Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Richie Sambora on songwriting, RSO and Bon Jovi

First things first. I shared this video on Blame It On The Love's Facebook page two weeks ago, but I'm going to post it here because I think it's really sweet. Even if it was possibly staged for the media. It's the video of Richie Sambora and Orianthi congratulating Bon Jovi on their new single, which was posted on both Facebook and Twitter. Jon (or someone on behalf of Jon) replied on both sites.





Anyway, Richie and Orianthi (aka RSO) are hitting my hometown of Perth next month, and I have tickets so I'm pretty excited. (Funnily enough, a Bon Jovi tribute band from Melbourne is also playing in Perth that night. I'm guessing that show was planned before RSO announced theirs.)

I saw Richie and Ori at Soundwave back in 2014, but it'll be good to see them do their own show rather than a festival this time.

(EDIT 20/9: RSO cancelled their Perth show, ostensibly due to recording commitments, but anyone with half a brain knows it was due to poor ticket sales. It's a lot like that time Richie conveniently got sick just before his US shows that weren't selling well.)

Anyway, Richie was interviewed on Mix 94.5 today. He talked about songwriting, working with Orianthi and producer Bob Rock, and his charity work. Listen to the interview here.

Richie also spoke to News Corp in an article that was published today. He said there was no bad blood between him and Jon, and that he was open to the possibility of a reunion with Bon Jovi:
“There’s no malice. Jon and I talked just a week ago. Everything is cool. They’re on a different trajectory, I’m on a different path. Plus I wanted to go out and sing.
“People conjugate a story that there’s problems. No. You spend 30 something years in a band. That’s a long time. Not a lot of bands have that kind of longevity. We weren’t a band who took any breaks. The Rolling Stones or U2 will take three years off so they have a life, we didn’t really do that ever. The 30 years we put in probably felt like 50 years.”
He also described the upcoming RSO album as "Sonny and Cher on steroids". Read the full article here.

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Friday, August 12, 2016

This House Is Not For Sale music video


Bon Jovi's new music video for "This House Is Not For Sale" has officially dropped. As the teasers on their Facebook page suggested, both Phil X and Hugh McDonald are in the video. The video also comes with closed captions on YouTube, with what I would assume are the official lyrics (so you can compare them with the transcribed version I came up with last night).

Anyway, here is the video for "This House Is Not For Sale":

 


And the correct lyrics:

These four walls have got a story to tell
The door is off the hinges, there's no wish in the well
Outside the sky is coal black, the streets are on fire
The picture window's cracked and there's nowhere to run
I know, I know
This house is not for sale

I set each stone and I hammered each nail
This house is not for sale
Where memories live and the dream don't fail
This house is not for sale
Coming home
I'm coming home

Drove a spike into the ground and I staked my claim
Standing on the dirt where they'll dig my grave
Now what built these walls is in my veins
No time for looking back, the wolf is at the door
This heart, this soul
This house is not for sale

I set each stone and I hammered each nail
This house is not for sale
Where memories live and the dream don't fail
This house is not for sale
Coming home
I'm coming home

This house was built on trust
That's what it is and always was
No wrecking ball could knock it down
This house was built on higher ground

I set each stone and I hammered each nail
This house is not for sale
Where memories live and the dream don't fail
This house is not for sale
Coming home
I'm coming home
Coming home
I'm coming home 
Coming home
I'm coming home
Coming home
I'm coming home
This house is not for sale

"This House Is Not For Sale" was written by Jon Bon Jovi, John Shanks, and Billy Falcon.

I'll admit, I was a little on the fence about the song when I heard it last night. It reminded me of Have a Nice Day, which is not necessarily a bad thing because that album probably saved my life when it came out. But I'm not the same person I was back then. 

Seeing this video made me smile, though. I don't know exactly why, but I'm starting to feel a certain excitement that's been missing for me the past couple of years. I don't know what this "new" Bon Jovi has come up with, or if the new album will provide the soundtrack for the next stage of my life, but I'm looking forward to finding out.

What do you think of the song and/or video?

Thursday, August 11, 2016

This House Is Not For Sale debuts on BBC Radio 2

Bon Jovi's new single "This House Is Not For Sale" officially comes out tomorrow, but it just made its debut on BBC Radio 2. (It starts at about the 02:04 mark of this program if you want to listen.)

I've transcribed the lyrics as I heard them below. Some of it is probably wrong, so if you heard something different, just leave your correction in the comments. :)

EDIT: The official video is out... and it includes closed captions! As predicted, we did get some of the words wrong, but I will leave this version here so you can see how close or far off the mark we were. :P

These four walls have got a story to tell
The door is off the hinges, there's no wish in the well
Outside the sky is coal black, the streets are on fire
The picture window is cracked and there's nowhere to run
I know, I know
This house is not for sale

I set each stone and I hammered each nail
This house is not for sale
Where memories live and my dreams don't fail
This house is not for sale
Coming home
I'm coming home

This world is packing to the ground and I stake my claim
Standing in the dirt where they'll dig my grave
And I have built these walls, it's in my veins
No time for looking back for hope is out the door
This heart, this soul
This house is not for sale

I set each stone and I hammered each nail
This house is not for sale
Where memories live and my dreams don't fail
This house is not for sale
Coming home
I'm coming home

This house was built on trust
That's what it is in all these words
No wrecking ball can knock it down
This house was built on higher ground

I set each stone and I hammered each nail
This house is not for sale
Where memories live and my dreams don't fail
This house is not for sale
Coming home
I'm coming home
Coming home
I'm coming home 
Coming home
I'm coming home
Coming home
I'm coming home
This house is not for sale

What do you think of the track?

Sunday, August 7, 2016

Has Bon Jovi made Phil and Hugh "official"?

The big news coming from the Bon Jovi camp in the last few days is confirmation that their new single "This House Is Not For Sale" will be released on August 12, along with the accompanying music video.

But take a look at what is presumably the single cover.



We see Tico Torres, Jon Bon Jovi, and David Bryan -- the three remaining founding members -- front and centre. But flanking them are Phil X and Hugh McDonald. I don't know if that means they are "official" members now, but it is nice to see them recognised. I will always have a special place in my heart for Richie Sambora but he made his decision. And it's always bugged me that Huey has played with Bon Jovi for longer than Alec John Such ever did, yet he still wasn't considered a proper member of the band.

Although, I did notice this on the About section of Bon Jovi's Facebook page...


Does that mean Phil is official after a couple of tours, but Huey still isn't after more than two decades?! This makes me want to start a bass player rights movement or something. :P