The Smiley Smile Message Board

Okay, i'm starting a new thread for this one, because it is such a strange sight seeing J Bon Jovi as a songwriting credit on a BB album.

I was a huge Bon Jovi fan in the 90s, and I have no problem whatsoever with him writing songs with Brian Wilson. In fact, i think it's great, because JBJ has good songwriting skills. Okay, it's a different kind of music than the BBs, but they are both basically pop music. If BW wants/needs collaborators for new material, i'd much rather JBJ than Jim Peterik or even Mike Love.

Does anyone know how this came about? Three-in-a-room collaboration? Did JT and JBJ co-write something that was brought to BW who then added/changed a bit?

Somehow I can't picture Brian and Jon Bon Jovi sitting at the same table, writing lyrics.  ;D I guess the Bon Jovi credit came about when he was asked to look over the lyrics for a particular song and he added/changed a few lines, and mailed it back to the camp. Or something.

I can see it...

Brian goes to the telephone and dials Jon Bon Jovi's number out of the top of his head.

- "Hey Jon! Wanna come over and write a song with me and Joe?"

...listens for a second..

- "It's Brian! Brian W-i-l-s-o-n!"

Joe Thomas directed a Bon Jovi concert video a few years back, so maybe some part of "Summer's Gone" dates back to that era (07... not that long ago).

Hi, Loaf, what's your source for this info?

I bet this was a joke from a board member.

Tracklist & credits taken/borrowed from The Record Room's thread on the new jeff:

http://s3.excoboard.com/therecordroom/54492/907180/6#7552977

And, more importantly, not denied by AGD  ;D

O wow. Just read his review on David Beards site. No joke....

Quite a lot of Joe Thomas co-writes...  :(

it's quite funny how one of the bands i hate more than any other (along with Nickelback) is mentioned in a Beach Boys fanboard. I don't see who could like them both, they're just too different.

Amen!  I hate Bon Jovi.  They might actually be worse than U2.

i didn't even know that was debatable

It's not. No-one is worse than U2  ;D

Want to start a nickelback thread? ;D

Point 1: You don't see how someone could like two bands that don't sound similar...? So all the music you like sounds the same?

Point 2: On a global/historical scale of music, The BBs and Bon Jovi are not too far apart really. There are many many many more styles of music that are further apart than a 60s-present day pop-rock band compared to an 80s-present day pop-rock band.

Got my support here, Loaf. I dug Bon Jovi in the 90's too.

And give me a frikkin' break, like hypehat said, nobody is worse than U2 :D

Brian's best album was co-written with an unknown jingle writer. Just saying.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLREqPsVMLE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLREqPsVMLE)

@2:22

An educated guess might be that JBJ and JT collaborated on something around 07, and JT brought it to BW to finish for the album.

Jon Bon Jovi?? Shoot me now!

JBJ knows how to write a frickin' hook.  Give the guy a break.

Wow, I really don't know what to expect from this... A song written by my favorite and my least favorite musician of all time (well, apart from Chad Kroeger maybe)... That's just surreal.

Man you guys haven't heard much bad songwriting if you rank Bon Jovi that low.

And from the sound of it, a pretty decent BW pastiche!

Also, didn't Richie Sambora show up at one of those BW tribute things? I think he played City Blues!

yeah, that was the 05 Grammy humanitarian tribute, if I remember right. A nice rendition, too!

I write CD reviews for a Dutch music magazine where I'm known as the "dumpster", because for some reason I usually get the records that nobody else wants to do. So believe me, I've heard A LOT of bad songwriting. ;)

It's a matter of personal taste. It's a fact that the guy has musical intelligence because he knows how to write a million seller. But I just despise everything the guy makes. I literally turn off the radio when Bon Jovi comes on. I just can't listen to that band.

A lot of people here seem to be pretending that they have never hollered along to Livin' On A Prayer or Bad Medicine when roaring drunk...

Jon Bon Jovi? More like  :rock

Haha, fair enough. I grew up with Bon Jovi's music (oh and Guns n' Roses which I in fact still love to this day) so I guess the appreciation of the music is somewhat based on that. But yeah, like it or not, he could definitely write a hit. :)

Haha, so true!

You don't see who could like them both?  First, about half the female population of the world would name Jon Bon Jovi and the Beach Boys as good music.  So there's that. 

It's funny, because I absolutely can't stand Bon Jovi.. his work is just not what I enjoy or look for in music. That doesn't mean he isn't an accomplished songwriter who can make something worthwhile. I would probably be more worried about "Summer's Gone" if it was promoted as being a Bon Jovi collaboration, but it seems like something that fell into place organically, so hopefully it will be a good track.

I dunno, man. I think those are two of the worst songs ever recorded. I'd rather listen to the Good Vibrations box as entirely re-sung by Adrian Baker rather than hear one second of either of those. But that is no reflection on this co-written track, of course.

I like the key change in Livin' on a Prayer.

Whatever is the case, as mentioned above, the name does not correlate whatsoever with the quality of the song, and I don't care if I'm basing this off of a thirty second snippet.

Summer's Gone sounds absolutely incredibly touching and brilliant.  If Jon Bon Jovi had a hand in crafting it, then God bless him.

This.




Absolutely this.

A friend once said that the key change always sounds like it takes the band by surprise in "Livin' On A Prayer". One of the funnier things I've ever heard.

I don't know. They're not that different. I hear a huge BB influence in Bon Jovi:

You Give Mike Love a Bad Name
Livin' on Our Prayer
Wanted: Dead or Alive at Knebworth

 ;D

If we only knew or had ever heard any other Jon Bon Jovi songs, we could make more puns, lol... 


I'm at a loss here too.  Except that Christmas song he did with Cindy Crawford's ass in it.  What was that one called again?

That would be "Please Come Home For Christmas". 

Have A Nice Day. 

Yes! That's the one.  Am I right about the particular backside I remember featuring so prominently in the video when I was all of about 17 or so? 

Well, Who Says You Can't Go Home to the past and not see the video again? 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgQMvbHBt7c

Unfortunately, the backside isn't as prominent as I remember, also.  But, still, prime Cindy Crawford... I'm watching. 

1:47. 

When I was about 17, that was about the sexiest video ever shot.  I can remember actually talking with friends about how Cindy Crawford looked in that video!

Amazingly, she still looks just like that, beautiful woman. 

Honestly I have no problem with Jon Bon Jovi, there was another one called "Always" out around the same time that was a guilty pleasure, you didn't want anybody to know you liked it but everytime you heard it and nobody was around you had to sing along.  I've got a lot of admiration, too, for a guy like him who does the 'heart throb' thing so well for so many years, and you never hear negative things about him in the press, you never hear about him being a dead-beat dad or beating up his wife, or going through divorce number 10.... you just hear that he's got a new album out, or he's going on tour, or whatever. 

So good for him.  I'll be happy to hear what he added to this Beach Boys album. 

Oh yes, Always. I remember that one. You also had 'Billy Get Your Gun' (a bit more obscure, perhaps), 'Blaze of Gory', 'I'll be There for You' and 'Keep the Faith' - nobody can deny the last one there is catchy as h*ll.

doublepost

Never have and never will because the day I did that would signal the end of my love affair with music.  I would have sunk to such depths that I might have to consider putting out the card tables on my front lawn with every Beach Boys and Beatles album I own and selling them to the highest bidder.  I would be that ashamed of myself and I'm not being facetious at all.  Dead serious man.

Hey, wasn't he that guy who sang with C3PO and R2D2 on my Star Wars Christmas album?


 ;D

You know damn well who he is, don't front  ;D

Wow. I feel sorry for you. You're loss, I guess.

With all due respect, pretty presumptuous don't you think?  I'm not criticizing you for liking Bon Jovi as musical taste is by nature a subjective issue but for you to assume that I'm missing out on something just because I won't listen to a band that I feel has zero merit musically well that is pretty presumptuous. 

Well, it's not that I am such a big fan of Bon Jovi, but I just found your reaction to Paulos' post a little bit over the top. No offence meant though ;)
I think his point was just that if you grew up with Bon Jovi, that scenario (screaming along, etc) was pretty common in the 90's - even if you didn't really like Bon Jovi.

Yes, but Paulos' original post was equally over the top. He implied that everyone who said they didn't like Bon Jovi was lying. Not a particularly pleasant accusation.

Personally, I have never "hollered along to Livin' On A Prayer or Bad Medicine when roaring drunk" -- I don't drink, dislike Livin' On A Prayer and don't think I've ever heard Bad Medicine in my life -- and I think it always best to take other people's statements of their tastes as being accurate, rather than accusing them of lying to make themselves look good.

I don't think that was his point at all. I think you're reading way too much into it and are taking his post too seriously. I found his post pretty funny, and that was probably his intention too.

I absolutely cannot stand Bon Jovi. I have never sung along to any of their songs, sober or inebriated. No desire to listen to Bon Jovi in the slightest.

I think that you are taking Paulos' comment way too seriously, though. I don't think he is accusing you of lying at all.

He didn't accuse *me* of lying -- I hadn't said anything on the subject. But he did imply that a lot of other people were lying.
It's something people do a *lot* -- dismiss other people's tastes by claiming they really agree, but are just pretending otherwise. It's the same kind of mentaity as the people in another thread who were saying of someone (Iron Horse-Apples?) who'd said they weren't going to buy the new album because they didn't like the sound of it, "yeah, you say that now, but we all know you're going to buy it anyway". It's a fairly unpleasant, dismissive way to treat other people, frankly.

He was being jocular, just saying that everybody sings along to Bon Jovi when they are drunk, even though they say they hate the group. I don't think he meant that literally everybody does that, but it is a common thing.

I know what you mean about people being dismissive of others' opinions, but in this case, I doubt that was Paulos' intent.

just need to chime in that regardless of my level of inebriation, I avoid Bon Jovi music at all times... with the exception of "Wanted Dead Or Alive" which I've always liked even though it is way overplayed to this day. I can't stand ANY of their other hits, not even a little. I grew up in the 80s too, so it's not like I "just don't get it" or I "had to be there". I am a fan of hair bands like Motley Crue and Def Leppard (at least their earlier stuff) but other bands of the genre such as Bon Jovi and Whitesnake never appealed to me.

the fact that Bon Jovi is now a mainstream country act says a lot about them as a band and also about the sad state of American popular music in the 21st century.

still, it's good to know that JBJ is a Brian Wilson fan. it's cool that he mentions Brian in the song that was posted in this thread. and the fact that he co-wrote what may be one of the best songs on the new album makes me respect the guy a hell of a lot more.

but i still hate the f*ck out of Livin' On A Prayer and I know I always will.

Livin' On A Prayer is numero 1 reason I dislike Bon Jovi. I don't like their hard rock but yet sentimental lyrics and style, its like Aerosmith... (*shivers whilst typing*)
Thats the problem: beer music is shait....

Aerosmith is great! The songwriting, production/arrangement and performance on songs like are Crazy, Crying and Living on the Edge is really good.

Hmmm...I don't know. I can't blame Paulos since that style of argument has almost become a norm. I would agree that because such an argument is thrown around so loosely that Paulos didn't consider the implications but those implications are always there when someone makes a claim like that, whether one means it or not. And I agree with Andrew. It's a lousy way of making an argument.

Aerosmith for me is such a sad case.  I used to love that band.  "Dream On", "Mama Kin", "Last Child", almost every song off "Rock And A Hard Place".  Even when they had their revival in the late eighties with stuff like "Angel", "Janie's Got A Gun" and a lot of the music off "Get A Grip".  Just amazing kick ass rock and roll and then one of the most spiraling free falls I've ever seen happen to a legitimate rock and roll band happened to them. 

I don't know if it's a case of whether or not they couldn't handle aging gracefully like a lot of their contemporaries did, but for some reason they just had to align themselves with whatever the current fad of the moment was in music or pop culture.  Whether it be dancing with Britney Spears, appearing on "Lizzie McGuire" or Steven Tyler's current gig on AI it's just so sad to see that a band that I once associated with some truly great rock and roll have become.  Granted most of this is on Steven Tyler himself as I believe Joe Perry came out a couple of years ago, saying something to the effect of "A lot of decisions Steven is making today, he would've been completely against thirty years ago".

It's just sad but hey I guess you got to do what you go to do.

I don't like those songs at all and cite them as my reason for not liking that group. I really can't stand Steve Tyler. Aerosmith really are the kings of Cheese rock. I don't really like glamrock in general but the idea of taking this macho hardrock and then coating the song in sentimental sugar really disgusts me. I can enjoy a few songs here and there but at heart I know they are all pretty dismal....

To quote another dismal musician, "You took the words right out of my mouth..."

Well, to each his own. I think 'Get a Grip' is a great album, not to mention 'Pump', which is amazing.
But like it or not, but from a pop songwriting perspective, the songs I mentioned are really well composed.

I don't know. They really bore me.

Just the fact that they're using a mellotron on Cryin' is reason a enough to like it :D

Lots of people liked their stuff but even as a teenager I remember finding those songs really dull and uninteresting particularly compared to what was coming out of England but also with lots of other stuff. Cryin played at a lot of my high school dances and it always seemed to me that that was the only place where that song made sense.

Haha. I realize that kind of makes it seem that I cried at a lot of my high school dances.

I just meant that it was the only place where I could tolerate listening to it, just like some songs work better in a live settling.

Also, I just re-watched the video for the first time since high school, and the way they portray that relationship between Alicia Silverstone and Stu Sutcliffe is still really, really, really, really, really, really lame.

Now I won't argue the lameness of the videos for Cryin' and Crazy, but I WILL argue that both Alicia and Liv were darn hot those days ;D

Note to self: Never again attempt to make a lighthearted comment on the SS message board. Ever.

Damn You Paulos!!!! Damn you!!!! :) 

I agree with you though.  They're all 'frontin'.  They've probably got the posters and everything.   

My fav. Jon Bon Jovi 'moment' is when Richie does the second "WAAAAAANNNNNTTTTTEDDD!" in the background echoing Jon everytime he sings the chorus line.  I. Absolutely.  Can. Not. Resist. Singing that part. 

For a brief time those music videos made Alicia Silverstone the hottest woman on the planet. 

i enjoy some bon jovi songs, i dont' actively listen, but they're pretty fun.

nickelback on the other hand. that is just the depths of hell.

Basically.  A few years later, I remember seeing her (looking about the same, she didn't really 'lose it') and thinking "What the hell was all the fuss about?"  At the time though, she was IT. 

Maybe that was around the time, though, that Cindy Crawford was in the Bon Jovi video and took her crown. 

I think Cindy Crawford may have had the crown long before that.  I mean back in them days it was her and Elle MacPherson as the two SUPER supermodels.

As far as Alicia goes, she had a sleeper hit movie with "Clueless" but then decided not to pursue a lot of the top roles that were being offered her, instead appearing in smaller features and even producing her own film entitled "Excess Baggage" (it bombed).  She turned down a lot of projects around this time including "Romeo And Juliet" and the plum role of replacing Shannen Doherty on "90210"

Interestingly enough I recently learned that Alicia Silverstone wasn't even the first pick for the lead in "Clueless".  It was supposed to be Sarah Michelle Gellar but she was on "All My Children" at the time and the soap wouldn't allow her to break her contract so Alicia caught a break there.

I hope we can all agree on that it can't get much worse than Nickelback :D

I always found Liv to be sexier than Alicia - both hot as h*ll though. But yeah I see what you mean, she really shined in that video.

"Summer's Gone," the final track on "Radio," was finished with the help of Jon Bon Jovi. " 'Summer's Gone' was something we wrote one verse to and then Jon Bon Jovi came by the studio one day and he called it Brian's 'My Way,' " Thomas said. "Jon collaborated with us a little on it, changing the melody in a couple of spots. He wrote some really nice verses that kind of tied it all in together. We definitely appreciated the contribution because it took it from one great verse to one great song."

The plan, Thomas said, is to finish the suite and release it. But whether it comes out as a Beach Boys record or a solo album remains to be seen.

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/may/24/the-beach-boys-are-making-radio-waves/ (http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/may/24/the-beach-boys-are-making-radio-waves/)

Lovely  ::)

Meh. Even if it is Jon Bon Jovi, I wouldn't dismiss it until we hear it in full. Certainly doesn't sound to be a disaster, at least, from the clips we've heard.

Same here.  I'm disappointed to know that this individual is involved with the project but hopefully something solid arises from it nonetheless. 

PLUS AT LEAST HE ISN'T SINGING ON THE TRACK!! (as far as we know anyhow) *fingers crossed*

i have no problem with what mr. jovi added to the album.