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Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Fronted by lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi, Bon Jovi formed in 1983 with guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, bassist Alec John Such and drummer Tico Torres. Other than the departure of Alec John Such in 1994 and replaced by Hugh McDonald, the lineup has remained the same for the past 26 years. After two moderately successful albums in 1984 and 1985, the band scored big with Slippery When Wet (1986) and New Jersey (198 , which launched the band into global super stardom.
After non-stop touring, the band went on hiatus after the New Jersey Tour in 1990, during which time Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora both released successful solo albums. In 1992, the band returned with the album Keep the Faith and has since created successful albums throughout the 1990s and 2000s. Their latest album, The Circle, will be released in 2009.
Throughout their career, the band has released ten studio albums, two compilation albums and one live album; and have sold over 120 million albums worldwide. They have performed more than 2,600 concerts in over 50 countries for more than 34 million fans. In 2006 Bon Jovi were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, and in 2004 they were ranked number 14 in Q magazine's 50 Greatest Bands of All Time. The band was also honored with the Award Of Merit at the American Music Awards in 2004.
Founding member John Bon Jovi began to play piano and guitar at thirteen with his first band, called Raze. He was enrolled in an all-boys Catholic school, St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, New Jersey, but left to attend public school at Sayreville War Memorial High School. At sixteen, Bon Jovi met David Bryan (b. David Bryan Rashbaum, 7 February, 1962, Edison, New Jersey, USA) and formed a 12-piece cover band named Atlantic City Expressway after the New Jersey highway. They played at New Jersey clubs, even though they were minors. Still in his teens, Bon Jovi played in the band John Bongiovi and the Wild Ones, playing local clubs like "The Fast Lane" and opening for known acts in the area.
By mid-1982, out of school and working part-time in a women's shoe store, Bon Jovi took a job at the Power Station Studios, a Manhattan recording facility where his cousin, Tony Bongiovi, was a co-owner. Bon Jovi made several demos (including one produced by Billy Squier) and sent them out to many record companies, but failed to make an impact.
Bon Jovi visited the local radio station WAPP 103.5FM "The Apple" in Lake Success, New York. He spoke directly to the promotion director John Lassman, who accepted the song "Runaway" for possible inclusion on the station's compilation album of local homegrown talent. Lassman, along with program director Dave Hamilton and music director/afternoon DJ Chip Hobart listened to and loved the song, deciding to include it on the album. Bon Jovi was initially reluctant but eventually gave them the song on which Bon Jovi had used studio musicians to play on the track "Runaway" (originally written in 1980). The studio musicians who helped record "Runaway" were known as The All Star Review. They were: guitarist Tim Pierce, keyboardist Roy Bittan, drummer Frankie LaRocka and bassist Hugh McDonald.
The song began to get airplay in the New York area, then other sister stations in major markets picked up the song. In March 1983 Bon Jovi called David Bryan, who in turn called bassist Alec John Such (b. November 14, 1951, Perth Amboy, New Jersey, USA), ex-Phantom's Opera and an experienced drummer named Tico Torres (b. Hector Samuel Juan Torres, October 7, 1953, New York City, New York, USA).
Tapped to play lead guitar was Bon Jovi's neighbor, Dave Sabo (a.k.a. The Snake) (b. David Michael Sabo, September 16, 1964, North Brunswick, New Jersey, USA), who later formed the group Skid Row. Sabo was eventually replaced by Richie Sambora (b. Richard Stephen Sambora, July 11, 1959, Perth Amboy, New Jersey, USA). Before joining the group, Sambora had toured with Joe Cocker, played with a group called Mercy and had been called up to audition for Kiss. He also played on the album Lessons with the band Message, which was re-released on CD through Long Island Records in 1995. Message was originally signed to Led Zeppelin's Swan Song Records label, although the album was never released.
Tico Torres was also an experienced musician, having recorded and played live with Phantom's Opera, The Marvelettes, and Chuck Berry. He appeared on 26 records and had recently recorded with Franke and the Knockouts, a Jersey band with hit singles during the early 1980s.
David Bryan had quit the band he and Bon Jovi founded in order to study medicine. While in college, he realized he wanted to pursue music full-time and was accepted to Juilliard School, the New York music school. When Bon Jovi called his friend and said he was putting together a band and a record deal looked likely, Bryan followed Bon Jovi's lead and gave up his studies.
Early years (1982–1985)
Once the band began playing showcases and opening for local talent, they caught the attention of record executive Derek Shulman, who signed them to Mercury Records, part of the PolyGram company. Because Jon Bon Jovi wanted a group name, Pamela Maher a friend of Richard Fischer, an employee of Doc McGhee, suggested they call themselves Bon Jovi. Using the example of the other famous two syllable band Van Halen. This name was chosen as opposed to the original idea of Johny Electric. Pamela's suggestion of the name was met with little enthusiasm, but two years later they hit the charts under that name.
With the help of their new manager Doc McGhee they recorded the band's debut album, Bon Jovi, was released on January 21, 1984. The album included the band's first hit single, "Runaway". The group found themselves opening for ZZ Top at Madison Square Garden (before their first album had been released), and for Scorpions and Kiss in the US and Europe. They also made an appearance on the popular television program American Bandstand.
In 1985, Bon Jovi's second album 7800° Fahrenheit was released. While the album did not do as well as they'd hoped in terms of sales, it allowed Bon Jovi to get out on the road touring again. In April and May 1985, Bon Jovi headlined venues in Europe and Japan. In May, the band began a 6-month run of U.S. tourdates supporting Ratt. In the midst of that tour they managed to make appearances at the Texas Jam and Castle Donnington's Monsters of Rock concerts in England. Jon Bon Jovi also did a solo appearance at the very first Farm Aid in 1985.
Band members
Current members
* Jon Bon Jovi - vocals, guitar, percussion, harmonica (1983-present)
* Richie Sambora - guitar, backing vocals (1983-present)
* David Bryan - keyboards, backing vocals (1983-present)
* Tico Torres - drums, percussion (1983-present)
Additional musician
* Hugh McDonald - bass guitar, backing vocals (November 1994-present)
* Bobby Bandiera - rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2003-present - live only)
* Jeff Kazee - organ, additional keyboards, backing vocals (2003-2006 - live only)
* Everett Bradley - percussion, backing vocals (2003-2006 - occasional live)
* Lorenza Ponce - violin, backing vocals (2006-2007 - live)
Former members
* Alec John Such - bass guitar, backing vocals (1983-1994) Ex-Phantom's Opera
7800° Fahrenheit is Bon Jovi's second album, and was released in April 1985. It introduced the classic '80s Bon Jovi logo that would later on be used in Slippery When Wet and New Jersey.
Lead singer Jon Bon Jovi explained that the title referred to the temperature at which stone liquefied; as the Fahrenheit scale is primarily used only in the United States, "7800° Fahrenheit" thus suggested "American hot rock." (7800° Fahrenheit≈4315.6° Celsius)
Approximate sales were in excess of one million copies. The singles "In and Out of Love" and "Only Lonely" both charted in the Billboard Hot 100 (although both failed to reach the top 40 status of "Runaway" from the previous album), and still get occasional airplay on US AOR and hard rock format radio stations.
The album was remastered and re-released in 1998, adding the music video for "In and Out of Love" as a bonus track.
The band has essentially disowned this album in recent years because they believe the material presented on it does not match the standards set on their later releases. Aside from a few extremely rare performances of the song 'Tokyo Road' (all of which occurred in Japan), nothing from this album has been played live in almost 20 years since the conclusion of the Jersey Syndicate Tour.
Track listing
1. "In and Out of Love" 4:26
2. "The Price Of Love" 4:14
3. "Only Lonely" 5:02
4. "King of the Mountain" 3:54
5. "Silent Night" 5:08
6. "Tokyo Road" 5:42
7. "The Hardest Part Is the Night" 4:25
8. "Always Run To You" 5:00
9. "(I Don't Wanna Fall) To the Fire" 4:28
10. "Secret Dreams" 4:54
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