all these unreleased songs from that time period in his life prior to becoming Jon Bon Jovi and fronting one of the biggest bands in the world.

But wait…let’s go back a ways. Jon could play both guitar and piano and at 13 started playing gigs with his very first band called Raze. When he was 16, he met a curly haired dude named David Bryan and they would start a band called Atlantic City Expressway. David would leave that band to go to Med School…but that didn’t work out as he felt music was his path. So that band didn’t go anywhere and while still south of 20, he had another band called Jon Bongiovi and the Wild Ones. Again, nothing. So by 1980, he started yet another band called Rest and they actually got to open for a hero of Jon’s, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Dukes. During the 80’s he spent time at his cousin’s studio and recorded the song “Runaway”…yeah, that song. He shopped it around, but little notice. And we will end that story there as we will talk further about how that song changed things for him later.

This album was released by Tony Bongiovi who is Jon’s father’s first cousin…what does that make him to Jon? I have no freaking idea…maybe second cousin. Tony, I believe, owned the studio and was the producer of these songs we have before us. The album has been released several times and is not an official Bon Jovi or Jon Bon Jovi release so I am sure Jon wasn’t overly thrilled with it seeing the light of day. The first release was in 1998 and was only 10 songs. The second release was 1999 and suddenly was up to 14 tracks. My version, however, was released September 18, 2001 and was the third iteration of the songs and this time around there are a whopping 20 tracks. That is a lot of music. And when you hear it, you will hear a very young Jon with songs that were a sign of the times and a Jon whose voice hadn’t really found…well…his voice or style. The songs aren’t great…but that doesn’t mean this isn’t a fun and interesting listen to see how it all began.

“Who Said it Would Last Forever” kicks things off with an opening piano, an infectious groove, some nice guitar work and energized vocals by Mr. Bongiovi. A high energy rocker that shows a singer with a lot of promise as the chorus is catchy and you can see something there that was ready to explode.

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Bon Jovi – “Lay Your Hands On Me” – 45 Single

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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 the final single and it is also from ‘New Jersey’ with “Lay Your Hands On Me”. The opening track of the album and the fourth single which only went to #7 on the Billboard Charts and the band’s fourth Top 10 in a row for this album. The song was written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora and was inspired by a guitar riff by Richie rather than from a song title like they did a lot of the times.

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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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