Your cart is currently empty!
My First Crush: Jon Bon Jovi
I had to come up with a master plan to get more MTV in my life. I craved it desperately. I would sulk around, catching glimpses of Martha Quinn, Nina Blackwood, and Adam Curry’s epic hairstyles whenever I could. But my sister and I really got our fix during Friday Night Videos. I started babysitting in the summer of 1982, and I quickly realized that MTV was a sweet perk of a gig that only paid a dollar an hour. SHHH. Kids, keep it down; I can’t hear Kevin Cronin belting out “I Can’t Fight This Feeling.”
By the time Headbangers Ball hit the airwaves, my sister and I were fully immersed in the hair band phenomenon. Bon Jovi dropped Slippery When Wet (cue the giggles over the title) in 1986, and my family was all about that New Jersey pride. I reminded all of my teenage pals that I was born in New Jersey, so Jon and I were practically family. We headed to the New Jersey shore with my cousins, and I picked up a shirt that said “Jersey girls … best in the world.” No wonder every lifeguard on the beach stopped me to chat. I was blissfully naive about what that T-shirt really implied at 15. My cheeky mom, who wore a shirt with a cartoon of feet sticking out of a van that read “Do it in a van” (ah, the glorious ’70s), didn’t help much.
Every time “Livin’ on a Prayer” came on MTV, I was absolutely entranced. That hair! Those frosted highlights! Richie’s hat! Tico’s soul patch! They were like long-haired superheroes soaring through the screen.
Soon enough, a Jon Bon Jovi poster adorned our hallway wall. The funny part? It was my 5-foot-tall, super-cool mom who insisted on putting it there so she could steal glances at Jon whenever she walked past our rooms.
I had to get the must-have item of the year: a denim jacket with white fringe. I wore that thing to death, and it made appearances in a ton of photos that year—okay, maybe two years. Fine, three years. My mom might still have it tucked away in her closet.
The hits from that album felt endless. “Livin’ on a Prayer,” “You Give Love a Bad Name,” and “Wanted Dead or Alive” turned us into karaoke stars long before karaoke was a thing. Every school dance was filled with air guitar and our hands in the air shouting “Whooa-o! We’re halfway there!” I can still recite every single verse without even thinking; the words just flow.
By the time college rolled around, my Slippery When Wet cassette was practically worn out. The New Jersey album was still going strong, and “I’ll Be There for You” was my anthem as I bid farewell to my childhood friends in 1989. Coincidentally, that was also the year my parents finally decided to get cable. Thanks a lot, Mom and Dad.
My new crew was a mix of clean-cut sorority girls and fellow hair band enthusiasts. When I joined the rowing team my freshman year, word spread quickly that I was a head-banger who spent evenings rocking out at concerts on Vine Street. A senior rower dubbed me “Metallica” in honor of my musical tastes, and that nickname stuck. To this day, my rowing friends still call me “Mega.” It definitely sounds cooler than “Bon Jovi” as a nickname, I guess. The novices would have thought my name was “Bon” instead of “Emily,” which they often did. Long story, but I’ll spare you the details.
The guys I dated in my early college years had a bit of a Jon Bon Jovi vibe—well, if you squinted and looked from afar, they had long hair, which was close enough. Hair bands were thriving, and my best friend and I made it our mission to meet as many long-haired rockers as possible. I have photos with Enuff Z’Nuff, Dangerous Toys, Mr. Big, Skid Row, Danger Danger, and a few other one-hit wonders. No, I’m not sharing them.
Then, in the early ’90s, Nirvana came along and shattered my rock music bliss. Grunge took over, leaving bands like Cinderella, Winger, and Extreme in the dust. Most of them still tour today, by the way, entertaining middle-aged metal-heads like me.
My 4-year-old son leans more toward country living in Texas, but sometimes a song I’m listening to catches his attention, and he starts dancing. He loves certain songs by AC/DC, Motley Crue, and the Honeydrippers, but his top lullabies are “Beth” by KISS and “Patience” by Guns N’ Roses.
I promised my husband I wouldn’t hang a Jon Bon Jovi poster in the hallway, though.
This article was originally published on May 21, 2015. For more insights, check out this post about home insemination. If you want to learn more about the topic, you can visit Make a Mom’s page for expert advice, and don’t miss the CDC’s excellent resource on pregnancy and home insemination.
Summary:
This nostalgic piece reminisces about growing up with a passion for 80s hair bands, especially Jon Bon Jovi. The author shares experiences from childhood through college, highlighting the joy of an era filled with unforgettable music, concerts, and fashion trends.