Ep. 125: Bon Jovi – Original Band Members

February 18, 2024 Peter Jans

Intro

Hello and Welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.

I’m Jans your Mnemonic Man and today's episode will be on one of the biggest rock bands in history Bon Jovi.

Originating out of New Jersey and formed in 1983 by Jon Bon Jovi the band consisted of guitarist and songwriter Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, bassist Alec John Such, and of course singer and songwriter Jon Bon Jovi.

Following their highly successful albums “Slippery When Wet” in 1986 and “New Jersey” in 1988 Bon Jovi were catapulted into superstardom and were one of the biggest, if not the biggest rock acts of the eighties. Now, this got me thinking as to the other big bands of the eighties, and when I took a look back the competition was incredible. Bands such as Guns N’ Roses, Van Halen, Def Leppard, ACDC, U2, Queen, Kiss, Foreigner, Wham, Duran Duran, Dire Straits, Fleetwood Mac, Billy Idol, and Blondie along with, believe it or not, many, many more.

With a career spanning four decades, Bon Jovi has electrified the world performing around 2,700 concerts. They have sold over 120 million albums worldwide and have around 34 million fans around the globe.

Today’s mnemonic will be on the original band members of Bon Jovi.

So, with that being said, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Richie_Sambora_and_Jon_Bon_Jovi_at_2009_Tribeca.jpg

Wikipedia Summary

Bon Jovi is an American rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. The band currently consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald.[1] Original bassist Alec John Such left the band in 1994, and longtime guitarist and co-songwriter Richie Sambora left in 2013. The band has been credited with "bridging the gap between heavy metal, rock and pop with style and ease".[2]

In 1984, Bon Jovi released their first album and their debut single "Runaway" managed to crack the Top 40. In 1986, the band achieved widespread success and global recognition with their third album, Slippery When Wet, which sold over 20 million copies and included three Top 10 singles, two of which reached No. 1 ("You Give Love a Bad Name" and "Livin' on a Prayer")[3] Their fourth album, New Jersey (1988), was also extremely successful, selling over 10 million copies and featuring five Top 10 singles (a record for a rock or glam metal album of the time), two of which reached No. 1 ("Bad Medicine" and "I'll Be There for You"). After the band toured and recorded extensively during the late 1980s, culminating in the 1988–1990 New Jersey Tour, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora released successful solo albums in 1990 and 1991, respectively.

In 1992, the band returned with the double-platinum Keep the Faith. This was followed by their biggest-selling and longest-charting single "Always" (1994) and the album These Days (1995), which proved to be a bigger success in Europe than in the United States, producing four Top Ten singles in the United Kingdom. Following a second hiatus, their 2000 album Crush, particularly the lead single, "It's My Life", successfully introduced the band to a younger audience, and the band considered this their comeback album. The band followed up with Bounce in 2002. The platinum albums Have a Nice Day (2005) and Lost Highway (2007) saw the band incorporate elements of country music into some of the songs, including the 2006 single "Who Says You Can't Go Home", which won the band a Grammy Award and became the first single by a rock band to reach No. 1 on the country charts. The Circle (2009) marked a return to the band's rock sound. The band also enjoyed great success touring, with both the 2005–2006 Have a Nice Day Tour and 2007–2008 Lost Highway Tour ranking among the Top 20 highest-grossing concert tours of the 2000s. After recording and releasing Because We Can in 2013, lead guitarist Richie Sambora left the band just before an April concert during the supporting tour to spend more time with his family. The band released their first studio album without Sambora, Burning Bridges, in 2015 and the follow-up album This House Is Not For Sale in 2016, the tour for which encompassed 2017–2019. Their most recent album 2020 (2020) was re-worked to include songs inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic and George Floyd protests; its supporting tour was delayed to 2022.

Bon Jovi has released 15 studio albums, five compilations and three live albums. They have sold more than 120 million records worldwide,[4] making them one of the best-selling American rock bands,[5][6] and performed more than 2,700 concerts in over 50 countries for more than 34 million fans.[7][8] Bon Jovi was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006, and into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.[9] The band received the Award of Merit at the American Music Awards in 2004,[10] and Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2009.[11][12]

Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bon_Jovi]

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bon_Jovi_Live_2011_-_Stadio_Friuli_-_Udine.jpg

Mnemonic

Bon Jovi – Original Band Members Mnemonic – Jon Bon Jovi TRAD

(Picture Jon Bon Jovi going to a musicians’ market and trading to form his band Bon Jovi)

1. Jon Bon Jovi

2. Tico Torres

3. Richie Sambora

4. Alec John Such

5. David Bryan

Five Fun Facts

1. Bon Jovi’s first hit “Runaway” was recorded in 1980 in his cousin’s studio. This was backed by studio musicians as Bon Jovi had not yet put his band together. The band was later formed in 1983.

Apparently, Al Gore set up his new math rock band in the exact same year eponymously named Al Gore Rhythm!

2. Bon Jovi’s breakthrough album came in 1986 with “Slippery When Wet”. The album went platinum 12 times over. Just for anyone who doesn’t know what going platinum is, it simply means that the single or album has sold a million copies.

3. After this extremely successful breakthrough album “Slippery When Wet” the band released “New Jersey” two years later in 1988. This album produced five top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. These hits included Bad Medicine”, “I’ll Be There For You”, “Born to Be My Baby”, “Lay Your Hands On Me”, and Living in Sin”.

4. Jon Bon Jovi had a secret weapon and that was a man by the name of Desmund Child. Together they wrote some of Bon Jovi’s Biggest hits which included “Bad Medicine”, “Livin’ on a Prayer”, and “You Give Love a Bad Name”.

Desmund Child has also collaborated with Alice Cooper, Ricky Martin, Kiss, and Katy Perry which is just to name a few.

5. Bon Jovi was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018 and has won numerous awards. Some of these awards have included one Grammy Award, one Billboard Award, two MTV Video Music Awards, two MTC Europe Awards, and two American Music Awards.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jon_Bon_Jovi_and_Louise_Palanker_(41023043022).jpg

Three Question Quiz

Q.1. What was the name of the song that Bon Jovi won a Grammy award for collaborating with Jennifer Nettles?

Q.2. What was Bon Jovi’s first album called? Options are Bon Jovi, Slippery When Wet, or New Jersey

Q.3. What was Bon Jovi’s first number-one hit? Options are Bad Medicine, You Give Love a Bad Name, or Livin’ on a Prayer

Bonus Q. Jon Bon Jovi’s mum Carol Sharkey had what interesting job along with being a marine and a florist? Options are a football cheerleader, a Playboy Bunny, or a pilot

Mnemonic Recap

Bon Jovi – Original Band Members Mnemonic – Jon Bon Jovi TRAD

(Picture Jon Bon Jovi going to a musicians’ market and trading to form his band Bon Jovi)

1. Jon Bon Jovi

2. Tico Torres

3. Richie Sambora

4. Alec John Such

5. David Bryan

Three Question Quiz Answers

Q.1. What was the name of the song that Bon Jovi won a Grammy award for collaborating with Jennifer Nettles?

A. One Grammy Award in 2006 for Best Country Collaboration With Vocals with Jennifer Nettles with the song “Who Says You Can’t Go Home”

Q.2. What was Bon Jovi’s first album called? Options are Bon Jovi, Slippery When Wet, or New Jersey

A. Bon Jovi released in 1984

Q.3. What was Bon Jovi’s first number-one hit? Options are Bad Medicine, You Give Love a Bad Name, or Livin’ on a Prayer

A. You Give Love a Bad Name in 1986 from the album “Slippery When Wet”

Bonus Q. Jon Bon Jovi’s mum Carol Sharkey had what interesting job along with being a marine and a florist? Options are a football cheerleader, a Playboy Bunny, or a pilot

A. A Playboy Bunny

Word of the Week

orotund

[ ohr-uh-tuhnd ]

adjective

(of the voice or speech) characterized by strength, fullness, richness, and clearness.

Example

Jon Bon Jovi has been blessed with good looks, big hair, limitless energy, and an orotund voice.

Extracted from: [https://www.dictionary.com/]

https://www.themnemonictreepodcast.com/

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-mnemonic-tree-podcast/id1591795132

https://open.spotify.com/show/3T0LdIJ9PBQMXM3cdKd42Q?si=fqmaN2TNS8qqc7jOEVa-Cw