Jon Bon Jovi began performing music live in 1975, when at the age of 13 he was playing piano and guitar in New Jersey with his first band, Raze. At 16, he met David Bryan and formed a band called Atlantic City Expressway, and then while still in his teens he played in the band John Bongiovi and the Wild Ones at clubs such as the Fast Lane and opening for local acts. By 1980, he had formed another band, the Rest, and opened up for New Jersey acts such as Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, and it was at this time that he recorded his first single, 'Runaway', in his cousin's studio, backed up by studio musicians. By mid-1982, out of school and working part-time at a women's shoe store, Bon Jovi took a job at the Power Station Studios, a Manhattan recording facility where his cousin Tony Bongiovi was co-owner. He made several demos and sent them to record companies, though they failed to make an impact, and in March 1983, Bon Jovi called David Bryan, who in turn called bassist Alec John Such and an experienced drummer named Tico Torres, both formerly of the band Phantom's Opera. With the addition of hometown guitarist Richie Sambora, who was recommended by bassist Such and drummer Torres, the band began playing showcases and opening for local talent, where they caught the attention of record executive Derek Shulman, formerly of prog rock legends Gentle Giant, who signed them to Mercury Records.
Because Bon Jovi wanted a group name, Pamela Maher, a friend of Richard Fischer and an employee of Doc McGhee, suggested they call themselves Bon Jovi, following the example of the other famous two-word bands such as Van Halen. This name was chosen instead of the original idea of Johnny Electric, and although Pamela's suggestion was met with little enthusiasm, two years later they hit the charts under that name. With the help of their new manager Doc McGhee they recorded their debut album, 'Bon Jovi', which was released in January 1984, and their first hit single, 'Runaway', reached the top forty on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1985, Bon Jovi's second album, '7800° Fahrenheit', was released in 1985, and three singles were taken from it: 'Only Lonely', 'In And Out Of Love' and the ballad 'Silent Night'. The album peaked at number thirty-seven on the Billboard 200 and was certified Gold by RIAA, but while the album did not sell as well as the band had hoped, it allowed Bon Jovi to get out on the road touring again, headlining venues in Japan and Europe, and undertaking a six-month run of U.S. tour dates supporting Ratt.
After two moderately successful albums, the group changed its approach and hired professional songwriter Desmond Child as a collaborator, and with Bruce Fairbairn producing Bon Jovi moved to Vancouver, Canada in 1986, to spend six months recording a third album. They named it 'Slippery When Wet' after visiting a strip club in Vancouver, and when it was released in August 1986 it spent eight weeks atop the Billboard 200. The first two singles from the album, 'You Give Love A Bad Name' and 'Livin' On A Prayer', both hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and 'Slippery When Wet' was named 1987's top-selling album by Billboard. Determined to prove that the success of 'Slippery When Wet' was not a fluke, Bon Jovi released their fourth effort, 'New Jersey', in September 1988, which peaked at number one in the U.S., Canada, UK, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia. The album produced five Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Bon Jovi the record for the most Top 10 singles spawned by a hard rock album.
The band then mounted another worldwide tour that continued throughout 1989 and 1990, visiting more than 22 countries and performing more than 232 shows. The exhaustion of recording 'Slippery When Wet' and 'New Jersey' back to back and going on highly paced world tours took its toll, and by the end of the tour, the bandmates were exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally. Following the final tour date in Mexico, and without any clear plans for their future, the members of the band simply went home, and during the time they took off from the scene, they retreated to their own projects and showed no desire to make another album. We know that by 1992 they were back working together on their fifth album, 'Keep The Faith', but this is a good point to take a breather and collect together some of the tracks that they recorded for those first four albums that didn't make the cut. There was only one unused track from '7800° Fahrenheit', but the sessions for 'Slippery When Wet' and 'New Jersey' were more prolific, and with the addition of their contribution to the Elton John tribute album 'Two Rooms', which has been praised as one of the better tracks from the album, we have a nice collection of hard to find and unreleased recordings by the early Bon Jovi.
Track listing
01 Game Of The Heart ('Slippery When Wet' out-take 1986)
02 River Of Love ('New Jersey' out-take 1988)
03 Never Enough ('Slippery When Wet' out-take 1986)
04 Seven Days ('New Jersey' out-take 1988)
05 Lonely In The Night ('Slippery When Wet' out-take 1986)
06 Edge Of A Broken Heart ('Slippery When Wet' out-take 1986)
07 We Rule The Night ('7800° Fahrenheit' out-take 1985)
08 Borderline ('Slippery When Wet' demo 1986)
09 Levon (Elton John cover 1991)
10 House Of Fire ('New Jersey' out-take 1988)
11 Deep Cuts The Night ('Slippery When Wet' out-take 1986)