Bon Jovi
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[edit] Introduction
The Bon Jovi fan fiction community is small, with the few communities out there not being updated often. The Jon Bon Jovi Fiction Archive is one of the larger archives. Located on Geocities, it hasn't been updated since 2003. (Hector_Rashbaum on RockFic) The major author in the fandom is Cassie Morgan. This fan fiction author helped keep the fandom some what moving while she was active in it. When she stopped writing for the fandom in 2004, the on-line fandom pretty much died. (Hector_Rashbaum on RockFic)
[edit] The Musician
John Bongiovi hit it big in 1983 when a song he recorded in his cousin's Power Station with studio musicians made it onto a compilation cd of local music and started getting significant radio play [1]. He'd made an important first step in getting signed and making it big.
Problem: He had no band.
He called up David Rashbaum, a high school friend of his who he'd played in several bands with. David had stopped playing with Jon to attend Rutgers University, where he was a pre-med student. He was planning to leave Rutgers to study at Juilliard, where he was accepted shortly before John called him [2].
Bassist Alec John Such and drummer Tico Torres--the most experienced of the band, having played on 26 albums prior to joining--joined up [3]. Guitarist Richie Sambora heard of the band through Alec, and as the story goes on seeing John perform, informed him that he was the band's new guitarist [4].
The original incarnation of the band was meant to be temporary. David had school, Tico was between legs of touring with a band supporting Toto, Richie had his own band. However, that lineup remains nearly unchanged to this day. They were signed to PolyGram [5] and managed by Doc McGhee. John changed his name to the more aesthetically pleasing phonetic equivalent, "Jon Bon Jovi".
Their self-titled debut album was released in 1984. Supporting it, they opened for The Scorpions and Kiss. "Bon Jovi" went gold.
When it came time to record their follow-up album, the band was pretty miserable. Tico's wife had left him, Jon's high school girlfriend Dorothea had left him, and things just weren't that great. "7800 Fahrenheit" (named for the melting point of rock) is an album largely about heartbreak, and is considered by many fans (and the band) to be their weakest album. "7800" is the first album where David Rashbaum appears as David Bryan, dropping his last name in favor of his less-Jewish middle name. "Secret Dreams", the final track on "7800", is the only song in the entire Bon Jovi catalogue where Tico has a writing credit.
The band aren't big fans of these first two albums. They have stated this on numerous occasions, and only play "Runaway" regularly on tour. They still play "Tokyo Road" sometimes in Japan. Jon has said that they will never play "She Don't Know Me" from "7800" because it was written by someone else, and
The band's success skyrocketed with the release of "Slippery When Wet", due mainly to the overwhelming success of "Livin' on a Prayer". According to Richie, the album (which was originally going to be called "Wanted Dead or Alive" or [no joke] "Guns and Roses") was named when the band were in a strip club in Vancouver watching two girls soap each other up. They went through several cover concepts. The cover used for some overseas releases, a large-breasted girl in a wet, ripped "Slippery When Wet" shirt wasn't used in the US because of Tipper Gore's PMRC. The cover used in the US was a picture of a garbage bag sprayed with water, and "Slippery When Wet" drawn in the droplets with someone's finger. "Slippery" features the other hits "Wanted Dead or Alive", "You Give Love a Bad Name" (often mislabeled as "Shot Through the Heart", which is actually the title of a song off the debut album), and "Never Say Goodbye". It's sold over 10 million copies, and is probably the album most readily associated with Bon Jovi.
Bon Jovi returned to the studio almost immediately following their tour supporting "Slippery" to record their next album, "New Jersey", and went back on the road almost immediately after recording.
In 1989, Jon and Richie performed an acoustic medley of "Livin' on a Prayer" and "Wanted Dead or Alive" at the MTV Video Music Awards. This performance has been credited as the inspiration for MTV's "Unplugged" series.
At this point, the band were exhausted from years of near-constant touring and in desperate need of a break. So break is what they did. In 1990, Jon recorded his first solo album, "Blaze of Glory: Music From and Inspired by Young Guns 2", featuring appearances by Elton John, Aldo Nova, and Jeff Beck. The song "Blaze of Glory" was a huge hit for Jon, and has worked its way onto the band's greatest hits compilation and set lists. During this break, Richie Sambora recorded "Stranger in This Town", and David Bryan made the soundtrack for the sci-fi movie "Netherworld."
The future of the band was uncertain. Rumors of Jon and Richie having a highly strained relationship, of impending breakup were commonplace. Jon himself has said he wasn't sure if the band was going to get back together. Then, while on a trip, he was inspired to write the song "Dry County". The writing of this song is supposedly what made him get the guys back together to record the 1992 album "Keep the Faith". "Dry County" is a nine-minute epic about a dying oil town. "Keep the Faith" also includes the well-known power ballad "Bed of Roses". Prior to recording "Faith", Jon fired manager Doc McGhee and has taken charge of the band's management ever since.
After "Keep the Faith", the band released "Crossroad", a collection of greatest hits featuring two new songs: "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night" and "Always". "Always", originally written for the Gary Oldman movie Romeo is Bleeding but pulled when Jon decided he didn't like the film, is the band's biggest selling single. The overseas releases of "Crossroad" included "In These Arms", while the American release featured a remixed version of "Livin' on a Prayer" entitled "Prayer '94".
In 1994, David's solo album "On A Full Moon" was released. The album was mostly piano, featuring only one vocal track: his version of the Bon Jovi song "In These Arms".
After "Crossroad", Alec John Such was fired. An official reason has never been given--rumors include drug use, sloppy playing, and Such not fitting the band's "look" (that one has been denied by Jon). He was replaced--unofficially--by Hugh McDonald, an accomplished studio musician. He recorded "Runaway" with Jon, and had appeared on most, if not all, Bon Jovi albums. Hugh is not an official member of the band, and Jon has said that if they make the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame, Alec will be included because he was there in the beginning.
Bon Jovi released "These Days" in 1995. Widely considered their most artistically advanced album, "These Days" is a much less upbeat album than the rest of the Bon Jovi catalogue, possibly barring "7800 Fahrenheit". The album didn't do very well in the states, spawning only one hit single ("This Ain't A Love Song", my personal favorite) but did well overseas. Bon Jovi were playing Wembley Stadium the night it was announced "These Days" had reached No. 1 in the UK.
The band took another break following "These Days". Jon appeared in several films and released another solo album, "Destination Anywhere". A short film starring Jon and Demi Moore was released with the album. Richie recorded his second solo album, "Undiscovered Soul", and David released "Lunar Eclipse", essentially an updated version of his "On A Full Moon" cd ("Eclipse" features two songs that weren't on "Full Moon", and one song from "Full Moon" was not included on "Eclipse').
In the late 90s, David injured his finger in a home accident. By "injured" I mean "cut the pad of his right index finger off, clean to the bone". There was a chance he would never be able to play again, but through therapy he regained the use of that finger. The incident led to him not being allowed to appear in a video the band filmed for "Real Life" for the EDTV soundtrack. A cardboard cutout takes his place.
The song "It's My Life" off the 2000 album "Crush" was a huge boost to the band's career. The video received heavy airplay, and a whole new generation became familiar with Bon Jovi. "Crush" also featured "Thank You For Loving Me".
In 2001, they released "Onw Wild Night: Live 1985-2001". Many fans considered this a disappointment--rather than one concert, songs were picked from various tours through the years. It lacks the cohesiveness and flow of a typical live album.
"Bounce", the follow-up to "Crush", was released in 2002. The album's first single, "Everyday", bears a striking thematic resemblance to "It's My Life". The album features songs inspired by 9/11, although Jon has said he wanted to avoid strictly doing a 9/11 album. "Undivided" is the most directly 9/11-inspired song.
Rather than releasing a standard Greatest Hits, the band released "This Left Feels Right" in 2003. The album was originally going to be an acoustic live cd and dvd, but instead was recorded as rearrangements of the band's biggest hits. This is another album considered a disappointment by many Bon Jovi fans, and Jon recently stated he realized making it was a mistake when he found people thought of it as "messing with our memories".
Bon Jovi released a box set, "100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong", as a commemoration of both their 20th anniversary and the sale of 100 million albums worldwide. The set includes 38 previously unreleased tracks--many of which hadn't even been leaked in any form--and 12 rarities (songs from soundtracks and demo versions). The set includes a dvd of Jon and the band talking about several of the songs, with footage from their out-of-print 80s tour video "Access All Areas" and other behind-the-scenes footage.
2005 saw the release of "Have A Nice Day", an album inspired by Jon's feelings after the 2004 election (he was an active Kerry supporter). "Have A Nice Day", another thematic brother of "It's My Life" was the first single. "Welcome to Wherever You Are" was released as a single overseas, while a country-flavored duet with Sugarland singer Jennifer Nettles ("Who Says You Can't Go Home?") is the current single in the states. The video has been nominated for a couple country music awards. While promoting "Have A Nice Day", Bon Jovi appeared on Oprah and donated $1 million to her Angel Network.
Bon Jovi were slated to open the new Wembley Stadium (they were the last band to play at the old one) but the stadium wasn't finished in time for the scheduled dates.
[edit] Terminology
Below is a list of terms and their definitions that are used in this fan fiction community. This section needs more information.
[edit] Timeline
Below is a partial timeline of events that took place in this fan fiction community.
[edit] 1980s
- In 1984, the band released their self titled album, Bon Jovi. [6]
- In 1986, the band released their album Slippery When Wet. [7]
- In 1989 the band released their album New Jersey
[edit] 1990s
- In 1994, the band released their album Cross Road. [8]
- In 1995 the band released their album, These Days
[edit] 2000
[edit] 2001
- On July 29, 2001, the Boj Jovi LiveJournal community bon_jovi was created. [10]
- On November 28, 2001, the mailing list 80s_metal_fanfic was created. It was dedicated to fan fiction from the following bands: Poison, Warrant, Motley Crue, Guns N Roses, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Skid Row, and Great White. [11]
[edit] 2002
- On January 25, 2002, the Bon Jovi mailing list JBJ_FanFic was created. [12]
[edit] 2003
[edit] 2004
- On April 26, 2004, the RockFic fan fiction archive opened. Eventually, a community of Bon Jovi fan fiction writers and readers would congregate there.
[edit] 2005
- In 2005, the band released their album Have a Nice Day. [13]
- On March 15, 2005, the Bon Jovi LiveJournal community jon_bon_daily was created. [14]
- On April 19, 2005, the Bon Jovi LiveJournal community jovi_pics was created. [15]
[edit] 2006
- Road Hazards, a self published BandFic anthology containing Bon Jovi slash, was published on April 1, 2006 by RockFic. [16]
[edit] 2007
- On June 27, 2007, the LiveJournal community bjstillness was created. [17]
- In 2007 the band released their album Lost Highway
- This bandom was represented in the 2007 xmas_rocks exchange, with 2 stories posted in January of that year.[18]
- As of December 31, 2007, there were 128 Bon Jovi stories posted at RockFic.[19]
[edit] 2008
- This bandom was represented in the 2008 xmas_rocks exchange, with 1 story posted in January of that year.[20]
[edit] Kerfluffles
This section needs more information.
[edit] Influential Fan Works
This section needs more information.
[edit] Fandom Members
[edit] Fandom Size
As of April 8, 2007, there are zero Bon Jovi stories posted on FanWorks.Org and FicWad. There were 48 Bon Jovi stories posted on Quizilla, 31 stories on FanDomination.Net on this date.
As of October 2, 2007, there are 123 Bon Jovi stories on RockFic.
As of December 8, 2007, there were 65 stories on Quizilla. [21]
[edit] External Links
[edit] See also
[edit] Sources
Below is a partial list of articles and academic sources to help you continue to learn about this community.
This section needs more information.
