One of the things I like most about Jon Bon Jovi is that he always gives a shout-out to his home state – the Garden State.

Heck, he even named one of his albums after Jersey.

And the love just keeps on coming. In the opening minutes of his recent appearance on “Inside the Actors Studio” (along with band mates David Bryan, Tico Torres and Richie Sambora), he gave us props once again.

“Where were you born?” asked host James Lipton.

“In the great state of New Jersey,” Jon proudly replied. “Perth Amboy, New Jersey.”

“And here’s a little-known fact,” he continued. “Richie, David and I were all born in the same hospital – delivered by the same baby doctor.”

I believe he’s referring to Raritan Bay Medical Center. Wonder if Dr. Greenberg is still practicing or if he’s retired?

On a side note, I’ve known Bon Jovi (not personally, of course) for most of my life. But what else would you expect of someone who was a teenager in the ’80s in New Jersey?

My association with the band goes a little farther, though: I was present for the filming of the band’s “7800° Fahrenheit” single “Only Lonely” in 1985 at a club called Modern Times in Jon’s hometown of Sayreville. (The club is now very well-known as Starland Ballroom.) If you squint really hard while watching the video, you might see me. Or not. Hey, I was only 15 and 5′7″!

I don’t remember much else, except there was a lot of standing around in a large crowd of people. Not surprisingly I didn’t get anywhere near Jon or any of the other band members. But I was there.

In the meantime, if you get the opportunity definitely check out David’s “The Toxic Avenger Musical.” I saw it last year at New Brunswick’s George Street Playhouse and it was a lot of fun. It’s got a lot of Jersey jokes in it, so you’ll enjoy it that much more if you’re a Garden Stater.

And Richie was just in his hometown of Woodbridge this week, where a street leading into the high school was named in his honor. You can read my former Home News Tribune colleague Chris Jordan’s story about Richie’s time in Middlesex County right here, and there’s a whole online gallery of photos here.

Who says you can’t go home?

“Há uma grande diferença entre ser gordo e ser sarado. Bono Vox é gordo; eu sou sarado.”

Jon Bon Jovi

 
Realmente he disfrutado deslizando mis ojos por tu cuerpo semidesnudo acurrucado sobre la almohada soñando con sonrisa en los labios en quien sabe que musa que te inspire… bello niño..

Le vamos a seguir otro rato con los discos viejitos pero que son de puro hard rock y metal del buenísimo, y a petición de mi cuate el Vick que anda viviendo allá en la hermana república de Adelaide, Australia, les posteo este gran disco de mis épocas de cachondaria, obra del excéntrico Alice Cooper, un gran material llamado Trash.

Por los años que se editó Trash, el rock pesado y el metal vivían tiempos gloriosos, finales de los años 80 y principios de los 90 fueron épocas para recordar, y así como la carrera de muchas bandas ascendían como la espuma -Metallica, G’NR, Faith No More, Queensrÿche, Bon Jovi, Tesla, Winger, Megadeth entre muchas otras-, los pesos pesados provenientes de la década de los 70 daban su segundo aire, y es en este rubro donde entra el buen Alice.

Este disco estuvo plagado de participaciones estelares, ya que Alice es uno de esos tipos que se caracteriza por ser el bueno, es decir, el que conoce a toda la banda y toda la banda lo conoce y quiere echar desmadre con él, así, Trash tuvo entre sus humildes colaboradores ni más ni menos que a Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Joey Kramer, Kip Winger, Desmond Child y Michael Anthony entre muchos otros.

De este disco la inolvidable canción es Poison, un poderoso track que abre el material y que refleja lo que pasaba en ese momento con la música de Alice Cooper, tan cambiante y poderosa como su propio autor. Y es que la intención de Trash fue el regresar a Alice a las grandes ligas del rock and roll, venga, había mucho pastel y obvio, el polémico Cooper no quería dejar los 80 sin su rebanadota.

Además viene otras grandes canciones clásicas del repertorio “cooperiano” de los siguientes años, como Bed Of Nails, Only My Heart Talkin’ y House Of Fire. En general es un gran disco con una carga sexual inminente, recuerden que en esos años la mezcla entre sexo y música vendía grandes cantidades de discos… esperen, eso pasa aún , sólo que en vez de rock es reguetón, jo.

Honestamente, y no es por sentirme bien true, pero si andas en la onda del metal, debes conocer la obra de Alice Cooper, el tipo sentó bases importantes, junto a otros grandes como Deep Purple, Kiss o Led Zeppelin, para que el heavy metal sea lo que es ahora.

Así que sin más consíguete este disco de acá, y la neta si lo vez por ahí en el RockShop o cualquier otra tienda especializada en rock, cómpratelo, te aseguro que vale la pena.

Carpe diem.

“Sou até bem paciente com meus músicos, mas pra não mandar alguém pro olho da rua é preciso ser um pouco duro de vez e quando.”

Jon Bon Jovi

No lo entiendo, de veras. Por más que lo intento, nada, sigo sin entenderlo… Me refiero a la opinión que tiene la gente de Bon Jovi —del grupo al completo, no sólo de su vocalista Jon—. Como bien sabréis, y si no os lo cuento yo, que para eso me tenéis a vuestro servicio, los de Nueva Jersey cuentan con un nuevo álbum en su discografía desde el pasado 11 de noviembre. Más de dos años después de su antecesor, The Circle se convierte en el undécimo trabajo de estudio de la banda. En él repite John Shanks como productor como ya hiciera en Have a Nice Day (2005) y en Lost Highway (2007), y al igual que estos, de momento está cosechando una buena acogida por parte del público.

El caso es que la publicación del último de la lista ha suscitado muchos comentarios, entre los cuales ganan por goleada aquéllos que aseguran que los estadounidenses han recuperado con él su sonido Rock más auténtico. De acuerdo, no es necesario escuchar más de tres canciones para comprobar cómo las guitarras son las que parten el bacalao en The Circle. Incluso el propio líder de la banda declaró en una ocasión que es un disco concebido para ser tocado en estadios a base de riffs, riffs y más riffs. Es más,  JBJ —Jon Bon Jovi— añadió que el gran artífice fue su compañero y guitarrista Richie Sambora.

Todo esto está a la vista en la página web del grupo, y aquí comienza el rompecabezas, mucha atención. Literalmente se nos dice que el disco es genuino Rock ‘n’ Roll gracias al regreso de Sambora. Bien, pero como somos desconfiados por naturaleza investigamos y descubrimos que el guitarrista es además uno de los productores —los otros son los citados John y Jon, que juntos podrían dar nombre a un bufete de abogados— , hecho que daría sentido a tal afirmación. Seguimos indagando y damos con que en los anteriores álbumes el señor Sambora también compaginó las labores de grabación con las de producción. De hecho, desde 1995 sólo se desligó de esta última faceta en una ocasión, en 2007, en Lost Highway. Llegados a este punto habría que preguntarse si Lost Highway sonaba y suena tan rematadamente mal como para provocar semejante revolución en Bon Jovi…

De eso nada, aquel disco ya supuso un acertado y refrescante cambio de aires con mucho Rock y Country, y por si fuera poco las ventas dieron la razón a dicha fórmula. ¿Entonces? ¿Cómo suena The Circle? Pues muy bien, no podría escribir otra cosa, pero de revolucionario no tiene tanto como nos han querido hacer creer. Guitarrero, pero sin volvernos locos. Siempre he tenido a los de Nueva Jersey como un grupo de grandes baladas, comercial tirando a pastelón con permiso de célebres y movidos singles. Y The Circle no me hace cambiar de parecer. Repito que me gusta, no cansa, pero dejando a un lado el paréntesis de Lost Highway —que realmente entreveía una nueva etapa—, es más de lo mismo.

De manera que nos encontramos una vez más ante un listado de temas amorosos, o simplemente más pausados, y de agitados éxitos radiofónicos en potencia.  Eso sí, no olvidemos las guitarras, con un plus de protagonismo en todas las composiciones. En definitiva, un muy buen disco, al margen de que en él hayan recuperato su sonido primigenio o jamás lo perdieran totalmente como cree un servidor.

1.     We Weren’t Born to Follow: primer tema y single, es el modelo ideal. Con mucho ritmo, la canción además aborda una de las temáticas más recurrentes del disco: la crisis económica. En ella la púa también cuenta con su momento de gloria, breve, pero intenso. La señal es ese “Guitar!” clamado a los dos minutos y medio.

2.    When We Were Beautiful: JBJ y Richie opinan que  tanto ésta como la anterior no se parecen a ninguna canción escrita por ellos… Repito, “más de lo mismo”. Los hay mejores, pero no deja de ser un buen tema, a medio camino entre las más enérgicas y las baladas de turno.

3.     Work for the Working Man: sus primeros compases recuerdan demasiado a los de Livin’ on a Prayer, y no está del todo mal. Lo malo de verdad llega después, cuando la cosa cambia y las comparaciones se vuelven en su contra definitivamente. Dura canción, tanto que da la sensación de no encajar en la dinámica general, y con un mensaje igual de contundente citado más arriba, la crisis económica.

4.     Superman Tonight
5.     Bullet
6.     Thorn in My Side
7.    Live Before You Die
8.     Brokenpromiseland
9.     Love’s the Only Rule
10.   Fast Cars
11.    Happy Now
12.    Learn to Love

“Eu sou muito autêntico, não tenho papas na língua. Quando Jeff Beck gravou todas as guitarras do meu primeiro álbum solo, que foi um sucesso, mostrei a Richie (Sambora) meio que querendo dizer ‘é assim amigo, melhore’. Mas não adiantou muito, né? (risos)”

Jon Bon Jovi

As LOVE ME TENDER Cover Is The Great Youtube Novelty, ”What Is The Distance Between A Bullet And A Gun?”, The Lyrics Of Bon Jovi Song, Bullet, And New Album The Circle, Express The Impact Of Fred Vidal, PhD Communication Effort  In Progress In Los Angeles And New York!

After The diffusion of 47 seconds of the Classic Song this morning as a Preview-Trailer, Vidal Releasing The Complete One now: The Video That Creates The Conditions Of A Reunion Of The Audience That Fred Vidal Needs To Sign with a Record Label, and more.

TWITTER http://twitter.com/fredvidal

Fred VIDAL: In Hollywood, WE Need LOVE And Spirituality, First I think, With Good Business, especially In These Days OF CRISIS hard 4 the US half a minute ago from web

Fred VIDAL: I Think EVERY Church Is GREAT If YOU BeLiEvE (another BON JOVI song From KEEP THE FAITH!?). Catholics, Jews, Scientology, More.. 3 minutes ago from web

ABOUT HIS DIET!

Fred VIDAL: If I Like BON JOVI, It’s Because His MUSIC is True, Express What we Feel When We Feel, There is no Other Solution Than HAPPINESS less than 10 seconds ago from web

Fred VIDAL: You Have 2 LIVE BEFORE YOU DIE In This World, I Mean ON EARTH. It’s Like In Movies, There Is ALWAYS A Happy End IF You WANT IT! 2 minutes ago from web

Fred VIDAL: Regarding the Fact I’m DOING And Finishing A DIET, It’s TRUE That I Changed, Maybe A lot But First SPIRITUALLY, I Believe In It 5 minutes ago from web

What In Paris 2002?

Fred: But FRANKLY SPEAKING, I’m Also OPTIMISTIC! This Is Obvious That I Am, And HAPPY INSIDE, Looking for More SOON And Working on It ASAP!! less than 10 seconds ago from web

Fred: I’m Sad Sometimes, Sad Because Of The Crisis In our COUNTRY (That Won’t last), SAD Because I Just begin This New LIFE & I want It Now! 2 minutes ago from web

Fred VIDAL: I WILL do A Career IF I am HAPPY NOW, Funny it’s Also the title Of A great Song on The BON JOVI new Album, HAPPY Meaning Not SAD 5 minutes ago from web

Fred VIDAL: Regarding The CINEMA, I’m Confused, was a Fantastic School During All These Years BUT I don’t Know, I WILL do A Career IF I am less than 10 seconds ago from web

Fred VIDAL: Reason Why I’m READY Now 2 PLAY everyday 2 REALIZE my “MISSION”, 2 MAKE IT In The Show Business AS A Singer, I Was Born 4 That! 2 minutes ago from web

Fred VIDAL: Paris 2002? I was In CANNES’ MIDEM then I Reunited BRAMSTOCKER With New LINEUP. We did GIGS all The Time, Reason Why I’m READY! 5 minutes ago from web

WHAT OBJECTIVE: LOVE!

Fred: I Want to Tell You How I appreciated To reply To These Questions And I Hope That there Will Be Other MAGIC TIMES like This one, Soon!! less than 10 seconds ago from web

Fred: SO Let’s Do It Like An AEROPLANE, Like A Note Of John COLTRANE: Love’s The Only Rule, I BELIEVE IN THAT Sentence, I Am Fully Committed 2 minutes ago from web

Fred VIDAL: For The Poor and PEOPLE who Will Work with Me, for Me, Like PR, Agent, I don’t know. I Know You read a lot From ME, About Me, SO 5 minutes ago from web

Fred VIDAL: What Objective? I don’t know, must think About it better, Must BE About LOVE (kidding), MONEY I want it For The Poor, first & 8 minutes ago from web

Frederic VIDAL will Reply To The Question: What OBJECTIVE? in a Moment. Have a great Sunday!

Album Review:

Bon Jovi

The Circle

Island

It has been sometime since I posted anything here at World-Class Shitty and if I had any regular readers before, they’ve doubtless moved on to other blogs where people post regularly.

I actually returned home from my vacation in Japan almost two weeks ago, but needed time to recover after seeing a display in an HMV over there for J-Pop band Glay.

Glay: The removal of one letter is all that stands between them and a more accurate band name

Though I didn’t listen to the latest Glay CD on offer, just a glance at the cardboard cutout on display was like gazing into the abyss of suckitude and enough to make me lose my lunch—which I had eaten at Japanese fast food chain Mos Burger.

"Extra moss and lichens on mine, please!"

East meets West: Mos rice burger sits along side a saucy Mos cheeseburger

Now on to new business—the review of Bon Jovi’s latest sonic turd, The Circle. By all accounts The Circle is a fitting name as the CD finds New Jersey’s lamest returning to their paint-by-numbers stadium rock roots after several records of shitty, soulless new country.

World-Class Shitty has strict review guidelines which require that I not listen to the CDs under review, but for today’s post I bent the rules slightly by actually watching the video for Bon Jovi’s latest single “We Weren’t Born to Follow”.

The title tells you all you need to know about the hackneyed lyrical content while the video shows the band playing on a rooftop Beatles-style and is intercut with uplifting footage of Martin Luther King, President Obama, the fall of the Berlin Wall, Lance Armstrong, the Space Shuttle etc. Tearing a page straight out of the Leni Reifenstahl propaganda playbook, the video’s director tries to manipulate the viewer by juxtaposing these iconic images with Bon Jovi’s pedestrian, lowest common denominator snoozefests. But as the Supersuckers wrote, “You can only get that shit so shiny/When you polish a turd”.

Here are some screenshots from “We Weren’t Born to Follow”. This one shows the band on the rooftop. Jon Bon Jovi waves his arms around throughout like he’s the high priest of dullard rock testifying at a Wal-Mart shareholders meeting—which he pretty much is.

The following screenshots go only a small way towards depicting the sheer degree of fulsome smarm contained in the video. Even Bono would consider it over the top.

Somehow I doubt Martin Luther King's dream had anything to do with cynical millionaires trading on his image in order to shift units

"Yay! We now have the freedom to buy Bon Jovi CDs and eat Big Macs. We weren't born to follow!"

Apparently the brain trusts in Bon Jovi saw no contradictions in the following two images.

Saving the environment: Good!

The wasteful expenditure of fossil fuels on vanity projects: Good!

No doubt the rest of The Circle sucks just as much ass as that video does. “This ain’t about no apology”, sings Jon Bon Jovi in “We Weren’t Born To Follow”, but  it really should be. Or maybe I’m just expecting too much—no one’s got any fucking manners anymore.

HEAVY ROTATION For BON JOVI Album On VIDAL TWITTER,As Fred With His Rock Mate, Prepares First OPEN MIC MONDAY!!! Love’s THE ONLY rule!

Fred Communique US Open Mic Rock Tour (12:24pm, Saturday)
http://fredvidal.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/new-york-next-this-is-the-motto-of-the-california-solo-open-mic-tour-that-begins-mid-november-for-fred-vidal-phd-who-could-celebrate-christmas-live-on-location-with-east-coast-open-dates-for-his-ne/

Saturday, 6pm: Fred VIDAL US MIKES TOUR with upcoming spectacular beginning in Los Angeles for an INDIAN SUMMER Tour dedicated to Jim MORRISON (Tour Dates in progress FAST, see on Twitter too):

http://fredvidal.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/fred-vidal-team-releases-at-noon-the-open-mic-list-of-venues-where-the-actor-singer-will-introduce-his-repertoire-beginning-next-week/

TWITTER FV: LOVE IS THE ONLY RULE!!!!

Flying like an aeroplane, alive like a lonely note of John Coltrane, run like it’s a gateway, say those things that you shouldn’t say LOR BJ
http://twitter.com/fredvidal

New Rhythm on WordPress FV with Daily News Before and during solo OPEN MIC Fred Vidal California tour!

BON JOVI Tour Dates on
www.bonjovi.com

TWITTER http://twitter.com/fredvidal

Super Great friends ABC, CAPITOL, WARNER BROS. and Bikes HARLEY. PLUS The only and Unique DAVID BOWIE (official) WHEN WE WERE BEAUTIFUL (BJ)

Fred Vidal on the phone, the actor is now a full-time singer for the Holiday Season and the producer is a poet too when Bon Jovi inspires him enough to write the truth about Love that he already feels.

“Sabe, eu não quero que minha banda seja conhecida como o R.E.M., uma banda com fãs desempregados. Minha performance no palco só reflete o que eu vendo nas lojas, é importante meu fã ter um emprego.”

Jon Bon Jovi

As A Real Wave Is Upcoming, Fred Vidal Tapes For Youtube Beatles’ AND I LOVE HER And Rocks America In A WINGS Style!

25 Views in 9 hours.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a56V6ftmNQ

AND I LOVE HER (John Lennon-Paul McCartney)

I give her all my love
That’s all I do
And if you saw my love
You’d love her too
I love her

She gives me everything
And tenderly
The kiss my lover brings
She brings to me
And I love her

A love like ours
Could never die
As long as I
Have you near me

Bright are the stars that shine
Dark is the sky
I know this love of mine
Will never die
And I love her

Actress Blake LIVELY, SHE'S THE ONE! A Choice That Fred VIDAL Confirms By The Recording of This Song.

Paul McCARTNEY & WINGS With wife LINDA Was Second Experience For ex-Beatle Still Prolific In Many Songs and Permanent Stage Performance, Worldwide during the 1970's and the 80's.

Fred Vidal To Buy this Morning in FRYES Burbank, CA new CD BON JOVI, The Circle, an Album that He will Play for this Holiday Season, Everyday.

BON JOVI, Another Inspiration of Fred VIDAL, and More than An Inspiration, The Band That gave Him The Motivation to Succeed in Music, Since KEEP THE FAITH, And Even before.

Bon Jovi – The Circle [Deluxe CD/DVD Limited Edition] (2009, Island Records)

CD:
1. “We Weren’t Born to Follow” … 4:03
2. “When We Were Beautiful” … 5:18
3. “Work for the Working Man” … 4:03
4. “Superman Tonight” … 5:12
5. “Bullet” … 3:50
6. “Thorn In My Side” … 4:05
7. “Live Before You Die” …  4:18
8. “Brokenpromiseland” … 4:57
9. “Love’s the Only Rule” … 4:38
10. “Fast Cars” … 3:16
11. “Happy Now” … 4:21
12. “Learn to Love” … 4:39

DVD:
When We Were Beautiful – Documentary

Band:
Jon Bon Jovi – Lead Vocals
Richie Sambora – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Tico Torres – Drums, Percussion
David Bryan – Keyboards, Piano

Additional Musicians:
Hugh McDonald – Bass
Charlie Judge – Keyboards

Producer: John Shanks with Jon Bon Jovi & Richie Sambora

It’s hard to believe after only releasing two albums in the 1990s that Bon Jovi is now on their fifth studio release in the 2000s alone (The Circle is actually their sixth studio release if you want to count their acoustic reworkings of their own songs on This Left Feels Right). And I haven’t even mentioned the live album and box set they released this decade! So yes, the band has been extremely active this decade with a steady stream of albums and world tours that sell out wherever they go.

The downside to all of this? Their music overall hasn’t been up to snuff with their ’80s or even ’90s output. Their “comeback” album Crush was great, different but great. Bounce rocked harder and was really good. After that, the band has turned into a bland rock band that doesn’t really rock at all and they’ve dabbled way too much in country rock in an attempt to stay relevant (but it worked for a bit, so what do I know?).

In hype for this album, Jon and Richie promised they were done with Nashville and that the album’s title was a reference to the band coming full circle and getting back to rock ‘n’ roll and that they were giving us a “big rock record”. Well, I can tell you this much — thankfully, most signs of Lost Highway are gone (perhaps lost?). I wouldn’t say this album is “big rock” at all, but it is a better effort than Have a Nice Day even if it still sounds similar to that release. I had been hoping this would be closer to Bounce (“Bullet” comes close), but no dice.

I realize that the band is laughing all the way to the bank with the steady stream of bland, safe rock ‘n’ roll made for their soccer mom fans, but I really wish these guys would pay attention to the minority of fans that want a harder edge and huge sing-along choruses. I don’t expect a sequel to Slippery When Wet or New Jersey (though the band does offer up the bass line from “Livin’ On A Prayer” for “Work for the Working Man”), I don’t want a nostalgia release, but throw me a few bones! Give me a couple of songs that have that feel good over the top vibe that band had up until Keep the Faith.

Noticeably absent is the classic Bon Jovi sounding ballad that doesn’t care what decade it is. Even on the awful Lost Highway the band managed to squeeze out the under appreciated “(You Want to) Make a Memory”. Desmond Child co-wrote that song and he helps out a bit on this album, but even his involvement can’t save this album.

Ultimately, The Circle is another collection of mediocre, thoughtful and mature rock songs (Just like U2!) that don’t please this old school Bon Jovi fan and I can’t imagine reaching for this album in the future.

The CD/DVD limited edition comes with the 75 minute B&W documentary When We Were Beautiful, which follows the band on their Lost Highway tour from 2007. It’s a pretty interesting look into the workings of the band.

Highlights: “We Weren’t Born to Follow”, “Work for the Working Man”, “Bullet”, “Brokenpromiseland”, “Happy Now”

www.bonjovi.com
www.myspace.com/bonjovi

“Gosto de verificar pessoalmente tudo que é enviado à imprensa. Sabe, esse pessoal gosta muito de inventar boatos. Nunca envolvi minha esposa numa orgia com groupies, isso foi terrível.”

Jon Bon Jovi

“Alertei Richie quando ele quis lançar seu primeiro disco solo e levar a minha banda para tocar com ele, na tour. Sabe, às vezes acho que tudo isso é birra. Quando penso se algo vai fracassar ou não, comparo com os trabalhos solos de Sambora (risos).”

Jon Bon Jovi

“Fiz ‘It’s My Life’ baseada numa pequena discussão com Haley Joel Osment, no set de ‘A Corrente do Bem’. Ele queria me ensinar a atuar e eu dei apenas um grito. Bastou para ele ver que na minha vida mando e decido EU.”

Jon Bon Jovi

it’s not often that i eagerly await “New Music Tuesday”…. however on this particular day the newest Bon Jovi album “The Circle” dropped. OMG fucking awesome. and i’m  not saying that as a fan since I was about 6…. yes, that would make me a fan of Bon Jovi for almost 24 years, and yes it is possible to know good music at age 6. I have vivid memories of my pocket rocker (do you remember those?) being at recess rocking to “Wanted” and “Livin’ on a Prayer”…. I was in first grade… okay, stop laughing.

seriously though, this album is fantastic. The first single “We Weren’t Born to Follow” has had me rockin in the car for weeks, and it’s very stadium-anthemish which will be kick ass when they open the new Meadowlands Stadium in May. I’m also a huge fan of “Superman”….

May cannot come fast enough….

Meu amigo Thales me disse em 1988: “é bom, é jovem, é Bon Jovi”.

Pois John Francis Bongiovi Jr., 47, está de volta e para um pai de quatro filhos, looking fucking good.

Daqui a quase exatamente um ano, dia 7 de novembro, ele estará no Brasil e você vai poder conferir ao vivo. Se for fã mesmo, pode pegar o show na abertura em Seattle, fevereiro, ou em algum outro canto do mundo – aqui está o roteiro da tour. Bon Jovi na Croácia, que tal?

Eu também estaria rebolando feliz se tivesse vendido 120 milhões de álbuns. Talvez sem a mesma ginga, claro. Olha ele vendendo o peixe aqui, a primeira faixa do novo disco, na versão inglesa do Ídolos:

We Weren’t Born To Follow é mais um daqueles hinos genéricos, tronitruantes, assobiáveis, all-american que ninguém faz melhor que o Bon Jovi.

Umas eles acertam na mosca – Wanted Dead or Alive, Living on a Prayer, It’s My Life. Outras, e essa nova é um desses casos, não.

Mas é indolor, e tem um monte de heróis americanos, ou pelo menos heróis para um garoto italiano, durango e Democrata de Nova Jersey – Martin Luther King, Al Gore, Bobby Kennedy, astronautas e a princesa Diana. Como, claro, Obama, que Jon apoiou. Olha ele cantando na festa de posse do presidente americano:

Basta trabalhar duro, ser justo e leal com seus amigos. O que é verdade, naturalmente; e a prova indiscutível é o próprio Jon saracoteando sorridente no palco na sua frente, não está vendo?

É um ideário que seria country e republicano se não fosse suburbano e liberal. A operação conceitual é interessantíssima. O Bon Jovi existe em um ponto imaginário equidistante de Los Angeles, Memphis e New Jersey.

Entre, sei lá, Poison, Elvis e Bruce Springsteen. Nunca fui exatamente fã de Bon Jovi, mas sempre simpatizei e cada vez mais. Piracicabano que vira paulistano tem dessas coisas.

Quando entrei na Folha, 88, era cabeludo e tinha gente que achava que eu era headbanger.

Vai ver não diferenciavam minhas camisetas do Joy Division e Dead Kennedys de camisetas do Iron Maiden.

Minha primeira capa da Ilustrada foi sobre, adivinha, a então mais recente dentição metaleira, o hard rock de laquê e batom de gente como Motley Crue, Guns N’Roses e… Bon Jovi.

Adoraria ler de novo. Alguém sabe onde encontro?  Todos esses caras viraram covers deles mesmos. Jon virou outra coisa.  Elvis é a referência mais na cara. Não imitação; isso, ninguém fez melhor que Eddie Murphy.

Claro que a vida do comportado Jon não tem nada a ver com o doidão Elvis. Aliás, Jon já viveu hoje quatro anos mais que Elvis. Mas ninguém há de negar que mesmo sendo um garoto de cidade, Jon engana bem de cowboy do asfalto.

E não é de hoje. Olha ele em 1985, mandando ao vivo do lado de Willie Nelson, em uma cover de, opa, Elvis:

O som? É hard rock superproduzido; é caipira de coração; é o hino que embala sonhos, desilusões e festerê do povão. É, mais ou menos, Victor & Leo.

Parte importante da lenda que suporta o Bon Jovi é a da gangue de amigos inseparáveis e superleais, Jon à frente, Richie Sambora como seu fiel escudeiro.

Sejam quais forem os bastidores desta relação, a parada funciona; o Bon Jovi faz shows emocionantes e lota estádios nos cinco continentes, em maratonas só comparáveis às dos Stones e U2, mas mais íntimas e espontâneas.

Como, digamos… Bruce Springsteen, de novo.

Para completar, Jon tem um legendário “casamento perfeito” e discreto, com sua namorada de colegial, Dorothea. Bonitona ela, mas sem visual de superstar.

Jon é tão perfeito que parece de mentira. É mentira mesmo, mas deve ter seu fundo de verdade, porque nunca pegaram ele de calça curta. Minha teoria: disciplina e tino comercial.

Jon é filho de dois ex-Marines, fuzileiros navais americanos. Ele, John, ela Carol, ex-coelhinha da Playboy. Das que serviam mesas no Club Playboy no final dos anos 50, não das que saíram peladas na revista.

Infância linha dura, pouca grana mas sem miséria. Jon era bonitinho, moleque.

Se fez bonitão: plásticas, musculação, jaquetas nos dentes, tratamentos diversos – é só olhar a pele dele com 23 anos e hoje. Sua beleza veio exatamente de onde vêm os visuais de estrelas de cinema, e não é da barriga da mamãe, ainda que DNA ajude bem.

Jon cresceu querendo ser um rockstar, e foi rápido. Depois queria ser um menestrel respeitável, como Bruce Springsteen, e não foi. Agora parece que está mais confortável. É facílimo prever os próximos anos do Bon Jovi.

Mais discos iguais aos de sempre, mais turnês lotadas, mais sucesso, mais dinheiro e nenhum escândalo à vista. Ele sabe que a vida é dele. E seu herói hoje toca para ele:

Pode estar fora de moda gostar de Springsteen e Bon Jovi. Bem, tenho quase a idade de Jon, e não estou dando a mínima para o que está na moda. O tempo passa para o bem e o mal.

Mesmo que a gente pareça jovem, se sinta jovem e não queira se entregar à nostalgia, é difícil não pensar às vezes no que foi e não volta mais.

Com melancolia, mas – espero – também com carinho e humor. Assim:

Now I think I’m going down to the well tonight and I’m going to drink till I get my fill

And I hope when I get old I don’t sit around thinking about it but I probably will

Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture a little of the glory of,

Well time slips away and leaves you with nothing mister but boring stories of

Glory days well they’ll pass you by

Glory days in the wink of a young girl’s eye Glory days, glory days

Hei, Thales, olha os dois juntos aqui, man!

(Fonte: blog do André Forastieri)

Fred VIDAL TEAM Chooses Grassroots Folk RENDEZVOUS To Celebrate 250,000 Views On WordPress (3,209 On Sunday), The New BON JOVI Album And The SILLY TWITTER Wave On The Web!

EVERYTHING About Jon BON JOVI and The New BON JOVI Album,
THE CIRCLE:
www.bonjovi.com

ON MYSPACE MAIN PAGE, 3,300 friends (11:42AM)

Bulletin Board Fred VIDAL

On Twitter 4 You!!
http://twitter.com/ffredvidal
LIFE IS IN S.T.E.R.E.O.!!!!!
less than 10 seconds ago from web
Fred VIDAL (Ascap): To WRITE a Song, It’s a Difficult Process And I OFTEN Write ONLY One VERSE To Focus ON The GUITAR Part!! So, I Need You!
less than a minute ago from web
Breaking News: FRED VIDAL Chooses THE GUITAR CENTER On SUNSET for his first Connection Regarding The selection Of BASS PLAYER & One DRUMMER!
4 minutes ago from web
Before 2 Go In TOWN, Fred VIDAL Informs ON MYSPACE of The Operation LET’S WRITE THE SECOND VERSE Together!

Call me Anytime for some verse ideas on my songs:
http://youtube.com/bramstocker
(323) 519-8889
fredvidal@ymail.com

LIFE IS IN STEREO!!

Composed and videotaped for Youtube OCTOBER 8, RendezVous is Today the SONG that makes a sense for FRED VIDAL first Day of Networking in LA to find the right Musicians for His band LovE On EartH and an upcoming Music LABEL Deal!

You can call him on his personal Cell: (323) 519-8889 for that.
Star Blog email address: fredvidal@ymail.com

Lyrics of RENDEZVOUS (Fred VIDAL – ASCAP) today.

On TWITTER this morning (1,517 Followers):
http://twitter.com/fredvidal

Breaking News: WORDPRESS About to Inform That Fred VIDAL TEAM Chooses RENDEZVOUS (FV-Ascap) To Celebrate 250k, The BJ album & Silly-Twitter 17 minutes ago from web

http://bit.ly/Li0eV = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edu46L0nx_w
(Vidal’s Eminem’s WheN I’m GonE Metal Cover: 22 views in 10 hours)

“Sabe, quando falo pro Richie (Sambora) maneirar no visual, não é pra ele entrar no palco de sobretudo e óculos escuros. Não somos uma banda gótica.”

Jon Bon Jovi

“Não tenho nada contra o público gay. Aliás, fiz muitas músicas com apelo homoerótico, pois é um público fiel.”

Jon Bon Jovi