BON JOVI Kerrang interview. Written by Jason Arnopp, published in Kerrang, 29 April 2000. Guns. Fist fights. Heroin, Hollywood. Vodka binges. Money. The Mob. Jon Bon Jovi: do you want to talk about it? "I never quite understood cocaine. You can't get a hard-on, you grind your teeth and you can't sleep. What the f*** is good about that?!" JBJ is sitting on a sunny verandad, his eyes protected by shades, feet propped up on a white plastic table, the Kerrang! tape recorder lying in his lap. The last five years have seen the multi-millionaire vocalist veer off the rock highway, recording his second solo album 'Destination Anywhere', taking endless movie roles and fundamentally doing anything that wasn't related with his day job. Bon Jovi released their last album, 'These Days', in 1995. Speculation mounted as to whether Jon or Richie Sambora's solo projects might end Bon Jovi. Now they're back together, with a new album 'Crush' ready to go. It's classic Jovi fare, with big hooks, bigger guitars and a hint of their mid-80s good-time corker 'Slippery When Wet'. As if to hammer home the point that Jon is back and rocking, we are in a breathtakingly ostentatious two-bedroom villa at LA's Sunset Marquis hotel. A rock 'n' roll hangout to this day, this place was the scene of foolish behaviour from various stars - most notable Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan, who suffered from a heroin overdose on May 28, 1996 and was rushed to the conveniently local celebrity hospital Cedars-Sinai. Which could explain why, when I order a pair of scissors from room service, the porter say, "As long as you won't hurt yourself with them". Without an ironic chuckle Surely Bon Jovi don't fit in here. No those squeakly clean New Jersey lads, who cemented the phrase 'Whooooahhh-Ohhh!' into rock's vocabulary with their 1986 smash single 'Livin' On A Prayer'? There's much we don't know about Bon Jovi. And by God, we're going to prise some of it out. Whirr the tape back an hour... "Last night, I was running around in my underpants with a shotgun. Your typical Friday night." Eight hours ago, JBJ fulfilled his acting commitments to his latest Hollywood production 'Pay It Forward', starring Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and 'The Sixth Sense"s corpse-clocking youngster Haley Joel Osment. "He's as 12 year old kid who drives around on his bicycle," shrugs Jon. "His parents let him be a boy. If he wants to goof off on the set, no one yells at him. He's just jumps up and down on a couch." Jon and Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora are riding in a limo that's impressively equipped with Jack Daniel's, vodka and gin en route to the Sunset Marquis, where the villa has been hired for the Kerrang! interview and photo session. The duo have just completed a webcast in which 10 Kerrang! competition winners in London asked them 'real-time' questions. "That was the greatest thing ever!" enthuses Jon. "All our interviews should be done like that. We'd never have to go anywhere!" In the villa, watching Jon and Richie pose for the electric eye of K! photographer Ross Halfin, they resemble a married couple. While comfortable with silences, they also share in-jokes and perfectly hearty laughs. At one point, they share glances and gaze around the villa. "Is this the room?" ponders Jon. "I think so," smiles Richie. "That was one torrid week," We'll get to that shortly... Bon Jovi have always been distinctly 'PG'-rated, verging on a 'U'. Does Jon ever fancy doing something ludicrous? A 'Hugh Grant'? "Anything ludicrous I've done - which could compete with anything who's done anything - was nobody else's business but my own. I didn't need to live it out in Kerrang! or anywhere else." Can I tempt you with a crap cigar? "No, thanks." As he hands over a yellow disposable lighter which normally fires up his Marlboro Lights, that famously lopsided smirk unveils the left-hand side of his exquisitely white dentistry. "I don't have to be the Gallagher brothers and start a fight. We've done a good job of hiding our skeletons." So you've never been found on bathroom floor after taking a potentially lethal speedball cocktail? "Thank you very much! How d'you like that?!" You don't have a bad reputation for anything. "It's none of your business. It's the same old mafia attitude I've always had. But I don't wanna have to defend it and say, 'Really, I'm a bad boy!'. F**k you. You don't like it. I don't care! "I don't mean that personally. You're right, but I'm still here and a lot of guys aren't. I'd rather still be here." Settling down in one of the bedrooms, RS echoes Jon's sentiments on "keeping problems in-house. It's like 'The Sopranos' - keep it all to the chest and don't show weakness." What kind of problems do you mean? "I'm trying to think myself," the guitarist puzzles. "Nothing groundbreaking. Hotel rooms being f**cked up, or a woman being distraught because they were treated badly. Those kinds of things probably went down." Despite being married to actress Heather Locklear - the former wife of Tommy Lee, a man with whom Richie remains "totally cool" - Richie has managed to avoid tabloid scandal. Probably because he and Heather haven't left their hardcore home videos lying around their mansion, like Tom and Pam. "Yeah, that was rough for them, man," Richie sighs. "Obviously someone close to them made a lot of money on that thins." Do you and Heather keep your videos in a special box? "There are no videos," he chuckles. "Just use a mirror, man, F**k it!" According to Sambora, there was never a time when he thought there wouldn't be a new BJ LP. "Even if some shit was going on, I always thought there would be more," he smiles. "It was just too good, too much fun, too big. How could you quit?" Yet there have been a few points in the band's career when wobbly cartoon question marks hovered over them. During their 16 month would tour in support of 1980's 'New Jersey' album, for instance, during which they went somewhat mental. Afterwards, Jon and Richie tellingly embarked on solo projects. "I experienced a lot of burn-out," recalls Jon, out on the verandah. "By the end of the 'New Jersey' tour, it was 'Get me out of here, I don't wanna see anything to do with this for a long time'. We went on five different aeroplanes to five different places." Jon's destination was his California home, to write the soundtrack for 'Young Guns'. "I ran away from it all," he admits, "assumed the Billy The Kid personality, wrote that record and drank a summer away." Did you ever do drugs? "No." You must have dabbled. "No. Didn't have the mental capacity for drugs." How do you know, if you never did them? "I did them so early in my life. I had a couple of bad trips and realised that I couldn't handle it. I was very young. Thirteen." What's a JBJ acid trip like? "I just remember running right through a screen door freaking my parents out and thinking the whole world was like..." With one fist, he mines an undulating heart while humming woozily. "It didn't go away the next day, and stayed there the whole summer. At that age, when your hormones and whole body structure are changing and you're tripping on drugs, you start wondering about your mental stability. Fortunately, for me, I went, 'Wow man, I can't handle this', So I couldn't smoke a joint after that. I never did anything more than once, and I certainly never did junk." What about cocaine? "It f**ks your voice up," he shrugs. "Couldn't sing. Plus I couldn't afford it. Richie's take on drugs is slightly more hedonistic. "Hey, if it was around, I'd check it out," he allows. "But I never got into harder stuff, like heroin. It doesn't seem like anybody wins with that stuff, so why get in the ring? "Drinking was the worst enemy, I had, at one point. It creeps up on the road and suddenly you're drinking a bottle of vodka a day." Did you and Jon ever come to blows? Richie frowns, as if trying to recall. "I don't think we ever did. Swear to God! We might have banged a table here and there, or slapped a wall." No pokes in the eye? "No," he insists. "None of that shit. I mean, when we were younger, there were maybe some times when we were like...." He makes the sound of two cats scrapping. "But it was still all healthy debate," he concludes. Back on the verandah, Jon echoes these sentiments. "Nobody in the band has ever had a fight. Me and Richie have gotten tighter in the last couple of years than we ever were. We had our periods with the exuberance of youth and the frivolous spend-spend thing. Last time we were here we ended up losing a lawsuit and having a car chase. There was a lot of lunacy in this room. "We were holed up here, taking a few days off on the 'Slippery...' tour. There were a lot of paparazzi around. When we'd go out, people would follow us, take pictures and all that nonsense. We got into a car chase and someone got a little too close to my space in an airport. She claimed that I assaulted her. It's your word against theirs and the insurance company has to pay 'em off." The smirk returns. "So there's one of your rock 'n' roll stories that we just never let anybody else know about." One reputation which JBJ does have is that of a shrewd, almost ruthless, businessman. Is that the way he sees himself? "No, but if after 17 years you haven't learned the business, you're a f**cking moron. All I did 10 years ago was take control of my own life." Do you know any actual gangsters? "Plenty, sure," he says casually. "I don't get to see the darkest sides of them, but the romantic side of it? Yeah, I've seen it, plenty." Do you have a romantic view of that whole lifestyle? "No," he frowns emphatically. "No, no, no. That's why I stay distant from it, but obviously coming from upstate New York and New Jersey there's a lot of that around. You meet them. you know them and you know what it is." Do you get tired of people treading on eggshells around you? "We don't keep 'yes' men," he claims. "As you've probably noticed, there ain't no entourage around this band. People in our organisation have been here forever. That's why it's the same band, same management, same wife for 20 years. Newcomers aren't really welcome." Jon has nine movies under his belt, but none in which he is, quite literally, the leading man. While he's more of a household face than many movie stars, this has no bearing on his Hollywood status. "That's right," he nods. "In the music business I'm the director, the producer, the star, the writer and the marketeer. In the movie business. I'm the bass player. I do my part and go home!" Have you made any friends in the film world? "Yeah, Matthew McConaughey (with whom Jon stars in imminent submarine thriller 'U-571'). I think I'll be friends with him for a long. long time." How about Bruce Willis and Demi Moore? "Yeah. I had dinner with Bruce about a week ago, actually. But you don't call these guys and you don't see 'em on Tuesday. If you run into them, you pick up where you left off and you're excited to see each other. "I've become friendly with the guys in my town now, because I got kids. It sounds a little goofy, being in a rock band and talking about this in Kerrang!, but I meet a lot of guys my age now that have nothing to do with entertainment and couldn't give a f**k about it/ You can go out for a beer and talk about the game." Do your kids get a hard time at school? "They're aware of who I am because of school. There's not a platinum record on our house, and it's not as of we ever play the records there." Who do you call when you're upset? "I have my same close circle of best friends that I've had forever." What do you still want that money can't buy you? A full eight seconds pass. "Health is more important than wealth," he decides. "It's more important than anything. How old are you?" Twenty-seven. "Life'll change a lot in 10 years. I used to dare the aeroplane to crash because it would make a great movie, my record sales would boom and I'd leave a great-looking corpse. Now, for the first time, I start thinking about mortality. I'm not afraid to die, but on the other hand I think, 'Man, life is grand. I wanna be here tomorrow'. "It's about the stupid little things. Sitting on a verandah on a Saturday morning, drinking coffee, is pretty cool now." JBJ is in a horribly enviable position. Is there anything he's really bad at? "Anything other than what I do," he says. Such as? "I'm not as good a communicator in relationships, as most guys aren't. I can't cook, clean, mow the lawn, fix a car... I ain't much good at anything else." Luckily you don't have to do most of those things. "Oh, you know, you do 'em plenty," he signs wearily. "It's not that pampered a life." Would you describe yourself as shy? "No. I think I was much more introverted 10 years ago than I am now. When I took up acting I became more of an extrovert." What would you think if you met yourself at a party? "A nice enough guy. Give him a glass of wine and he's happy." Fancy a word association game? "Yes, doctor." Say the first word that comes into your head. Fame. "Game." Money. "Good (laughs)." Death. "Inevitable." Love. "The greatest." Satan. "(Pauses) Record company president. I hesitated, because I had to chose between that or 'movie mogul'." Are you aware of Fred Durst? "Isn't he the guy in Limp Bizket? I met him briefly." Did he give you props and respect? "Oh yeah, yeah. He was very nice." What did you take about? "I don't remember. It was in a restaurant, one afternoon." Did you see the Channel 4 programme 'Stadium Rock', in which a few of your relatives, including your second cousin Tony, slagged you off? "No. He's made living out of making money from me. Life's too short, man. What can I tell you? If I'm the only claim to fame in the guy's life, it's sad." How much longer will you be the singer in Bon Jovi? "I don't know. This band's beyond the point of breaking up, because none of us rely on it any more. We'll carry on as long as we've got something to say. I'm not 38, pretending to be 25. As the journey continues, I'll make the kind of records befitting. So I don't see a reason to stop. Bon Jovi release their new single, 'It's My Life', on May 15. The 'Crush' album follows on May 29. INTERVIEW Jon Bon Jovi has got the tabloid press in his garden, IRA bombs down the road, and Phil Alexander in his conservatory. But he's still having such a blast here, that's he's written the next Bon Jovi album. We are sitting in the conservatory of Jon Bon Jovi's rented house in South London when a pole with a mirror on the end of it is poked over the garden wall. "Did you see that?" asks Jon Bon Jovi, "That's a paparazzi guy at the wall. That's pretty wild." Quite what a tabloid snapper might expect to find by invading Jon's privacy on this particular Saturday afternoon is open to debate. There is a pool in the conservatory - maybe he thought he'd find Jon cavorting in there with his wife Dorothea, or even with a host of bimbos. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the only thing that's out of the ordinary are a few birthday balloons scattered around the place in the preparation for Jon's son, Jesse's first birthday. Jon and Dorothea's two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Stephanie is running around wanting to open her younger brother's presents. And that's about it. As for Jon himself, he's been off from filming his role in 'The Leading Man' for three days and the adrenaline has stopped flowing. It's the chance ho him to put his feet up. He's also quick to point out that his home life these days has very little to do with the burn-out-and-fade-aways excesses of old. "I live such a normal life," says Jon, shaking his head. "We don't hang out with entourages and we never have. Those kind of things don't really ever happen so it's hard to imagine why people would care." Jon's reality is incredibly comfortable, but relaxed. By the time he's finished filming mid-March, he'll have been in London for three months. His rented house looks deceptively small from the outside. Inside it's sumptuous spacious. The kitchen is a large white affair, looking on the conservatory, its pool, and into the garden. The front room has the drapes drawn for privacy and is grandly decorated with a piano and a large couch. In the middle of the room there is a massive entertainment centre that Jon has shipped in, with a TV and a stereo. The room backs on a den-like study with loads of books about major statesman and various encyclopedias. Jon is quick to admit that he's always wanted to hang out in London for a serious amount of time. Living in South London, he reckons, has been an eye-opening adventure. "I've learnt much more about London," he nods, "Stephanie is in nursery school and we walk her there. Both in Rumson and in Malibu where we have houses, you can't walk anywhere. That's the biggest thing that I love about this. We go out of our door, we walk five minutes and we're at a pub or a restaurant. That's really exciting. "Yesterday, we went to a premier of a cartoon for kids. We took two of the neighbour's kids too, and that's the first time I've done that. I've never worked out in a gym in my life, but there's a cool gym and I can go to where the people are great. I'm really enjoying living in London." Jon's filming schedule has taken him to various less-than-salubrious neighbourhoods. He spent two weeks shooting in Woolwich Arsenal, a week in Stratford East, one week around town in general. It's taught Jon a few lessons about the regional differences around London. "I've learnt about the prejudice of this town," he laughs, "I've gotten this sense that people in South London are really looked down upon. It's like, I have to apologise for renting a house south of the river." Culturally he's noticed increasing similarities between the UK and the States. "The world has become a lot more Americanised," he sighs, "Little stupid things, like the ambulance and police sirens here around sound American instead of that 'nee-noo-nee-noo' sound that was classic and English. There's the way pubs used to be closed at a certain time. Now they stay open all the time." Musically, Jon has also found himself in writing mode during his stay. "I'm on a roll," he grins, "I'm writing another one today and I'm feeling really good about it. The fact is I know now that I'm going to get a set of songs together this year." "With ever record, you never know if it's going to be your last. You never know if you're going to able top of it, or if you'll be able to write another song. So when that bolt of lightning hits, you run with it." So far Jon has written three new songs, with a fourth on the way. At the time of our chat, he had yet to go through the trauma of losing his lyric book. "I've written a song called 'It's Just Me' and another one called 'All In The Name Of Love', which I wrote for this film," he says, "There's another one called 'Learning Hall To Fall'." "The one I wrote for the film is interesting, because of the fact that there's always a piece of yourself in whatever you write, but you also take on some of the character that's about too. Tit's good to write a song about that because you learn where you're at as a person." "People said 'These Days' so dark as a record. And I'm still trying to figure out why, because I was in such a good mood. With the new stuff, I'm writing a lot of humbling lyrics because that's where I'm at at the moment, between the kids and what I want to do with my future." Could 'These Days' have been a dark record because, looking around, there are times when there isn't that much to be happy about in the 90's? "Yeah. I had a discussion with someone last week about politics. We were talking about our leader and our presidents being selected, and how the dream has faded. But up until ('60s US President) John Kennedy was assassinated, Americans, and probably a lot of the world, believed that the white picket fence, a chicken in the pot, and a car in the garage theory was going to be true forever. Now I get really bothered that the kids that read your magazine are growing up in a world that syas that you have no future. If you're told that long enough, you start to believe it." "I'm not going to candy coat anything anymore. A song like Hey God questions things rather than say 'This sucks'. I will question authority and question myself, or the situation, to try and get the best of it rather than condemning it." With talking of condemnation, the renewed IRA bombing campaign in London comes into focus. With his family here and coming into contact with the effects of the Canary Wharf bomb on February 9, Jon has experienced things first hand. "It's a shame that people get scared and are made to fear for their life in one of the world's most cosmopolitan cities," he states with a shake of his head. "To think that that can still happen is just terrible. I watched the news that day and they said that Clinton knew about it before it went off. How heavy is that? Bill knew before it happened. He had to wait to see how many were dead. That's scarey thought. I'm just learning about it all. We're pretty blind about it all in America. Now I understand it at least." Do world events and the issues - like homelessness - that confront everyone on a daily basis mean that music is more important in 1996 than ever before? "Music is something that you can hold on," Jon agrees, "It's changed a lot of people's lives. It's the one universal that people can still believe in if they can't believe in politics or society anmore." But what would Jon do if his kids turned around and said, "Dad, we think we're going to join a band'?" "I'd say 'Go ahead'. It's a good job if you can get it, you know. It was the rainbow at the end of all my dreams. When I think about all the things that we've accomplished in our lifetimes, all the things I've seen and places we've been, it's incredible." But, after selling millions of records and playing to literaly millions of people, what drives Jon now? "My wife's credit cards! Nah, that's hard question to answer honestly because it's easy to say, 'You wouldn't believe that money I get paid for this'. It's easy to say, 'I really like playing stadiums', But those aren't the honest-to-God answers. I get big thrill out of writing a song than I do recording it or performing live, becuase that feeling of doing it is going to be with you forever. "That's probably that real reason why I'll carry on doing this, because I don't know that I'd necessarily get a hard-on over the idea of packing up a suitcase all over again. We've done too much of those kinds of tour where it's got too much. This summer we're only doing 30 shows (starting in the UK on July 6), and I know we could have done another 50 but that's out of the question. I want it to be relaxed and 30 shows is like a fun vacation." Does that mean that Jon is willing shatter the age old myths of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll and become the voice of reason? "Ha! We all grew up believing that myth, which was all romantic and cool, and we lived it too. Like any other young band," he laughs, "When I hear about Oasis throwing TVs out of windows, I laugh, because we did it. Everybody did it. Keith Richards did it and John Lennon before that. All the stuff about 'We're the young band, we're going to grab girls' tits on a TV show', we've all done it and that's what it's all about when you get out there." "Now It's not that we're getting softer, or that I'm writing baby songs, but it's difficult in the morning when my daughter comes in and goes 'Put a shirt on' or 'You better shave', to relate to that other stuff. The kids are so young that I'm not going to miss any of that. I don't want to be anybody's machine. I want to love every night that I'm up there." What's the most gratifying thing about being Jon Bon Jovi in '96? "Musically speaking?" Anyway that you want to take it . . . JON BON JOVI INTERVIEW / UNKNOWN SOURCE Jon Bon Jovi has always carried himself like someone who knows exactly where he's headed. But with his second solo album, "Destination Anywhere," the singer-songwriter-guitarist (and movie actor) steps into the unknown. Fans will be startled by the trendy dance beats, samples and loops on the new CD, which comes out Tuesday. The tracks - particularly the seven co-produced by Stephen Lironi, a one-time member of the new-wave band Altered Images who more recently has worked with British alternative-rock band Black Grape - began as experiments. "The first couple of days, I was baffled," says Bon Jovi, a Sayreville native who now lives in Rumson. "It was as if I had never made a record before. Using these loops and putting the bass and the drums on last, (they're) usually first. But once I grasped the way (Lironi) was approaching it, that became the catalyst for the record." Mostly written during the three months Bon Jovi spent filming "The Leading Man" in London, "Destination Anywhere" revolves around the twin themes of escaping the past and starting over. "Name the place, and I'll be there/Pack a bag, and we're out of here," he begs in the title track. "I was a foreign man in a foreign land," he says, referring to his London sojourn in early 1996. He spent his off-set time during those months contemplating life apart from his longtime bandmates, who were planning to reunite for summer shows and then go their separate ways. "I didn't know what the future held. I just knew I was about to take two years off from doing what I do best." A break was needed, he says, because the band had "nothing left to write about. What were we going to say? 'Isn't the airplane wonderful' and 'multiple nights in stadiums sure are cool.'" He laughs at the thought. "I needed to explore different ways of expressing myself. When (guitarist-songwriter) Richie (Sambora) and I collaborate, it's not my voice or his voice. It becomes our voice." That said, the band plans to reunite, probably next year, to release more albums. Bon Jovi hopes everyone will bring "new information" back from the hiatus that will help create a new sound. Or at least return with a fresh perspective. His bandmates have pursued their own projects in the interim: Sambora is currently working on his second solo album after the first, 1991's "Stranger in This Town," went nowhere. Drummer Tico Torres is spending time at an art gallery he opened in Palm Beach, Fla., and keyboardist David Bryan has been writing songs for an upcoming album by New Orleans legend Dr. John. "It's all about life experiences," Bon Jovi says, adding that after the band went its separate ways for two years before recording "Keep the Faith" in 1992, "it changed everything. It changed the look of the band, and it changed the sound of the band. "As wonderful as (being) in the band (is), everyone would have had that same experience (if we stayed together). Now, going off and doing these films and the solo record, I know what story I'm going to tell next year. And whatever ones they're coming back with, we'll have that to share." This makes sense. After all, Bon Jovi has remained successful (if not exactly hip) for more than a decade by refusing to live in the past. The group has come a long way from such 1980s lite-metal hits as "You Give Love a Bad Name" and "Bad Medicine." "Keep the Faith" and its most recent album, 1995's "These Days," explored adult issues like disillusionment, deceit and commitment, combining ingratiating pop melodies with quasi-funk beats and layers of heavy guitars. In tours promoting those albums, the band wisely dropped the larger-than-life theatrics of its ?'80s arena concerts and added a dose of bar-band rambunctiousness instead. The decision to put the band on hold was Bon Jovi's, he says: "I dictate the schedule. I wanted to take some time off, so I encouraged the guys to go off and do some different stuff." His desire to follow up his 1990 solo debut, "Blaze Of Glory (Songs Inspired by the Film 'Young Guns II),'" wasn't the only factor. He also wanted to see how far he could go with his acting, which he calls "a great passion" and "a great outlet." "It's a way to be productive and creative and not have to be in control of every aspect of it," he says. "I don't have to write it. I don't have to produce it. I just show up and express myself." His low-key performance in 1995's "Moonlight and Valentino" brought him far more positive reviews than rock critics have given him over the years. He "generates a nice charismatic warmth," Hollywood Reporter critic Michael Rechtshaffen wrote. "Much to everyone's surprise, (he) did not give acting a bad name," said Entertainment Weekly's Corey Davidson. Bon Jovi has two movies coming out this fall: "Homegrown," a black comedy starring Billy Bob Thornton, and "Little City," co-starring Dennis Leary and Annabella Sciorra. ("The Leading Man" has been released in Europe but not the States.) "I'm still not Daniel Day Lewis," he concedes, "but I only ever claimed to be a student of film. But these are not dumb roles. All these films are dialogue-heavy, with good stories." Due to movie commitments, Bon Jovi will perform only a handful of gigs to promote the new album. One will take place Wednesday at the Supper Club in New York. If New York radio station Z-100's May "Z-Day Concert" on the U.S.S. Intrepid is any indication, the atmosphere at the Supper Club will be charged. Appearing with veteran synth-pop band Erasure and relative newcomers like Paula Cole and Duncan Sheik, Bon Jovi "stole the show," says Z-100 program director Tom Poleman. "The reaction was nothing short of hysteria. "Jon has done a great job of keeping his image fresh in the public. He's done ads for Versace, and the new movies he's been working on have rejuvenated his perception in the market. He's become much more than a musician. He's part of pop culture." This Jersey boy is also a global phenomenon. The 1995-96 Bon Jovi tour came to amphitheaters in the United States but to stadiums elsewhere. "Across the world, it was multiple nights in stadiums," Bon Jovi says. "They're enormously successful over there," says Little Steven Van Zandt, who performed with the band on a 1995 European stadium tour. "It's like them and U2, neck and neck. "In America," Van Zandt continues, "they're known as a pop band because of the hit singles, but in Europe, there aren't those distinctions. It's not quite as polarized. They have respect for the pop hits, but (Bon Jovi is) considered a rock band like Guns N' Roses or Metallica." Lenny Bloch, director of rock programming at Jersey stations like WDHA (105.5 FM, Cedar Knolls) and WRAT (95.9 FM, Point Pleasant), confirms Van Zandt's assessment. He's staying away from "Midnight in Chelsea," the first "Destination Anywhere" single, because it's too pop, he says, but is playing the harder-edged album track, "Queen of New Orleans." No matter what his stations are playing, Bloch says, requests for Bon Jovi songs are always heavy in the Garden State. "Even though he's a big celebrity, he's maintained some of that 'regular guy from New Jersey' mystique," he says. "He still lives in New Jersey, and he married a Jersey girl (Dorothea Hurley), his high-school sweetheart. How cool is that?" INTERVIEW WITH JON ON KLOS MAY 8, 2000 M&B: With us on the IBS line, is that what we call it. It's a tech name that we call for a very clear signal. ISDN thank you tech man for clearing that up. We have Jon Bon Jovi, Mr Bon Jovi!!! JB: Good Mornnning!!!! M&B: Good morning man, first of all we just played one of the first cuts from the new album. Congratulations!!! on it. JB: Thank you!! Thanks alot. We're pretty excited about this record M&B: it's a good sounding single Jon. We've had you on the program ahhhhhh once before, ahhh I guess it was once about 5 years ago. And ahhhhh we had you in the studio and you guys sang some. (Mark cuts in) We want to talk about the new album in a little bit, we also want to talk about your acting career. Which seems to be kicking up a bit. You were real good in U-571. JB: Thank you!! yeah you guys did a real nice promotion for it to. When I was out their listening. M&B: Where is your base home??? Where do you primary live your life?? JB: Jersey, I live in Jersey. I've spent alot of time out there, though you know. obviously with the movies, and even mixing this record. M&B: You still live with your parents don't you???? JB: Yeah!!! that's it...(laughing) I'm having a hard time making ends meet. (mark and Brian laugh as well) M&B: Now you are currently working on a film........... now get this.. with Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt called 'Pay It Forward' JB: Yeah..... well it's a very small role and a very huge movie. Hallen Jon Osmond is like the center of this film with Kevin. Ahhhh.. but it was just really cool just for me to be winning roles at that company at this point. M&B: oh yeah.......... JB: even with movie's that people don't see on ppv, is like really amazing M&B: laughing........ nice , nice move laughing JB: they just don't see it on cable....laughing M&B: laughing...... well Jon, that same thing with U-571. You're standing up their with Bill P and Matthew M. JB: yep, yep..... M&B: and again not a huge role, but very,very good. Very believable and a fine job that you did. Alot of people are kinda surprised to hear. that's Bon Jovi????? (Mark cuts in) Yeah.... how does that make you feel??? JB: well it's actually the best complement that I've been paid. Is that they couldn't believe that you, or that they want to see more of you. Because everyone has this pre-conceived notions about the rock star who wants to get into a movie. But now... it's not like that for me now fortunately and this point. It's changed, it's more if a actor who want to be in a film. I've studied it. M&B: I guess people are excepting that you can act, and that your pretty darn good at it. Now would you ever consider doing a t.v. series??? JB: No, No,No........... cause that much like Broadway, is too much like a day job. M&B: Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh JB: the only way that it works for me, would to be to ahhhhhhhhh........ nothing can get in the way of what I do making records. So you can do a movie and it can be a 5 month movie, like U-571 (mark ...right) but you know that during that period you are either going to be writing songs or your not even thinking about touring. Well....... now that I'm going to support a record, I can't think about doing a movie. So t.v shows, go 50 years oops 50 weeks a year, and Broadway 8 times a week. I don't have time to do anything else. M&B: are you exciting about touring again???? JB: I'm getting more excited about touring. It's ahhh, it is a great live rock n roll band. But it's been awhile, and if is not your own bed, at least it's the same bed on a movie set. And then when you are on the road, everyday..............is like pack the bag. Where am I, pack the bag where am I??? And it becomes a blur, because this is the kind of band that did 240 shows a tour. And dahhhhhh this is my 10th album. M&B: (sighs, giggle, wow) JB: giggles..... so I have all the frequent flyer miles that I need..... laughs M&B: Jon, every decade has huge bands. And obvloisy in the 80's Bon Jovi was one of the very biggest. But a band that was able to, unlike many of those huge bands that like de-solved and fade away. Bon Jovi kinda transformed themselves in the 90's and yet here we are in the year 2000 and you guys are still around. This new record is so very strong, why is it that you think you and the band were able to remain alive???? JB: we're like those guys..... you know like a dog that jumps on your leg and won't get off. (laughing) M&B: just let hm finish...laughing JB: yeah......... you know what I mean. It's??????? I don't know.............. other than A it's been ah... a catalog of music. And look, we've had our up years and our down years in America. But we we're persistent. We go other places, we would go to Europe, we would go to Asia, we go to Aficia,Austrilla. The band sold 80 million records around this world, because it went everywhere and it worked. And now that America is turning again. then you go.......... cool!!! I'm glad that you like the record. M&B: you know, I love that Jon. Only you can come up with the story of success, with a dog humping on your leg...... everyone laughing JB: that's right M&B:that's good man!!!!! Talk about that for a moment too... Jon cuts in..... what about??? the dog humping the leg??? everyone laughing M&B: one of the other things we were talking about the other day, is the fact that rock n roll has gotten older, it's 45 years old. And one of the cool things that has kinda been in the last 10 years, is the global expectancy of American rock n roll bands in place like you said. It's HUGE over there??? JB: low voice... yeah, yeah we were fortunate enough and I give the coottoes to our former manager, because what he did was, say you are going everywhere, everywhere where they have electric, and if they don't have it. We'll bring our own. (laughing) In 1984 we set out to concur the world, and fortunately for us on listening to him. When we where young dumb guys, we did. So when we were needing the help??????? I'll give you a better example. A band that I always loved and admired went out and opened for us on our last tour, called Van Hallen because they didn't need anything in all of Europe. They're good for only 5000 tickets if they are lucky, and where playing 3 nights at Wembley stadium where their is 72,000 a night. (M&B: WOW!!!!) And I love that band, I mean I was a huge fan. To me it was like getting to see them 25 times for free. Their is nothing but respect, but they don't mean anything in Europe because they haven't toured their as often as we did. M&B: When did you stop singing into your moms hair brush?? In front of a mirror and get actually get into a band, and how old were you??? JB: mmmmmm.....................14, 15 maybe M&B: o.k. was it just for fun?? Or I mean were you driving, dedicated gonna be a star some day then at 14??? JB: by the time I was 16 I gotta tell ya, there was nothing else in my life. Ya know, 14 15 your going gee this is a interesting thing, and you put your fingers here and there and sing along, but by the time I was so goofy then at 16 I believed it. And by 21 I got a record deal. M&B: And then the humping of people's legs, when did that start??? JB: yeah!!! laughing...... 12 maybe even younger..... sure M&B: good, good.... laughing JB: oh yeah.... as soon as I realized that, that thing did more than one trick it was amazing. everyone laughing M&B: hey..Jon, with alot more new musicians that are going to try and kick up a new career for themselves, and being that you have sustained for such a good while in this music business. Is their any advise concering records companies and those first record deals?? Cause we hear those horror stories about artist that are ripped off for life?? JB: Well it's true, and you know.. I'm no different than anyone else. you sign a deal thats one record and 8 options and they all belong to the record company. Hopefully the only thing that you can do, is renegotiate as you go along. ahhhh try to retain as much as you possibly can. You know. don't give them the kitchen sink away, even if you make less money for it now. But ahhh, that's always a hard thing. And you hope that you have a relationship with a company, or that people that are at that company long enough that they will respect you and for the hard work you've done on their behalf and renegotiate with you. M&B: was their any difficulties getting back in the studio after 5 years for the album CRUSH??? JB: No...... No....... it was actually very, very comfortable. Richie did a solo record that I know that you guys were playing out their. I did a solo record, and then when we came back to this, we never had 60 songs. And when Polygram was sold to Universal, we just really put the brakes on and decided not to release a record for an extra year, til we got it right and they got it right. We figured out what our future was there. M&B JB: talking at the same time.... mark I'm sorry go ahead....... JB: when we did 60 songs we knew we had the material. We knew that we really, really did it. M&B: is that a really good time for you, that the actually production in the studio the creation of the album?? JB: YEAH!!!!!! song writing is my favorite part of it. Cause you know when you hit on one, you know what it is going to sound like, and what it's going to be like when you play it live. Then the recording is second to that, but it's still exciting even though your doing it over and over again. Because it's like a painting you are going to add too. And then touring it, is final in the process. But when you realize that catalog of music that you go out their and play people liked. You go 'thats pretty cool' M&B: do you remember the first song you ever wrote??? JB: oh... some piece of drat gum I'm sure... vaguely (laughing) M&B: Something that probably helped you get laid??? (laughing) JB: well I certainly tried too (laughing) if I didn't . I certainly tried hard enough. (laughing) M&B: Listen how is Richie?? Because he is responsible for one of the funniest moments we had on this program with his guitar. JB: REALLY!!! M&B: yeah!! JB: He's great, he's back west. He spent pretty much the last year here. Because Heather was doing Spin City in NY. So it was fortunate for us, because we recored the record here in NJ. He was here, but their back west now. And setting up shop for Spin City next year with Charlie S. M&B: Would you for us, please tell him that we said hello, and that we would love to talk with him?? JB: I shall (in a whisper like voice) Yes!! I shall M&B: Listen Jon, the record is it currently available and out, and can be purchase?? JB: NO, NO June 13th M&B: June 13th JB: June 13th Crush hits the streets, and the single comes out today. M&B: I have a couple of hundred of pirated copies in my trunk, if you want to stop by the station. I'll be glad to let you go through them. JB: sure M&B: and I'll give you a cut of that Jon (laughing) JB: I was just going to say. as long as I get a cut...... M&B: taking about the new album coming out and telling people to go see U-571 M&B: Jon the next time you are in town, you better stop by the show. We love seeing you. JB: Richie and I will both come by with some guitars for you. M&B: Knock it out baby!!!!! JB: Thanks you guys M&B: No thank you!!!!