506 Hello Bon Jovi - Hardest Part Is The Night

Chart  entered : 31  August  1985

Chart  peak : 68

Number  of  hits : 38   ( Jon  Bon  Jovi  also  had  5  solo  hits, Richie  Sambora  had  3 )

This  was  a  small  beginning  for  the  most  consistently  successful  metal  act  of  the  last  30  years  who  until  very  recently  were  fixtures  in  the  singles  chart. We're  also  at  the  birth  here  of  one  of  the  most  unloved  musical  genres  namely  "hair  metal "   but  it's  perhaps  unfair  to  blame  Bon  Jovi  for  that.

John  Bongiovi   was  born  in  New  Jersey  in  1962. He  started  skipping  school  to  pursue musical  interests  in  his  teens  , encouraged  by  his  cousin  Tony  who  owned  the  famous  Power Station  studio  in  New  York.  He  played  with  keyboard  player  David  Bryan  Rashbaum  in  the ten  piece  outfit  Atlantic City  Expressway. In  1980  Tony  arranged  for  him  to  sing  a  song   on Meco's  Star  Wars -themed  Christmas  album  entitled  "R2 D2  We  Wish  You  A  Merry  Christmas ".

Two  years  later  Tony  arranged  for  a  group  of  session  players  including  Springsteen  pianist  Roy  Bittan  to  record  a  demo  of  John's  ( now  Jon )  song  "Runaway ".  Mercury  turned  him  down  at  first  but  changed  their  minds  after  "Runaway"  became  an  airplay  hit  in  New  York. Jon  had  a  recording  contract  but   wanted  a  band  around  him . First  he  called  up  David  who  dropped  his  university  studies  to  join. David  suggested  the  rhythm  section  of  Alec  John  Such  on  bass   and  Tico  Torres  on  drums.

Both  these  guys  were  much  older  than  Jon  and  David. Tico  had  played  with  Six  Feet  Under,  a  New  Jersey  version  of  Jefferson  Airplane  but  was  replaced  before  they  started  recording.  He  also  had  a  stint  with  glam  band  T.  Roth  and  Another  Pretty  Face  and  played  on  their  album  "Face  Facts "  in  1980. Mostly  though  he  worked  as  a  session  drummer  and  was  auditioned  by  Kiss  as  a  potential  replacement  for  Peter  Criss  in  1980.

Jon's  original  choice  for  guitarist  was  his  neighbour  David  Sabo  who  later  formed  Skid  Row.
After  a  few  gigs  he  was  replaced  by  Richie  Sambora. Richie  wasn't  as  old  as  Alec  or  Tico  but  had  been  around  a  bit. He  had  played  in  the  bands  Message, Mercy  and  Duke  Williams  &  the  Extremes  and  as  an  opening  act  for  Joe  Cocker  under  his  own  name. He  also  had  an  interest  in  a  New  Jersey  club  and  a  small  record  label.  

The  band's  debut  album "Bon  Jovi"  was  released  in  January  1984 ( slightly  later  in  the  UK )  and  is  a  good  pop  metal  album  without  being  earth-shattering. David's  keyboard  parts  give  the  record  an  attractive  modern  sheen. Strangely  the  two  singles  chosen  were  the  least  typical  tracks. "She  Don't  Know  Me"   (  the  first  release  in  the  UK  )  is  the  only  song  in  their  history  that  none  of  the  band  had  a  hand  in  writing . It  was  written  by  Fair  Warning's  Mark  Avsec   and  is  heavy  pop-rock  rather  than  metal  with  a  decent  chorus . The  other  was  "Runaway"  ( released  first  in  the  US  )   which   wasn't  re-recorded  and  so  only  features  Jon. Inspired  by  noticing  young  prostitutes  on  his  way  to  work,  it  has  an  arresting  keyboard  line ( like  the  one  on  Toto's  Hold  The  Line  speeded  up  )  which  makes  it  my  favourite  Bon  Jovi  record. Neither  made  the  chart  here   but  "Runaway"  got  to  39  in  the  US  and  "She  Don't  Know  Me"  to  48.  The  album  got  to  58  in  the  US  and  71  here  despite  the  lack  of  a  hit  single.

In  April  1985  they  released  their  second  album  7800 Fahrenheit   with  the  lead  single  being  the  much  heavier  "In  And Out  Of  Love ". Despite  the  siren-like  synth  in  the  chorus  it  sounds  more  conventionally  metal, somewhere  between  Def  Leppard  and  AC/DC. It  reached  69  in  the  States  but  did  nothing  here. Nevertheless  the  band  played  here  in  May  1985   and  then  returned  to  play  the  Monsters  of  Rock  concert  in  August.

"Hardest  Part  is  the  Night ",  chosen  for  the  second  single  in  preference  to  the  US  hit  "Only  Lonely  "  ( number  54  )  entered  the  chart  a  fortnight  after  that  appearance.  Jon  tries  to  channel  the  spirit  of  New  Jersey's  most  famous  son  in  the  lyric  with  vague  references  to  urban  struggle  and  a  chorus  that  has  echoes  of   Because  The  Night .  It's   alright  but  let  down  by  being  very  pedestrian  in  the  rhythm  department, chugging  when  it  should  be  rocking.  Bon  Jovi  would  really  hit  the  big  time  the  following  year  but  their  hard  work   let  them  put  down  this  early  marker.