Bon Jovi Ready To Rock

SOME fans may think of Jon Bon Jovi as the attractive, long-haired lead vocalist/songwriter for the New Jersey-based hard rock band Bon Jovi.

But to Jon Bon Jovi, it's simpler than that. He says he's two things. "The guy who does interviews" and a "quarterback" in the game of rock 'n' roll.

Bon Jovi will kick off a little bit of his latest album, New Jersey, into downtown Oklahoma City at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Myriad Convention Center, accompanied by opening band Skid Row, for a show sure to please lovers of his brand of rock.

Jon Bongiovi was born the middle-class son of a Sicilian hair stylist and a florist. He is second cousin to top New York City recording studio producer Tony Bongiovi.

Jon Bon Jovi spent his early teen years with a guitar in his hands, dodging school and playing clubs in which he was too young too work.

"I went to Sayreville High in New Jersey, but I was hardly ever there," he said. "I was in bands and was playing nightclubs with bands like Raze and the Atlantic City Expressway at 16, 17 years old.

My parents were pretty good and didn't say "no,' at least, to anywhere I was."

Although school wasn't for Bon Jovi, cousin Tony Bongiovi (producer for Talking Heads and The Ramones), helped him get a job as a janitor/gofer at the Power Station recording studio.

"It was different," he said. "Some kids spend all day in front of the tube, but when I was 16, I jammed with Bruce Springsteen. When I was 16, I could order a beer and sit in a bar and play my guitar.

"For me it was better than a pep rally."

The next two years were a study period for Bon Jovi. He got to meet and observe rock greats like the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Meatloaf and others. He said other influences in his music include Alice Cooper and Kiss.

Eventually, when the studio was free, he recorded "Runaway" with a group of professional studio musicians. He then decided to enlist old Atlantic City Expressway pal (and Bon Jovi keyboardist) David Bryan to hit up record companies in Los Angeles for a contract.

As "Runaway" got more airplay, the band Bon Jovi began to form _quickly adding drummer Tico Torres, bassist Alec John Such and finally lead guitarist Richie Sambora into its musical fold.

By March 1983, the band was complete and PolyGram Records bit the hook. Success came fast and furious for the band.

Bon Jovi's first album, Bon Jovi, was released in January 1984. Both it and the second album, 7800 Fahrenheit, (which debuted in the Spring of 1985) went platinum.

During early 1985, Jon Bon Jovi recommended a hard rock band called Cinderella to PolyGram. The label signed the group and sent them to support Bon Jovi during the "Slippery When Wet" tour of 1987.

But it was Bon Jovi's third album (August 1986), titled Slippery When Wet, which peaked at No. 1 for eight weeks on Billboard magazine charts. It has sold more than 13 million worldwide.

The new album, New Jersey, was released last September. Bon Jovi said his two personal favorites off the new album are "Blood On Blood" and "I'll Be There For You."

"I think we expanded with this one," he said. "I think Richie and I have grown as songwriters, but I kind of want the next one to go left field, to be our experimental album."

Bon Jovi, now 27, said he wants teen-agers to believe in themselves. BIOG: JON BONGIOVI, JON BON JOVI NAME:

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