She Don't Know Me

From Technorati


"This song, from the group's first album, is the only song on any Bon Jovi record that was not at least co-written by a member of the band."

Answer: What is "She Don't Know Me"?

"She Don't Know Me" is a song written by Mark Avsec that appears on Bon Jovi's debut record and to this day is the only song from any Bon Jovi album that doesn't have at least a co-write by a member of the band. But the story of how the song appeared on that first record is no where near as interesting as the songwriter is himself. For Mark Avsec's story goes a lot deeper than just a Bon Jovi song.

Mark's life as a musician, songwriter and producer includes stints with the bands Breathless and Wild Cherry ("Play That Funky Music"). The latter of which gave him the opportunity to perform on stage at the Grammy Awards.

[From Mark:]

"Luck" is a factor in all of our lives and in any business. But I think "luck" plays a bigger role in the music industry or in the arts in general. How many super-talented people are out there that we have never heard of? A lot! Somewhere there is someone who could be as impactful as Bruce Springsteen but the stars have not aligned for that person.

However, I also believe that you have to put yourself in a position to get lucky. That requires dedication, study, hard work. I wasted a lot of hours in recording studios working on "spec" on albums and songs that never saw the light of day. That certainly seemed to be the case for this Fair Warning album that "She Don't Know Me" was on. It came out on an MCA label and immediately died.

What happened though, was that record executive Lennie Petze heard the song and loved it and got the song to Jon's brother, Tony Bongiovi – with a strong suggestion that Bon Jovi should record the song for the first album. This is what was told to me – I have never independently validated this story but it makes sense.

Ironically, Bon Jovi "opened" for Donnie Iris and the Cruisers for several dates – so we got to know the guys in the band a bit. I'm a little introverted until I get to know people so I was not out there trying to meet Jon (Donnie got more friendly with Tico).

"She Don't Know Me" was released as a second single after "Runaway" – it did respectable. A lot of people know the song.

I'm not sure how crazy the band was about the song – It's never shown up on any compilations or anything.


Read the whole article here.


Bon Jovi's Video:


Bon Jovi Live:


The original, "Grass Roots" version


~ Hath