Should Bon Jovi be in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame....

[U2Kitten]

I'm almost sure it was 2002 but maybe 2003, I think it was the same year as Queen. I remember seeing it, David Byrne with gray hair, the band was there. Yes the Talking Heads are already in so take them off the list.

Bon Jovi was famous with Runaway in '84, it was on MTV a lot and were popular, just not huge, just as U2 was famous with War but a lot of people claim they weren't 'big' until JT but they were already well known and well played. (though of course U2 is and was bigger and greater) I was sitting there watching this, I was a teenage girl. I still say the 'hair metal' thing has become a category and phenomenon in a historical sense, at the time it was just good hard head banging rock and roll. There was even a religious 'hair metal' band, Stryper. The history of the 80's has been tainted and twisted by VH1 documentaries.

 

[Blue Room]

I'm almost sure it was 2002 but maybe 2003, I think it was the same year as Queen. I remember seeing it, David Byrne with gray hair, the band was there. Yes the Talking Heads are already in so take them off the list.

Bon Jovi was famous with Runaway in '84, it was on MTV a lot and were popular, just not huge, just as U2 was famous with War but a lot of people claim they weren't 'big' until JT but they were already well known and well played. (though of course U2 is and was bigger and greater) I was sitting there watching this, I was a teenage girl. I still say the 'hair metal' thing has become a category and phenomenon in a historical sense, at the time it was just good hard head banging rock and roll. There was even a religious 'hair metal' band, Stryper. The history of the 80's has been tainted and twisted by VH1 documentaries.

Oh come on, Runaway was no kind of hit in 84. It barely saw any type of airplay. Runaway is what got BJ their record deal, but it was no hit when it was released. BJ didnt get any kind of rotation until their next album. To compare that to Round And Round is an enormous stretch IMO. R and R saw HEAVY rotation on the radio and MTV that year. As far as U2 in 1983 NY Day was played constantly on MTV, as well as Red Rocks SBS later that year. 83 was the year U2 got noticed in a big way. They basically began selling out large venues right after this. That is when an artists really makes it IMO. BJ got noticed in 85 somewhat with In And Out of Love which saw a little rotation. They were opening for 38 Special around that time, so how big were they then? LOL BJ became big in 87/88. U2 were selling out arenas in 85, before JT. JT is when U2 took it to a new level (Stone, Beatles, Springsteen). Its a level I dont think BJ has EVER reached and never will. BJ were really big in 88, but not like U2 were in 87, 92 and even 01. LOL, I feel like I'am really bashing BJ here and I dont hate them. Oh well, like I said before, its been an interesting discussion and has brought up alot of memories from that era.

LOL, I actually do agree with alot of what you are saying though. I think your accuracy on a few artists is just a tad off and I think its simply to try to show BJ had made it or become known before they did. I also lived this era, in a big way. I saw Stryper in concert actually LOL! I also saw BJ open for 38 Special in 85 or 86 (cant remember exactly off hand), they got booed off stage. No joke. No encore that night! LOL

 

[Flying FuManchu]

I don't look at the Ramones as starting punk yet they are credited with being the fathers of punk... The Sex Pistols got the most notoriety and fame IMO but they are considered the forefathers or something as well...

I think they all in a way just rode the wave as Bon Jovi did. Is that unfair to say? But IMO Bon Jovi's wave was huge... just as the Ramones's wave was bigger than others... Nothing wrong with being the fathers of the pop metal movement (I'm not saying Bon Jovi are). When asking a question of "would it be a good thing to be known as the ones who started hair metal? " (paraphrase) I say why not. That question just comes down to taste/ personal preference.

Bon Jovi didn't necessarily start the the movement but they helped bring it to the point where it got really huge and the mass explosion of hair bands came about IMO.

 

[Vampira]

Are you saying that you DO think BJ started the hair metal trend then? I dont know how you can and that is my point. BJ didnt start anything. They became popular after it started and managed to survive where alot of others did not. Thats it.

No I don't think they started it. But I do think they were hair metal.

Regarding Van Halen. I dont think they are hair metal but I do think they helped to start it. Look DLR in 1984, spandex and big hair

Look at Van Halen 1 and 2 from the seventies. They were ordinary hard rock and were before the eighties. Diamond Dave was a character and liked to dress flamboyantly but that doesn't mean he is hair metal or started the trend. But like I said it could be some of the real hair bands who came later were probably influenced by David Lee Roth's stage persona but took it up a notch.

 

[U2Kitten]

Runaway was no kind of hit in 84. It barely saw any type of airplay

Sure is weird, back in the day I used to see it and hear it everywhere. The video WAS popular. They had 2 albums before Slippery When Wet and they were already loved by plenty of US surburban teenagers (like me and the ones I went to school with)


Back to the original question, yes, I do think they belong. I don't think a band's genre or 'look' should disqualify them from getting in and everything in rock should be represented. Bon Jovi are a long lived successful band that started out as hard rock, became hair metal and then mellower rock. But like U2 they have survived and have a lot of fans. I hope they get their place one day.

For the record, Bon Jovi's influences were not T Rex, Van Halen or any hard rock or glam rock band, but Bruce Springsteen and Southside Johnny and the Asbury, whatevers.

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

For the record, Bon Jovi's influences were not T Rex, Van Halen or any hard rock or glam rock band, but Bruce Springsteen and Southside Johnny and the Asbury, whatevers.

I saw an interview where Jon Bon Jovi said that Bon Jovi was a combination of Van Halen with Bruce Springsteen.

 

[U2Kitten]

I never heard that but I'm not surprised. When he was a teenager in 1978 Van Halen was hot, pure rock and roll in the middle of a garbage pile of disco.

But influences don't always add up to what a band becomes. Garth Brooks listed Journey, Boston and Styx as his influences and he was country

 

[Blue Room]

Whoa!! LOL, everyone at once.

Vampira, fair enough, I think we are basically saying the same thing in different ways because I agree with your last post. I dont think VH is hair metal and I never have. I just said that DLR influenced alot of the hair metal look. I think that is definately true. Early VH was definately pure rock. But the VH in 82 and 1984 although great, was definately more poppy than in the 70's. Diver Down, album full of cover songs for the most part. 1984, keyboard song is the primary hit. I'am just saying they were successful with the more poppy sound and that look and like you said, maybe that influenced others to take that up another notch to the hair metal genre.

U2 Kitten, all I can say is that maybe you are thinking of Runaway being played AFTER BJ became known. It happens alot when an artist becomes popular. Radio, fans and MTV go back to before they were popular and start playing some of that material. Runaway was not a hit in 84, it was not seeing all that much exposure in 84 when it was released. It may have seen more later, but I would chalk that up to the success of SWW which obviously came several years later. I'am not saying the Runaway was absolutely obscure in 84, I'am sure it was played on MTV. But nothing like the exposure Ratt was receiving at the same time. Thats all I'am saying is that RATT was way more popular before BJ. Also, I do agree that an image or look shouldnt stop a deserving artist from getting into the HOF. I just dont think it should get them in either. It should be the music primarily.

Brazilian Fly, that quote is just about perfect in summing up BJ for me. They are like B or C versions of Bruce and VH. Jon basically immitates Bruce in concert, so that quote makes total sense. Does a B or C level hybrid of VH/Bruce deserve to get in? I just dont think so. You guys do, thats cool, you will probebly be right.

 

[U2Kitten]

No I really remember seeing it on Radio 1990 (I think it was on the USA network) and other long gone cable music shows before we got MTV. We had no MTV until late '84. I fell in love with Red Rocks being played on an independant cable channel that no longer exists. We had cable but it was only 13 channels on the regular dial. In 1984 they came through with the converter box with 60 channels, good times! But I mean I saw Runaway on lame shows before we even had cable and I was watching because I was desperate! I remember the girl who was about my age doing that dance at the end and the way Ritchie stood in that black coat while he played the guitar. Then when their later stuff came out I remembered them as the band that did Runaway. It was there, but being a 14 year old girl maybe I was paying more attention than you

 

[Blue Room]

Well, I think that answers the question. You were watching obscure independent shows. Lets face it, at that time frame, if it was seeing heavy rotation on MTV, it wasnt happening and a band hadnt made it. I will see if I can dig up the Billboard numbers on it. I think I remember reading before Runaway peaked at like 53, but I could be wrong. I dont claim to be an Bon Jovi afficienado by any means.

I guess are you saying that Runaway and BJ were bigger than Ratt in 1984? The only reason I say that is because you were saying originally Ratt followed BJ. It was obviously the other way around.

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

But influences don't always add up to what a band becomes.

Agree.



BTW here's a piece of info: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=UIDSUB040404161839140896&sql=TReg0e4jj70wal

 

[Blue Room]

Agree.



BTW here's a piece of info: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=UIDSUB040404161839140896&sql=TReg0e4jj70wal

LOL, I was off by a bit. But I think that shows Runaway was no huge hit. Actually did a little better than I recall but still was nothing huge at the time. What would be interesting to see if there were any stats on how much it was played on MTV that year.

 

[U2Kitten]

No I'm just saying they were about the same time and neither one influenced the other.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i think this thread should be in the rock n roll hall of fame

 

[U2Kitten]

 

[Nesskelz]

I don't like their music,and I DON'T think they SHOULD be inducted, but I think they probably will. The RARHOF is going to start running out of people actually worthy of being inducted, and start inducting groups and artists like Bon Jovi, who maybe have just been around for a long time, have high album sales or something like that. I think that over the next decade or so, RARHOF is really going to start loosing credibility.
Comparing Bon Jovi to other bands from the 80's and saying how much better they are than them, IMO, isn't really a good reason to induct them. I think U2 should be inducted, but not because they're better than Twisted Sister or Flock of Seagulls. That's just my opinion.

 

[Flying FuManchu]

Actually there are tons of artists that haven't been inducted into the rock hall of fame that deserve to be in it or will deserve to be in it in the future so I don't think you have to worry about an undeserving artist being elected/ chosen b/c all the good artist are in it. Bon Jovi will be in IMO and be deserving of it....

 

[Nesskelz]

I meant further into the future. Eventually I think it will happen, just because I don't really see the way music is right now, changing. Although I could be wrong.

 

[max d.]

Bon who?