{"id":35817,"date":"2013-12-29T10:42:22","date_gmt":"2013-12-29T15:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=35817"},"modified":"2013-12-31T07:45:47","modified_gmt":"2013-12-31T12:45:47","slug":"bon-jovis-30th-anniversary-of-their-self-titled-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2013\/bon-jovis-30th-anniversary-of-their-self-titled-debut\/","title":{"rendered":"Bon Jovi’s 30th Anniversary of their Self-titled Debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alex Smith Barbieri<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Bon-Jovi-1984\"<\/p>\n

Can you believe it been 30 years since Bon Jovi\u2019s first album came out? Yup\u2014their legendary debut with the megahit \u201cRunaway\u201d was released on January 21, 1984. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s an interesting study in success to look back at Jon and company\u2019s three-decade rise to rock stardom. Bon Jovi just completed their 2013 Because We Can world tour (sans Richie, unfortunately), and are still one of the biggest bands in the world.<\/p>\n

Was it obvious that Bon Jovi\u2014both the man and the band\u2014was going to be huge someday? Not to most, but damn sure to Jon Bon Jovi. Interview footage from 1984 reveals a 22-year-old Jon was extremely confident about the band\u2019s abilities, and where they were heading. And that, rock fans, is the secret ingredient to the first album\u2019s appeal and success: Jon\u2019s confidence. Even though it was their first album, and Jon and Richie\u2019s songwriting partnership was new, and Jon\u2019s singing voice was still developing, he sold every lyric in every line of every song. <\/p>\n

And there are some great pop rock songs on that first album\u2014in addition to \u201cRunaway,\u201d the fiery \u201cRoulette,\u201d super-melodic \u201cShe Don\u2019t Know Me\u201d and infectious \u201cBreakout\u201d and they still sound great today, especially blasting out of car speakers on a sunny summer day. <\/p>\n

Bon Jovi\u2019s debut was recorded between September 1982 and June 1983 at The Power Station in New York City\u2014a studio then co-owned by Jon\u2019s second cousin Tony Bongiovi. Tony and Lance Quinn produced the album. <\/p>\n

Originally titled Tough Talk<\/em>, the album was renamed by Polygram to Bon Jovi<\/em>. It didn\u2019t set the airwaves on fire at first\u2014but Jon\u2019s relentless ambition and early tours with Scorpions and KISS pushed the album to #43 on The Billboard 200 and the \u201cRunaway\u201d single to #39 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album was ranked the 11th best rock album of 1984 by Kerrang! magazine.<\/p>\n

In a July 5, 1985 interview published in the Grand Rapids Press, Jon Bon Jovi stated, \u201cWe\u2019re interested in being a slow-burner, a band that\u2019s around for 20 years.\u201d Well, Jon, you got your wish, and then some\u201430 years later and you\u2019re still going strong. Viva Bon Jovi!<\/p>\n

\"BonGenre: Rock, Hard Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nJon Bon Jovi \u2013 Lead vocals
\nDavid Bryan (then Rashbaum) \u2013 Keyboards, backing vocals
\nRichie Sambora \u2013 Lead guitar, backing vocals
\nAlex John Such \u2013 Bass, backing vocals
\nTico Torres \u2013 Drums, percussion<\/p>\n

Tracklist:
\n1. Runaway
\n2. Roulette
\n3. She Don\u2019t Know Me
\n4. Shot Through the Heart
\n5. Love Lies
\n6. Breakout
\n7. Burning For Love
\n8. Come Back
\n9. Get Ready<\/p>\n

Label: Originally Polygram, now Island\/Mercury<\/p>\n

Order the remastered version of Bon Jovi\u2019s debut on Amazon: http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Bon-Jovi\/dp\/B00000I07N<\/a><\/p>\n

Visit the official Bon Jovi website: http:\/\/www.bonjovi.com\/home\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alex Smith Barbieri – Senior Columnist — Can you believe it been 30 years since Bon Jovi\u2019s first album came out? Yup\u2014their legendary debut with the megahit \u201cRunaway\u201d was released on January 21, 1984. […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":35818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6971],"tags":[8534,8535,8536,5936],"class_list":{"0":"post-35817","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-main-articles","8":"tag-bon-jovi","9":"tag-bon-jovi-30-year-anniversary","10":"tag-jon-bon-jovi","11":"tag-richie-sambora"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}