History

By now we are all familiar with the name and the face: Jon Bon Jovi. Better looking than the best-looking boy in school. Better still, fronting one of the biggest and best rock and roll bands in the world. Songs like "You Give Love A Bad Name", "Livin' On A Prayer" or "Always" aren't just great Bon Jovi numbers, they are classic, timeless rock songs - part of the sweep of the great American dream, siphoned through the reality of life in the raw.

Jon Bon Jovi was born as John Bongiovi Jnr. on March 2nd, 1962 in New Jersey. His father was a hairdresser, his mother an ex-playboy bunny. Aged 7, young JB got his first guitar for Christmas, by Boxing Day he had thrown it down the stairs and broken it. Aged about 13 he expressed an interest in playing guitar, and rescued his broken guitar. His neighbour started to teach him how to play. Aged 14 Jon's first band was Starz, formed in High School. After their first gig they became known as Raze, who went on to finish last in a High School Talent Contest.

After the demise of Raze Jon formed a 10-piece R&B band called Atlantic City Expressway (ACE), who went on to become a popular band in the New Jersey area. The was the first band to feature another member of Bon Jovi, David Rashbaum (later to become David Bryan), playing on the keyboard. ACE regularly opened for Bruce Springsteen and Southside Johnny in the New jersey area, but never became anything big. Eventually ACE disbanded, and Jon moved on to become the front man in a band called The Rest. Despite interest from Southside Johnny and Billy Squier - a huge star in the US at the time - the band never managed to break out of the local scene and eventually frustration lead to acrimony and the band broke up.


By now Jon was seriously beginning to wonder if he was ever going to get the break he needed. In September 1980 he took a low-paid job at the Powerstation Studios in New York which were owned and run by his second cousin Tony Bongiovi. Here Jon watched and learned from professionals such as Mick Jagger and David Bowie, who were using the studio at the time. During "dead time", early hours before dawn when the rest of the world is sleeping, Jon was in the studio recording his own imaginary album. By Christmas 1982, a tape labeled "Johnny B" featuring, among other songs, a catchy little number called "Runaway" began to circulate in New York. However nothing came of this and so a desperate Jon decided to upsticks and move to Los Angeles, along with David Rashbaum. Here they went around every record company they could with their demo tape. The result: a few "maybe's". They were back home in New Jersey within a month.
With Jon thinking he was back to square one, a stroke of luck back in New York finally put Jon and David back on the rails. Ray Willhard, from the Power Station Studios, had entered "Runaway" in a locally run talent contest called "From Rock To Riches", run by the radio station WAPP. The track won the regional heat and was included on a compilation album sold locally by WAPP. That did the trick, suddenly Jon Bongiovi and The Wild Ones had come from being nothings, to the hottest unsigned band on the US East coast.

By early 1983, two major labels were competing for Jon's signature, Atlantic and PolyGram. And on July 1sy, 1983, PolyGram landed their man. HE pulled out of the final of the "From Rock To Riches" contest to focus on putting together a permanent band line-up. "Bongiovi" could look confusing on a record sleeve, an American-ised Bon Jovi was deemed far more fan-friendly.

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