Bon Jovi's bassist

[Hornisse]

From my March 2001 issue of Classic Rock Magazine:

"And then, just as the "Crossroad" selection proved Bon Jovi would after all, survive the 90's intact, long serving bassist Alec John Such quit the band.  Or was pushed.  Depending who you speak to.  "Shit, man, I lost my virginity in Alec's house" says Tico with a wide grin, "his parents had gone out and our band had thrown this party after a show we'd played and it all happened there.  We'd been playing together in bands since the 60's but I probably helped implement getting him out of the band.  I actually chose his replacement, Hugh MacDonald.  Jon said, "you're the rhythm section, you go get him."  But when it came down to it, I'm a hard worker, I respect my craft and I think Alec had got to the point where he wanted to do other things.  I understood what Alec wanted and that was the only thing that made it okay for me to lose him."

"Jumped or pushed?  A little of both to be honest," says Jon now.  "He was burned, he couldn't do it any more, he was 10 years older than us, remember.  It got to the point where he was, "I don't want to play on the records, I'll just tour."  I'd be like, wait a minute....When your bass player can't play and Dave's having to cover for him and there's a big glass of whiskey on his amp and I have to go by and, you know, "Sorry, didn't mean to knock that over."

"He was the most loyal guy [but] when he quit the business, he really quit the business.  He's living out on a houseboat in Corpus Christi, Texas.  Sold his house, his guitars....He's back with his wife that actually left him back on the first record.  He was offered the chance to appear on VH-1's Behind The Music and didn't want to, turned it down.  When he had his estate sale, the press contacted him and all he said was, "I love the new record, I wish them well, that's it for me, I'm out of the business."  That's a pretty f***ing loyal thing to do, he could have easily gone the tabloid route, appeared on radio shows, all that stuff, and didn't.  He's a good man."

[lowend1]

At this point, I must apologize for having acquired entirely too much knowledge on this subject. What I find most entertaining about JBJ's interviews is the measured, guarded way he responds to questions in general. You never get a real sense of who he is as a person. From the beginning, he has been almost obsessed with not airing any dirty linen in public, so I take anything he says about Alec with a grain of salt. Perhaps the most telling thing is the story of Skid Row, who, in exchange for getting a leg up from Bon Jovi, had to sign over all their publishing to Jon and Richie. (Richie later returned his share to the band) And these guys were friends of theirs!

[ack1961]

I feel ashamed and responsible for starting a thread about such an awful topic.
I should be banned, but I ask for forgiveness.
It's dawned on me that I'm still going to have to learn/play some of their basslines for my son.
Certainly, the punishment does not fit the crime.

[uwe]

Saying Bon Jovi is like Springsteen is a bit like saying Bread sounded like The Band, they were both folk/country-influenced rock bands yes. And the new Springsteen album ain't bad at all for anybody who cares to listen.

Of all the eighties hair metal AOR bands, Bon Jovi is

- the only one that broke out of the mould,
- reinvented itself to some extent ("keep the Faith" does not sound like "Runaway") and
- reached a global audience that is basically non-rock.

I respect them for that even though I can't tell many BJ power ballads apart, they all sound the same to me. And when I saw them in concert last year, they did a good show (and a great motownish version of Duffy's "Mercy") against the odds of horrible billowing acoustics (JBJ on stage about Frankfurt's Commerzbank Arena: "This place sounds like shit. Is it any better down there?!" It wasn't.). Bit surprised about the venom here against them, they are a commercial rock/pop band, but also a hard-working entity. I get listless listening to a whole album (though "Have a nice day" was a good one), but in my book they deserve to be millionaires for the hook in LOAP alone. That song still gets in my system no matter how many times I've heard it.

LOAP featured in its original a bass run by Alec with which Jon was dissatisfied. So they sent the tape to Hugh who came up with the iconic bass rif (doubled on guitar in the final version). Apparently, Such had truly technical issues as a player. Sambora once said: "You're playing in front of 10.000 people and the guy hits a bum note. First three times that happens, you just feel sorry for him. But after the 10th time you get angry with him." I guess the fact that there is no animosity between Alec and the band today shows that - like any good divorce - the financials were accomodating. Not sure whether JBJ is such a monster either, he stuck to his marriage (with a wife not at all fitting the glamorous rock chick clichee) and with Sambora during the latter's chronic alcohol issues.  

I never believed I would one day defend Bon Jovi.   I must be getting old.  

[luve2fli]

"Hughie for Bass" ..... seriously - give the guy the job full-time, for cripes sakes! He's a fine bassist and has only improved their (sometimes bland) sound over the years.

[Dave W]

I've heard them criticized for being a pop band that pretends to be rock. I don't know enough about them or their music to say. Have they ever pretended to be anything other than a band trying to entertain their fans? Nothing wrong with that if you like their music.

[aluminumcatfish]

I saw AJS play in a jam session at the Dallas Guitar Show a number of years ago. He was bad. Real bad. I thought it was just because he couldn't play blues.

[gweimer]

I've heard them criticized for being a pop band that pretends to be rock. I don't know enough about them or their music to say. Have they ever pretended to be anything other than a band trying to entertain their fans? Nothing wrong with that if you like their music.

Very true.  Their best marketing tactic was to let a junior high school pick all the songs for the New Jersey (?) album.  Whichever album had "Living on a Prayer".  The band wasn't really sure about that song, but the youngsters jumped on it.  Nothing like testing your demographic.  Anyone who can make a sustained living in the music industry for more than a few years has my respect, even if I don't like the music.  I do like Bon Jovi; they're just not one of my more favorite bands.

[uwe]

Any band playing stadiums, I'm immediately suspicious of. That goes for the U2s, Nickelbags, REMs and Bon Jovis of this world. Something liked by that many people can't really be liked by me my inner demon tells me. But all fours bands do what they do well.

I prefer to see former stadium (or arena) rock bands when they are no longer playing those venues - past their commercial prime. Nothing more gratifying than seeing a stadium honed act in a 3.000 seater hall. And I look forward to seeing Uriah Heep who once sold out 3.000-5.000 seaters in Germany no sweat (circa mid-seventies) in an intimate 300 people capacity club in December.

When U2 are playing clubs in twenty years from now, I might even see them!

[TBird1958]

I don't mind admitting that I liked "Slippery when Wet" at the time, it was probably a bit pop, but hey it helped a lot of other bands get noticed too.......
I'd certainly concur with the 3000 seat venue line too, I was very fortunate in my younger days to a lot of great bands ( Kiss, Rush, B.O.C. Nazareth, Slade, Robin Trower, etc) at Seattle's Paramont Theater, a wonderful old 3000 seat venue with wonderful acoustics........the '70's were good! 

[gweimer]

I'd certainly concur with the 3000 seat venue line too, I was very fortunate in my younger days to a lot of great bands ( Kiss, Rush, B.O.C. Nazareth, Slade, Robin Trower, etc) at Seattle's Paramont Theater, a wonderful old 3000 seat venue with wonderful acoustics........the '70's were good! 

Those were always my favorite type of venues.  In Chicago, we had the Auditorium Theater, The Civic Opera House (for a while) and The Riviera Theater.  I saw some great shows at those places:
Kansas/Mott The Hoople
Yes/ELP
Flash/Wishbone Ash
Jethro Tull
Angel City/The Kinks

[uwe]

FWIW: While on studio records I find his "let's put some passion in every word"-singing grating after a while, the little garden state wop (George, another one for your low pc collection of my legendary quotes!) does more than alright live, his voice has aged well, even on the helium-inspired eighties chorusses. And Sambora played very gutsy at the concert I saw, as if to validate his position in the band. What was also interesting is that the drummer had almost as much "air time" on the large screens as the namegiver of the band himself. And that drummer is not only entertaining to watch, he's outright good as a drummer. I probably enjoyed him the most all evening.

Yes, of course, I was there because Edith wanted to go ("You wouldn't be going to Bon Jovi with me, would you?" is one of those questions you can only sensibly answer in the affirmative if you love someone with a long memory!), what other reasons are there to go to a Bon Jovi concert? It's for the same reason Edith can always "invite" me to whatever new flic is graced with the presence, charm, splendid looks and, errrm, acting talent of Herr Keanu Reeves.    Well, at least he plays bass.

[Denis]

Any band playing stadiums, I'm immediately suspicious of. That goes for the U2s, Nickelbags, REMs and Bon Jovis of this world. Something liked by that many people can't really be liked by me my inner demon tells me. But all fours bands do what they do well.

I prefer to see former stadium (or arena) rock bands when they are no longer playing those venues - past their commercial prime. Nothing more gratifying than seeing a stadium honed act in a 3.000 seater hall. And I look forward to seeing Uriah Heep who once sold out 3.000-5.000 seaters in Germany no sweat (circa mid-seventies) in an intimate 300 people capacity club in December.

When U2 are playing clubs in twenty years from now, I might even see them!

I'd love to see Uriah Heep! Golden Earring has played quite a few acoustic shows in Europe in smaller venues, haven't they?

[gweimer]

I've got a Hypstrz CD, which is a board tape release from back about 1979.  In the cover is a club calendar from Minneapolis that shows a U2 playing at a club there on a Thursday night.

[ack1961]

And I look forward to seeing Uriah Heep who once sold out 3.000-5.000 seaters in Germany no sweat (circa mid-seventies) in an intimate 300 people capacity club in December.

Just to be clear...you're seeing Mick Box from Uriah Heep.  If the original members of Heep were still with us, 300 seaters wouldn't be happening.