Discover the musical beginnings that would shape Jon, David, Richie, Tico, and Alec, focusing from 1975-1982. During this period, the young musicians performed in various bands, studied music theory, learned how to write original songs, gained studio experience, and found their stage confidence, setting the stage for the success to come.

Get Ready

Chapters

Date

MUSICAL BEGINNINGS

1975

Bon Jovi Bands PT. I

1975

Bon Jovi Bands PT. II

1980

MUSICAL BEGINNINGS —

When Jon was 13, guitar player and instructor Al Parinello moved in across the street from the Bongiovi's

Jon's First Electric Guitar

Telecaster receipt

A Plea for Help

I did enjoy it (music theory). It was like a math equation. Both David and I decided that trumpets weren't really our future... But it was a way for me to get introduced to music...

Jon Bon Jovi

Music Theory notes

Remember that time in Hollywood We drove that fancy car We dreamed that we were superstars They never thought we could

Jon Bon Jovi

Jon's Earliest Lyrics - March 1979

Bon Jovi Bands PT. I —

From 1975-1980, Jon, David, Alec, Richie, and Tico all explored multiple musical outfits, some beginning as early as middle school

John, Remember the Raze days and crushing that guitar (what a start.)

Ron "Buck Dharma" Nash

1978

JON: RAZE

Jon's First Public Performance

Talent Show T-Shirt, 1978

Sayreville War Memorial High School Yearbook, 1980

Talent Show TROPHY, 1978

1975

TICO: JUNK YARD DOG

Tico with the members of Junk Yard Dog

Junk Yard Dog, 1975

Note from Jimmy Grier

Richie: Horizon

Richie Sambora and his Horizon bandmates Steve Hudak, Chico, Joe Rapetti, and John Slevin.

Horizon gained local traction playing Battle of the Bands competitions and the Woodbridge High Junior Cotillion.

Jon & David: Atlantic City Expressway

In '79 I wasn’t old enough to play bars because the drinking age was eighteen in New Jersey... If you were sixteen or seventeen...and you looked old enough, they'd let you play.

Jon Bon Jovi with AXS TV in 2020

Atlantic City Expressway plays a teen dance at Borough Hall Park, July 2, 1978

The event was sponsored by the Sayreville Recreation Commission and received coverage in local Sayreville papers.

In 1978, the idea of having a tour jacket that said your band's name on it was like gold. The Atlantic City Expressway aspired to have them.

Jon Bon Jovi

Asbury Park's legendary music venue The Fast Lane was a launching pad for Atlantic City Expressway

Jon called out the club in his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame speech, remembering David Bryan doing his homework in the club's basement before sets. It was a musical home for the Expressway and later pre-Bon Jovi bands such as The Rest, The Lord Gunner Group, John Bongiovi and the Wild Ones, and more.

ROCK N' ROLL STAR

Wednesdays At The Fast Lane

David's Hammond B-3 Organ

Fast Lane Calendar, 1980

ACE in Front of The Fast Lane

Fender Stratocaster CASE

Echo Lites School Newspaper

John and bass player Steve Pretti began the group and together they picked the people who they felt would really make their dream a reality -  to eventually be at the top.

Echo Lites newspaper clipping

It was a magical time. Here I was still in high school... it made the impossible possible.

Jon Bon Jovi

ACE Show with Kristian Rex

Fast Lane T-Shirt

Tico: Gary T'to And The Loose Change Band

Swedish group, The Loose Change Band, was fronted by fellow New Jersey native, Gary T'To. Their 1978 LP, I Wait, featured Tico Torres on drums, percussion, and backing vocals. On the back cover, Tico stands at far right with bandmates (L to R) Tom Riley, Claes Yngström, Gary T'to, and Andy Gerard.

Tico: Still Life

Promotional booklet for Tico Torres' band Still Life, with bandmates Jack Young, Royal DeMarco, Joey Darc, Al DeMarco, and Joe Chasse. Photos: Brian Lav

Alec & Tico: Phantom's Opera

Alec John Such met Tico Torres while playing for the band Phantom's Opera. Alec and Jack Young (also of Still Life) founded the theatrical hard rock band in 1969, with Tico on drums.

Bon Jovi Bands PT. II —

Alec John Such was a friend of mine. I knew him since I was fifteen. We played together. We had bands together, Phantom's Opera, Cold Sweat – we've had a lot of life together as musicians. We'd lost touch because I used to travel – I'd go play with anybody and everybody. I remember distinctly I'd got off the road with Franke & the Knockouts and he called me and told me what he was doing with Jon - the WAPP contest, the song 'Runaway.' Subsequently, I met Jon.

Tico Torres

A DRUMMER IN DEMAND

Tico briefly played for The Lord Gunner Group with bandmates Lance Larson, John Mulrenan, Steve Rava, and Ricky DeSarno. By the time this April 1980 article in The Aquarian had come out, Tico had already moved on to join T. Roth & Another Pretty Face, which released their debut Face Facts in 1980. He then played drums for Franke & the Knockouts from 1982-1983 and played on the band's 1984 breakout success Makin' the Point. When Bon Jovi was officially forming, Tico had to choose between bands. The rest is history.

T. Roth & Another Pretty Face

By eighteen, I could already see that there were two paths in music. You either played for fun or you played for keeps. The cover band circuit was where the money was, where the girls were, but where the future was not.

Jon Bon Jovi

Jon Joins The Rest

After leaving Atlantic City Expressway, Jon joined The Rest, a band led by Jack Ponti that performed strictly original music. Even in high school, Jon realized, "...if you were ever going to make a career out of music, you had to write your own."

Jon's time playing with The Rest provided him with an opportunity to learn more about song structure and how to record music.

The Rest Ad

Hole In The Wall Backstage Pass

Fast Lane Flyer

The Rest T-Shirt

Spotlight On The Rest

Jon, Rutgers 1981 (Ltd. Signed / Framed)

$1,500.00

Jon, Rutgers 1981 (Ltd. Signed / Framed)

$1,500.00

OPENING for Hall & Oates, Southside Johnny, and Willie Nile at New Jersey's Freehold Raceway on July 5, 1980

The Rest played to a crowd of approximately ten to fifteen thousand people. Jon happily played this gig instead of going to senior prom.

Richie & Alec: Message

Richie Sambora played guitar, and Alec John Such played bass for the band Message along with Dean Fasano, Simon Gannett, Bruce Foster, and drummer Andy Rubbo.

It was Alec's time with Richie in Message and his work with Tico in Phantom's Opera that brought the three musicians together for Bon Jovi.

Richie: Duke Williams and the Extremes

Fasten your seat belts New Jersey I’m coming to get you.

Jon Bon Jovi

Jon composed a letter to Bea and Brett, columnists for a local paper, offering his thanks and clarifications on recent coverage, circa 1981.

“My new band is simply called the John Bongiovi Band. It’s been together only a short time and it's taken a long while to find the right musicians to fill the spots but thanks to your classified section I found most of my band...

PS. Fasten your seat belts New Jersey I’m coming to get you.”

I knew that in order to do it, I had to do it my own way, be in control and in charge of it all. So, the journey begins.

Jon Bon Jovi

"Don't Leave Me Tonight" Copyright

Certificate of Copyright Registration and typed contract for "Don't Leave Me Tonight," effective April 6, 1981.

"Don’t Leave Me Tonight" (Power Station Session – January 15, 1981)

"Don't Leave Me Tonight" Lyrics

"Don’t Leave Me Tonight" (Power Station session – January 15, 1981)

John Bongiovi Band Marquee

Rutgers Setlist

john Bongiovi Band in performance with Bill Frank, Tom Pyle, Danny Skye, Charlie Mills, and Jon, 1981

Promotional photos of John Bongiovi and the Wild Ones, circa 1981

The band line-up (L-R) was Mick Seeley, Jon, David, Bill Frank, Rick Cyr, and Timmy Mount.

John Bongiovi and the Wild Ones Promo Photos, CIRCA 1981

Clarence Clemons' Asbury Park nightclub Big Man's West burned brightly for 18 months

From July 1981 through January 1983. Bruce Springsteen was at the club regularly and often played alongside other musical luminaries. Clemons was also determined to offer spots to up-and-coming local bands, giving John Bongiovi and the Wild Ones the chance to play for their heroes.