Bon Jovi’s Early Days
Bon Jovi formed in 1983 in New Jersey. The rock band consisted of singer Jon Bon Jovi, guitarist Richie Sambora, bassist Alec John Such, keyboardist David Bryan, and drummer Tico Torres. They released their self-titled debut album in 1984. It reached #43 on the Billboard album chart and eventually went platinum. Their sophomore album, 7800° Fahrenheit, would perform about the same, also reaching platinum status and peaking slightly higher at #37. The two albums charted four songs on the Billboard Hot 100. The highest peak was #39, achieved by “Runaway.”
Those albums showcased material that “most obviously drew on 1970s heavy metal.” TB It looked like Bon Jovi might never be more than a second-tier glam-metal hair band lumped in with the likes of Cinderella and White Lion who’d always be a rung below bands like Poison and Mötley Crüe. They would be lucky to be remembered beyond the ‘80s. However, the band’s third album, Slippery When Wet, became a “breakthrough for hair metal” WK1 by turning “heavy metal into a radio-friendly pop format.” WK1 It demonstrated more of an influence from fellow New Jersey artist Bruce Springsteen. TB
Songwriting
The band wrote 30 songs for Slippery When Wet. In an effort to make the album as teen-friendly as possible, the group played rough mixes of the songs for youth in New York and New Jersey and assembled the final track listing based on their feedback. TB
While most of the songs that made the final cut were written by Bon Jovi and Sambora, the band had also opted to collaborate with songwriter Desmond Child in an effort to achieve a more mainstream sound. Child had worked with Cher, Kiss (most notably “I Was Made for Lovin’ You”), Billy Squier, and Bonnie Tyler. Jon Bon Jovi said of working with Desmond that “He hasn’t tried to change what we are, but to refine it slightly; to suggest extra ways that we could wring a bit more out of what we had.” WK1
Four out of the album’s final ten songs were co-written by Child, including the band’s #1 hits “You Give Love a Bad Name” and “Livin’ on a Prayer” that lifted them “from minor-league poodle rockers to global superstars.” AZ
Bruce Fairbairn
In another move targeted at reaching a wider audience, the group opted for Bruce Fairbairn as the album’s producer. He had worked with Blue Öyster Cult, Honeymoon Suite, Krokus, Prism, and, most notably, Loverboy on their first three multi-platinum albums. Jon Bon Jovi had specifically been drawn to the sound quality of heavy metal band Black ‘n Blue’s 1985 album Without Love, produced by Fairbairn. WK1 Jon Bon Jovi said of working with him, “for the first time, we were allowed to be us in the studio.” WK2 In 2006, Fairbairn said of working with the band: “I’ve been lucky enough to work with so many talents…but Bon Jovi may be the finest. There was record company pressure to deliver the hits, but they were a joy.” WK2
The band recorded the album at Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver from January to July 1986. WK1
The Title and the Cover
One early version of the album had it called Wanted Dead or Alive and featured a cover of the band dressed as cowboys. WK1 It was later used for the cover of the single for the song of the same name. WK1
The band came up with the album title Slippery When Wet after visiting strip clubs in Vancouver where a woman descended from the ceiling on a pole, got in a shower, and soaped herself up. WK1 The first version of the album cover featured a busty, 34DD woman wearing a wet yellow T-shirt. It was replaced with a wet plastic garbage bag with the album title traced in the water. Jon Bon Jovi reportedly didn’t like the pink edges of the cover and record executives were leery that record stores might not carry the album because of its sexist cover. WK1 In Japan, however, most releases used the original cover. WK1
Becoming a Blockbuster
Bon Jovi may have “had little more on their minds than girls and rock-as-mythology (even the working-class anthem ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ featured a character who was forced to hock his ‘six string’), but that may only mean they had identified their audience – young white adolescent males – and were targeting it accurately.” AM “From the scantily clad car-wash girls on the inner sleeve to the ‘You lost more than that in my back seat / Yeah!’ lyrics, the album is blissfully untouched by irony and subtlety, which actually adds to its charm.” AZ
Of course, the album wouldn’t have achieved such massive success if it were only targeted at horny male teenagers. “Lead singer Jon Bon Jovi’s mop of curls and winning smile” AM gave the group a healthy dose of sex appeal from the female front as well.
Ultimately, though, the album became a massive success because it “contains its fair share” AZ of “consistently memorable tunes” AZ and “competent contemporary pop/rock from its Eddie Van Halen-inspired guitar solos to the singer’s enthusiastic, husky wail (which owed a lot to Bruce Springsteen).” AM “Slippery When Wet won’t change your world, but it will, undoubtedly, rock it.” AZ
“You Give Love a Bad Name”
You Give Love a Bad Name was released as the lead single several weeks before the album came out. On October 25, 1986, as the single was still climbing the charts, Slippery When Wet ascended to the pinnacle of the Billboard album chart for one week. “You Give Love a Bad Name” continued to climb, eventually peaking at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week ending November 29, 1986.
“Livin’ on a Prayer”
Slippery When Wet abdicated the throne to Boston’s Third Stage after one week. After that album’s month-long stay on top, Bruce Springsteen grabbed the gold for seven weeks with his Live 1975-1975 box set. By then, Livin’ on a Prayer, the second single from Slippery When Wet, had followed its predecessor to the top of the charts in February 1987. This propelled the album back to the top for an additional seven weeks.
The song, which about a working-class couple struggling to make ends meet, is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era, 1954-1999. It was the only song in 1987 to spend more than three weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100. In 2006, VH1 viewers named it the greatest song of the 1980s.
“Wanted Dead or Alive”
The band followed their two #1 hits with the power ballad Wanted Dead or Alive. It reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, making Slippery When Wet the first glam metal album to feature three top-10 hits. The song compares the rock and roll lifestyle to that of cowboys from the Old West. Jon Bon Jovi has said the song was inspired by Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page.”
Notes: An import edition includes bonus tracks.
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