‘Tis the Season to Be Jovi: The Bon Jovi Christmas Experience
Thirty years ago, in 1986, Bon Jovi officially made the jump to hyperspace with its album Slippery When Wet. The thing is, though, Slippery When Wet wasn’t Bon Jovi’s first album; it was its third. The band’s self-titled first album was released two years earlier, in January 1984. And even THAT album wasn’t the first professional recording for lead singer Jon Bon Jovi. That distinction belongs to the song “R2D2, We Wish You a Merry...
8 Lessons Howard Jones’ ‘No One is to Blame’ Teaches about the Writing Process
Turns out, Howard Jones was wrong: there is someone to blame, and his name is Billy Ocean. At the very least, we can sort of blame Billy Ocean for the fact that Howard Jones never had a number one hit: “No One is to Blame,” Howard’s highest charting hit in the U.S., peaked at #4 during the week of July 5, 1986– the same week that Billy’s “There’ll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)” reigned at #1. (For the record: that week, Simply...
Everybody Have Fun Tonight: Thirty Songs from the Fall of 1986
Brace yourself: Slippery When Wet is thirty years old. That’s right: the album that shot Bon Jovi into the superstar stratosphere– thanks in part to the number one hits “Livin’ on a Prayer” and “You Give Love a Bad Name”– was released three decades ago, in 1986. Back then, the guy who drove me to high school played his Slippery When Wet tape pretty much on continuous loop every morning....
The Beatles in the 1980s: A Timeline
On August 29, 2016, Mark David Chapman, was once again denied parole for the murder of John Lennon in December 1980. Chapman was sentenced to twenty years in prison. This is the ninth time his request for a parole has been denied. With Lennon’s name back in the news, it seemed a good time for an article about what all the former Beatles were doing in the 1980s. A few weeks ago, I published a piece focusing on just two members of the...
John Lennon and Ringo Starr in the 1980s: A Timeline
This month, the man who shot John Lennon, Mark David Chapman, will once again be up for parole. Chapman was sentenced to twenty years in prison after murdering Lennon, in December 1980. Since he became eligible for parole in 2000, Chapman has been denied eight times. August 2016 is important to Beatles fans for other reasons as well. This month marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Revolver album, which contains classics such as...
