WWBTF: Acoustic

From the Actor's Studio episode, showing on November 16th.

Up on my SkyDrive. Thanks T and R for dropping it in my inbox!!

~ Hath

British Music Experience

Stadium fillers Bon Jovi performed a secret gig especially for a handful of their British fans on November 5, at the British Music Experience playing to an audience made up entirely of winners of a competition held on their UK website.

The set of indoor fireworks included the classics 'Wanted Dead Or Alive', 'You Give Love A Bad Name' and an acoustic, strippped down version of 'Livin' On A Prayer' as well as songs from their new album The Circle released this week.

The Chairman of the Band

Jon Bon Jovi is not your average rock star. When you tell people you are meeting him, you get two reactions: disdain or “Phwoar”. Both are usually followed by a rousing rendition of Livin’ on a Prayer. So for the conflicted out there, let’s start by getting a few things straight: he is not tiny; he’s a very respectable 5ft 10in or 11in. His hair, while by no means a No 1 all over, is no longer so big that it need dominate our thoughts. He’s a handsome and successful rock star who gets a reliably sneering press (too commercial, too soft-rock, too cheesily uplifting); a stratospherically rich man who nonetheless keeps plugging away with the CDs, the tours, the long absences from his family. And today, he is in a rubbish part of America listening to local dignitaries drone on at a tree-planting ceremony. Why, for the love of God? Is he, as rumour has it, planning to follow in the footsteps of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Clint Eastwood, and swap showbiz for politics?

“Fuck no!” he says, grinning good-naturedly. “Fifty per cent of people hate you before you walk out the door. You can get much more done philanthropically than you can ever do shaking hands. I probably could run, because celebrity would win you office, and what a shame that would be. The difference between me and the President is that I get to keep the house and the plane.”

It turns out that philanthropy, through his Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, and not politics, is what gets JBJ out of bed. And it is his foundation that has helped to fund today’s tree-planting. But he could just write a cheque, and not bother hacking down here on the train (quicker than the chopper, apparently). “My going there gets the community involved. If you go there, and you speak to people, and look them in the eye and say, ‘You do this, I’ll do that…’ It’s the power of ‘we’.”

Of course, plenty of famous people give money to charity, or support charitable foundations. Bon Jovi is different. He set up his own foundation because he wants to know exactly where his money’s going. He also does most of it when the cameras are categorically not rolling, refusing to do photogenic things more than once during the day because, “This is not a photo opportunity.” Finally, he’s different because he isn’t preachy – he just gets on with it. He could spend his life sitting on a beach; he chooses not to. “What a selfish, miserable, shit life that would be. It’s a terrible existence! What good are you doing? What purpose are you serving? What legacy are you leaving?”

Read the article in its entirety here.

~ Hath

Alan McGee meets Jon Bon Jovi

Thanks, Kiwi, for the drop in the ol' GoddessMail inbox!!

Who's the last person you might expect to be a dedicated Bon Jovi fan? How about someone who, while Bon Jovi were conquering the world's charts in the 1980s and 90s, was releasing records of guitar noise on an indie label he'd set up with an enterprise allowance grant? Someone who's known for the evangelical fervour with which he describes punk rock's effects on him? That would be Alan McGee, the former head of Creation records, mentor to Oasis, the Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine and Primal Scream. Earlier this year, he blogged at guardian.co.uk/music about his love for Bon Jovi. Titled Why Bon Jovi are Mythic New Jersey Artists, it passionately defended the band against those who deride them as pedestrian arena rockers. So, why not put McGee and Jon Bon Jovi, singer and leader of the group that bears his name, together – and see whether the men who gave us, respectively, Livin' on a Prayer and the Pastels' A Million Tears can find any common ground …

Alan McGee: I've spent a lot of time in America, and I don't think a lot of Brits get the scene you come out of. I don't think people here understand how much goodwill there is toward Bon Jovi in America. You were brought up in a blue-collar neighbourhood. How much personal drive do you feel comes from your own working-class roots?

Jon Bon Jovi: A fair amount. It's a work ethic. We didn't have the LA style-over-substance thing, or the big-city glamour that you get caught up in, where you're caught up in press stories about who's scoring the best drugs in town. A lot of the media love to report on the best gossip stories, but you won't get that from my band. Either we didn't do it or we didn't tell anyone! That kid from Babyshambles, I've never, ever heard of him. People say, "Isn't he great? He's such a rock star?" But that's all people know about him, that he's a great rock star.

AM: Speaking of drive, have you seen the movie Anvil [the documentary about a perennial-loser metal band] that's currently making the rounds? The documentary is interesting, highlighting their rise and fall and their drive to keep making rock'n'roll.

JBJ: I loved it, really did love it. I think I'm one of the four people in the world who knew who they were. They show a shot of a Japanese show, and they were the opening band and we were the next one up at that show. It was us, them and Whitesnake and Michael Schenker and the Scorpions. What I loved most about it was everything the guy said was with a smile – he just loves to play the guitar. After the documentary, they didn't get big, they got to open for AC/DC around here.

AM: You played the Asbury Park club circuit as a teenager. Do you think those stomping grounds informed your present-day live act? What did you learn from the Asbury Park circuit?

JBJ: We didn't play the Stone Pony [the club associated with Bruce Springsteen], 'cos that was more for cover bands, but there was a place called the Fast Lane, and what we learned was to be an original band. It was a one-for-all, all-for-one attitude there. There were four bands playing originals [each night], and if you needed help, they were always around. You learned really early on that it was important to play your own stuff.

AM: Have you seen The Wrestler? There was an interesting musical point made when Mickey Rourke implied he missed the good time rock'n'roll of Ratt, and how grunge killed the party. What were your own reactions to Nirvana, et al? Did you dig it?

JBJ: Oh, yeah, immensely. It was the healthiest thing that could've happened. [Hard rock had become] like any genre of music that gets so big that record executives sign 10 bands that sound like bands that are already successful. Guns N' Roses and us and three or four other bands were doing well, and then they signed a lot of shite, and then Kurt Cobain came along and cleared out all the shite. But then the record companies went and signed 10 Nirvanas! Every genre has its successes, and then they eat their own young.

AM: You are one of the few bands from the 80s who circumvented grunge and still remained popular without becoming a nostalgia act. Do you ever think, "Wow, we were lucky"? And how did you maintain your profile when others faltered?

JBJ: We remained lucky because we work hard, and we had established roots in Asia, Africa, Australia and America. A lot of bands didn't do the whole world, and when America turned its backs on them, they lost everything. But when America turned its back on us, we just went to Asia and Australia, and when America came back, we were cool with that.

AM: Peter Buck said that, before starting REM, he read every biography to avoid every cause for a band breaking up. How have you kept Bon Jovi going for 25 years with only the loss of the bass player?

JBJ: Ultimately, the guys like each other. Richie [Sambora, guitarist] and I get along and we really are great friends and fans of each other. I make sure we give credit where credit is due. If Richie shows up and is great on a record I make sure people know it. It's not all me, me, me, me, me.

AM: You seem to have a team mentality.

JBJ: Bono needs The Edge, Plant would've needed Page, Mick needs Keith, Keith needs Mick.

AM: In your key song, Livin' on a Prayer, there has been discussion and controversy about whether the Tommy character was a strike-breaker. Any thoughts?

JBJ: No, no, Christ, no. He just lost his job – it wasn't that he crossed the [picket] line. The industry left the town and he didn't get the job back. It was a fictional character. The inspiration was a young couple who got pregnant and gave up everything they had, but that didn't read right, so we changed the story.

AM: You participated in American Idol. What are your feelings about people using reality TV to propel themselves to musical fame? Do you feel instant success without the groundwork is not sustainable, considering the groundwork you put into your own career? Or do you feel musical culture has changed and American Idol reflects the attention-deficit-disorder style of present day music?

JBJ: What happened when we got a record deal was that you were given several albums to develop a style and build a fanbase and earn your keep. If you floundered the first one or two, chances are you would still get the third one. These kids come off an Idol or an X Factor and they're expected to be competitive with the biggest stars of the day. Even if they have a one- or five-year career, it might be hard for them to have a 25-year career. Where's the world going to find the next Bob Dylan? People will say he's not pretty enough or doesn't sing pretty enough.

AM: What is the secret of Bon Jovi's success?

JBJ: I think one of the secrets to the band's success is our respect for [the songwriting of] the Dylans and Van Morrisons and Springsteens and the showmanship of the Van Halens and the singing chops and ability to play of the Journeys and the Raspberries. That cross-pollination made us unique. It was little bits of all those things and not being so narrow-minded as to say that if it's not one thing, it's not valid. That's probably the secret.

AM: Your new album is a return to the subject matter of Livin' on a Prayer – more anthems for economic hard times. What are you trying to achieve with it?

JBJ: We said some things I'm very proud of. The themes were based on what was happening in the world. When you read into the lyrics of Can We Be Happy Now, that's our president getting elected; when you hear Bullet, that was about Jennifer Hudson's family getting shot on that Sunday morning. The stories you read in the lyrics are all true. People are waiting to tear the president down – they built him up and now they want to tear him down. We Weren't Born to Follow has a universal and timeless theme: we were asked to come to the anniversary of the Berlin Wall, the only band invited to it with all the world leaders. I was in Berlin when it came down, and 20 years later to be the only band asked to come and perform at the ceremony is an honour.

Now, strictly speaking, I don't think JonBon and crew were "asked". I believe I read that they sent a "hey, can we come play" letter and the Germans said "sure". Not quite the same thing.

Still a very cool thing. A VERY cool thing.

And I have to say, the mention of the Jesus and Mary Chain? Totally bringing me back to college, when worked at the campus' alternative radio station. JMC was a huge hit.

~ Hath

source

I'm Going!

Yes, I got through on the Ticketmaster Internet pre-sale thingy today.  Was not going to be around to try for FC tix (and neither were the girls I'm going with) so we got the "cheap seats" from TM.

Section A6 (Richie's side, all the way stage left), row 29.  Yeah, pretty far back, but the tickets were only $143USD.

And I am SO jazzed for July!

So look for me, Fiction Mistress, Willow, TaraLeigh, and some other girlfriends (Bayadara and the Lilys among others) hanging out around Foxboro in the afternoon for lunch :)

God, is it summer yet?

~ Hath

Two Interview Dowloads

Thanks, devotee D, for these gems :)

Nov 5 Triple M Sydney -
Triple M radio Sydney interview - aired Nov 5, actually done in October while guys were in Tokyo - aired in 2 parts. Includes talk about Australian tour

Nov 2 Key103 Manchester
Manchester Key103 radio interview with Jon & Richie from Nov 2nd - aired in 2 parts. Includes talk about full stadium UK & European tour for 2011 - just O2 for 2010.

~ Hath

Another Circle Review

... this one Richie-centric.

Bon Jovi may have become middle-of-the-road pop rockers in their later years (or maybe they always were) but there’s still one very good reason for listening to the band’s latest material. And that reason is Richie Sambora.

The only individual other than Jon Bon Jovi given a songwriting credit on each of The Circle’s 12 tracks, he is as essential to the New Jersey act’s success as the main man. Without Sambora it’s unlikely there would be a Bon Jovi.

And so if the majority of another made-for-enormodomes album is too predictable to really rock out there are the riffs and the solos to savour. And as usual Sambora delivers a masterclass in slick musicianship.

His brief but uplifting solo lights up the otherwise tame lead single We Weren’t Born To Follow but Richie really comes into his own on the excellent When We Were Beautiful. It’s a good song given credence by a great tune and knocks spots off it’s lame predecessor.

The understated Living On A Prayer-style groove of Work For The Working Man is typical Bon Jovi fare but it’s increasingly uncomfortable hearing the multi-millionaire US rockers singing about their fellow countrymen struggling in the face of the current economic crisis. It’s clearly well-meant but it doesn’t quite work. For the working man, or anyone else for that matter.

Sambora is back to his best on obvious future single Superman Tonight – an uplifting power ballad punctuated by some seriously urgent axe work. But it’s after this point that the album drifts into an over-complacent mid-section with throwaway fillers Bullet (bar the Slash-esque solo) and Thorn In My Side B-sides at best for a band with so many anthemic hits under their belts. Live Before I Die is like Always but not as good – yet it still manages to get The Circle back on track.

Then comes the Child’s play. Desmond Child, that is. The renowned hit maker contributes to four of the final five songs on The Circle and his touch, however light or heavy, still makes for a quality rock sound after all of these years.

Brokenpromiseland’s ambient intro is more U2 than Bon Jovi but it’s not long before the singalong chorus and strings kick in to create an instantly Child friendly tune. And Sambora’s gritty solo may be criminally short but it’s incredibly sweet.

The theme continues on Fast Cars (think lyrics like ‘the highway of life’ and so on) and the even cheesier Learn To Love. Child’s stamp is written all over the latter and while we’ve kinda heard it before it’s great to hear it again.

Why his work doesn’t feature on the first half of The Circle is anyone’s guess but Sambora’s influence is ubiquitous. And that’s reason enough to take a chance on yet another guaranteed big seller from the prolific Bon Jovi stable.

CD/Ticket Bundles

You can purchase concert tickets and get a digital download of the new album “The Circle” starting Thursday, November 5th at 10AM, local venue time, for selected venues on The Circle Tour. This pre-sale will end November 8th at 10PM. This version of “The Circle” includes 3 tracks recorded live at Madison Square Garden and an audio interview with Jon Bon Jovi!
Click here to get tickets!

Tickets can be purchased without a digital download starting Monday, November 9th for Detroit and Seattle and November 16th for all other markets!

Beginning Thursday, Nov 5 at 10 AM through Sunday, Nov 8 at 10 PM consumers that pre-order Bon Jovi's new album, The Circle, can purchase up to 8 tickets in Stadiums or 4 tickets in Arenas. If you purchase tickets during this timeframe, one digital album will be added to your ticket order for a price of $10.84 in the US or $11.28 in Montreal and $11.24 in the remainder of Canada (includes applicable sales tax).

You will receive an email from Ticketmaster in the US or Universal Music in Canada with instructions on how to redeem the new album. Redeem your digital download code/pin for “The Circle” by 11/15 11:59 PM PST you’ll receive 3 previously unreleased bonus tracks recorded live at Madison Square Garden and an exclusive audio interview with Jon Bon Jovi himself!

This offer is only available to U.S. residents and does not apply to VIP tickets.

~ Hath

Richie on WPLJ

Up on my SkyDrive for your listening pleasure.  An interesting tid bit -- Richie is actually tweeting :)

Sorry, baby, for doubting you -- but you have to see my side of it.  I of all people know about creating fake people for the 'net.

~ Hath

Superman Tonight

By far, my favorite track on the new record. Hathlet's fave too, if you're keeping score.

From the BBC Radio 2 show that was yesterday, there's this video. Not the best quality, but *swoon* a hell of a song.



I'll have the MP3 rip up, and when the whole show airs on November 14th, I'll try my best to snag it, and put it up on the BJCT blog. Of course, my army of devotees have been working overtime in giving me goodies, so I may end up with it even if I don't get it myself.

Thank you to all my devotees for helping me make this site the success it is. I couldn't do it without you, girls!

~ Hath

Update 5-November: Thanks Devotee P for this megaupload link.  If you want the video for your very own, go for it!!

JonBon: Not Your Average Diva

An article in Wales Online is a good read. Apparently, HRH actually knows how to make his own bed lol.

One other excerpt I found funny was the discussion about Jon's "backyard". As if the gazillion acres on the Navasink can qualify as a "yard"... "back-40" maybe...

Anyway, it's a good read.

Thanks, Devotee D for dropping this to me.

~ Hath

Product Update ~ The Book

Thanks to devotees S and V for dropping notes into my inbox for this:

S says

Amazon has sent me an email this morning: the book's available in UK/Europe... AT LAST!
Still got two weeks for delivery but... we're half way there!

V says

I just received an email from Amazon UK saying that my book will be delivered on 11th November so I'm assuming the release date is now something like the 9th.

So, it's coming! Truly, at some point, it's coming!

~ Hath

Today Show: November 4 ~ DOWNLOAD ADDED

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

There's a "FLV" file be up on the SkyDrive.  The "AVI" was too big for SkyDrive.  You should be able to google "FLV Converter" or "FLV Player" and get some good, free tools for your use :)

~ Hath

MSG DVD Track List

Player Magazine

The December issue of the Japanese music magazine "Player" will feature an extensive interview with Jon and Richie, plus a CD with a longer version of the interview.

@TokyoRockChick! Can we work something out??

~ Hath

JonBon on NBC Nightly News

“NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” will feature the charitable involvement of Jon Bon Jovi, Alicia Keys, Halle Berry, Tim McGraw and Glenn Close next week.

Each evening, starting Monday, November 9, the newscast will feature an actor or artist discussing their personal commitment to an important cause for the broadcast's “Making a Difference” segments.
“Making a Difference” profiles ordinary people doing extraordinary things to help their neighbors or even strangers in these tough economic times. In this special week, one-on-one interviews with each celebrity, combined with visits to some of the people whose lives they have touched, highlight the incredible work being done around the world.  Extended versions of each interview will also be streamed on the newscast’s website.

On Monday’s segment, anchor and managing editor Brian Williams spends time with Jon Bon Jovi.
The singer’s Soul Foundation helps create affordable housing for lower income and homeless families in the Philadelphia and New Jersey area. Brian spends the day with Bon Jovi visiting his Philadelphia site, and attending the ribbon-cutting for a playground his foundation helped restore.

DVR alert, people!!

~ Hath

Bon Jovi Invites Those Who've Served To Today Show on Wed, Nov 11

Bon Jovi's Today Show performance on Wed, Nov 11 will be a "Celebration of Service," as the band observes Veteran's Day with an invitation to all those who have served. Through the U.S.O and EIF, the Entertainment Industry Foundation, the band has invited local military personnel and their families as well as civilian volunteers who have performed recent service activities to join them for their early morning concert.

Service participants and military personnel should arrive beginning at 35 W. 48th St. at 6:00am on Wednesday, Nov. 11 to attend the band's performance.


CATTE!  You going, girlfriend?

~ Hath

When We Were Beautiful -- In Stores NOW!

You think you know Bon Jovi, but you don't until you open this book. With gorgeous, exclusive photographs and revealing text from the band members themselves, Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful captures Jon, Richie, Dave, and Tico at both intimate moments and under the limelight in all aspects of their lives, from the private times backstage and on the road to their stunning and unforgettable live performances.

Stretching back to the early days in Jersey, through successes and struggles, and up to the 2008 Lost Highway tour—the highest-grossing rock tour of that year—this book offers fans a dazzling portrait of rock stars on the road as they reflect on their twenty-five years together as a band of brothers. This insider's portrait of one of America's best-loved rock bands is the subject of a major documentary and this extraordinary book.

This dazzling 192 page book is available now at Amazon, Barnes And Noble and other book retailers.

For an exclusive look inside the book, click here.

For a great review of the book, click here.

I want to give a shout out to Mys for getting me my copy for an early Christmas gift.  I'll admit, I cruised over to my local B&N at lunch time today to hold it in my hot little hands.... and it took all my willpower not to buy the copy, because I KNOW it's in the mail!

I should know better.

I pre-ordered the CD/DVD from Amazon, but reserved one at my local FYE so I can have it day of.

Hello, I'm Hath, and I have an addiction: I'm a Joviholic.

But I do have to ask -- why couldn't these pre-order mail items be delivered the day they come out?  Hmmm?  My Harry Potter, when that came out, was delivered to my door the day of the  release.

Surely the Jovi Machine could have figured out away to do that, right?

~ Hath

""We Weren't Born To Follow" is the #8 video on VH1!

For the second week in a row Bon Jovi's video "We Weren't Born To Follow" made the biggest leap on VH1's Top 20 Countdown! In it's third week on the countdown the video jumped from #14 to #8! 


Continue to vote this week by clicking here.


Vote early, vote often.


~ Hath

David Candy

... as he was leaving BBC broadcasting ...

~ Hath

More Radio1 Shots

UK Radio Appearances ~ UPDATE

Thank you to the ever lovely Devotee J for dropping these goodies into my inbox.





In this folder is:

• The Absolute Radio Chris O'Donnell Interview. It´s short...but sweet :)
• The 3-part Radio Live Lounge Gig: Interview, WWBTF and LOAP (acoustic)

Here are some photos to drool over as well:




I am totally in love with the closeup of Richie's hand strumming the double-neck. It's the new backdrop on one of my work monitors. *sigh*

I'll have the MP3s up on the SkyDrive later today, but if you can't wait for that, you have the megaupload links.

~ Hath