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Dedi Setiawan
Slippery When Wet (1986–87)
In April 1986 Bon Jovi moved to Vancouver to record their third album.[8] Six months of studio work resulted in Slippery When Wet. The album, produced by Bruce Fairbairn and mixed by Bob Rock, was released in August 1986 and became Bon Jovi's breakthrough album. The first single, "You Give Love a Bad Name", became the band's first #1 single on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles charts. The follow-up single, "Livin' on a Prayer" hit #1 as well, spending four weeks at the top position, both co-written with a young virtually unknown songwriter named Desmond Child (b. John Charles Barrett, 28 October 1953, Gainesville, Florida, USA) whose songwriting talents were recommended by KISS frontman, Paul Stanley. The songwriting partnership of Jon Bon Jovi/ Richie Sambora/ Desmond Child has continued to the present day. The album's third single "Wanted Dead or Alive" was a major Top 10 hit and still remains to this day, the Bon Jovi "National Anthem".
MTV wholeheartedly embraced Bon Jovi, whose camera friendly good looks and live concert videos helped catapult the band into superstardom. With the overwhelming success of Slippery When Wet Bon Jovi had become the worldwide musical superstars they had been dreaming of. Slippery When Wet reached number one in Australia, Canada, Norway, Finland, New Zealand, Switzerland and holds the record for the most weeks for a hard rock album at #1 in U.S., spending 8 weeks at #1 on Billboard 200. The album also hit the Top 10 in Austria, the Netherlands, Japan, and the United Kingdom, spending 107 weeks on UK Albums Chart.
In 1987, Slippery When Wet was named the top selling album of the year by Billboard[9] and "Livin' On A Prayer" won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Stage Performance.[10] In 1988, the band also won an award for Favorite Pop/Rock Band at the American Music Awards[11] and an award for Favorite Rock Group at the People's Choice Awards.[12]
When Slippery When Wet was released in August 1986, Bon Jovi was the support act for 38 Special. By the end of 1986, Bon Jovi were well into six months of headline dates in arenas across America. In August 1987, the band headlined England's "Monsters of Rock" festival. During their set Dee Snider, Bruce Dickinson and Paul Stanley joined the band to perform "We're an American Band". The band ended the year having headlined 130 shows in the "Tour Without End", grossing $28,400,000.
Jon Bon Jovi was asked what all this astronomical success meant, to which he answered, "Everything is bigger, and it moves twice as fast. You're recognized twice as often. This is bigger, the whole world gets bigger. You have to sell more records, be huger. You get smarter and you understand the business a little more, so it's more responsibility. You understand it now, and you want to make sure everything goes right".
Following the group’s success, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora were asked to assist in producing Cher’s ‘comeback’ self-titled album in 1987. Jon and Richie co-wrote and sang backing vocals on Cher’s single "We All Sleep Alone" and also produced several other tracks on the album, later going on to co-produce Cher’s multi-platinum album Heart of Stone in 1989.
Posted in: The Legend Of Rock
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