Book Review: 'Sex, Drugs and Bon Jovi'

‘Sex, Drugs and Bon Jovi’
Book Review
By Anthony Kuzminski

There are two types of rock biographies; authorized and unauthorized. The latter is always derided because people judge before even opening a page and deem it unworthy because it didn’t come from the artist’s mouth. The author is viewed as someone wanting to cash in on someone else's success. However, I find most official and authorized books to be tedious and messianic. The acts tend to remember what they want to remember in an alternate world often trying to bury down deep and dark secrets they wish were long forgotten. If done correctly, an unauthorized book could be biblical and definitive as the author isn't so much riding to coattails of celebrity as they admire the subject at hand and want to historically document their history for future generations. It’s a matter of how deep their research goes, their attention to detail and how willing they are to express the truth. There’s an assortment of reasons as to why there will never be a definitive Bon Jovi biography. Too much time has passed to get a proper input and the band is so secretive and forward-thinking that a proper look back will most likely never occur. They’ve had several opportunities in the last few years including a full book deal and a documentary deal both of which morphed into the highly tedious When We Were Beautiful film and book. The WWWB book has some great moments featuring some vintage (sadly too few) Mark Weiss shots from the past and the price was right on it (it's worth picking up), but the film shed no new light on the band which is why Richard Bozzett’s Sex, Drugs and Bon Jovi should be a revelation into these early years. The pre-Keep the Faith era of the band is not often discussed which is why the prospects for Bozzett’s book seemed high. Finally, someone is going on-the-record who was there to see everything on a first-hand basis. Now, I don’t think Bozzett sat down and attempted to write a biography of the band, but let’s make something very clear, this is unauthorized, which as mentioned earlier in this paragraph, isn’t a bad thing…if done correctly.

To understand the genesis behind this book, some history should be give. Richie Bozzett made a living for six-years as the road manager for Bon Jovi between 1983 and 1989. He can be seen in the “Wanted Dead or Alive” video and is also seen in the Slippery When Wet-The Videos, both of which were released in 1987. Bozzett was the man who kept the machine rolling on the road, accompanying the band to radio interviews, handling their arrangements and toweling down Jon Bon Jovi after performances. He busted his ass, loved the band and was fired in early 1989. How he was let go is a source of contention and it casts an immeasurable shadow over this entire book that never allows any rays of light to beam down. Throughout the 158-pages in the book, you have an overriding feeling that you’re looking at things never meant to be seen by anyone. As a geek fan boy who fell in love with not just this band, but music in 1987, it is a captivating look at the ascent of one of the world’s largest bands. However, the lack of specifics, omitted details and dozens of side stories that appeal to no one culminates in a crash landing that it can’t recover from.

The best thing about Sex, Drugs and Bon Jovi is the pictures. It has hundreds of personal pictures from their first gig at Madison Square Garden in 1983 to the American Music Awards in 1988. On-stage and off-stage these glimpses into this early stage of their career are the book’s high point. Most of them are quite candid and never meant for publication and give the book a diary-like atmosphere. Most notable as pictures from Doc McGhee’s wedding in 1986 (these are the pictures that should be drawing attention, for their gaudiness) and also a bizarre group shot of the band with Michael Jackson in Japan from October 1987. Also included are personal notebooks, Telex’s (faxes in the 1980’s), catering lists, contracts and even drafts of personal letters written by Jon Bon Jovi. There pictures of the band’s gun toting bus driver from the first tour and even pyrotechnic licenses. While someone like me can appreciate items like these, it gave me an overriding feeling that many of these items were never meant and shouldn’t be made for public consumption. Based on this, the book should be an easy recommendation, but it’s not. Take away the pictures and you’re not left with much. There might be fifty total pages of text and in that limited space, half of it seems to be copy and pasted from Wikipedia. There’s nothing wrong with this if all of the fact were correct, which they’re not. As for the remainder of the text, it’s a dreary read at best. An inordinate amount of time is spent on Doc McGhee’s operations and the possible drug smuggling and busts that occurred. Very little of this is new as McGhee has always been upfront about this in the past and considering the space dedicated to it in the book, it takes on a cynical tone which overcasts everything else. The same goes for any sex stories in the book. There’s nothing here to write about and why it’s in the title is a disservice to the book, Bozzett and the band.

The press release on this book hailed it as a tell-all that no one has heard before and going as far to allude that the band or their management had anything to do with the death of a photographer is blatantly negligent. While it was interesting to learn the amount of money certain members were making and the behind-the-scenes gossip that occurred in business dealings, little of it will be of interest to even the most fervent Bon Jovi fan. The book is more or less six-years in the life of Bozzett. This isn’t a bad thing, but Bozzett can’t deliver particulars or insight into the band, their music or their tours anymore than an outsider could. Case in point, he makes mention of a mere four songs in the book; “Runaway”, “You Give Love A Bad Name”, “Livin’ On A Prayer” and “Wanted Dead Or Alive”. My mother may be the furthest thing from a pop culture connoisseur but she could tell me the titles of more Bon Jovi songs than Bozzett could and he practically lived with the band for six-years! Despite being present for the recording sessions for many of their albums, he can’t seem to tell us anything about the music. How it was recorded? What songs written but not used? Are there unique versions of songs that didn’t make the final cut? Nothing is here to guide the reader back to those records. In many ways, Bozzett does himself a great disservice here because he actually makes the case (hard work or not) against himself that he was undeserving of whatever Doc McGhee promised him back in 1983. Make no mistake, Bozzett busted his ass for this band and I have no second thoughts as to his love for this band back then and now. However, he doesn’t state his case for why he deserved more other than always being there. Trust me; making it in the music industry has more to it than just hard work, touring and good songs. Dozens upon dozens of things have to happen at the right time to strike oil and Bozzett comes across as being in the right spot at the right time.

The question on everyone’s tongue is why Bozzett decided that this moment in time he would write this book with all of these unseen pictures. Bozzett is claiming to raise funds for a group he calls “Unsung Heroes Foundation”. This is highly admirable and virtuous, but the website associated with it looks cheap and you get a feeling of being taken for a ride. The world is filled with people who used to work for rock bands who were unceremoniously fired but the same could be said about American companies who moved their facilities overseas and laid everyone off. It’s sad and in many cases, unwarranted. Bozzett should be admired for transitioning back to real life and being a success. This is the angle he should have taken with the book, but he opted not to. There’s an overriding sense of bitterness within it and once you allow the bitterness to seep in, it contaminates everything around it. I have no doubt that Bozzett busted his butt and deserved more than he got, but ultimately Sex, Drugs and Bon Jovi is a low brow version of events with little digs at his former employers that not even someone who derides Bon Jovi will want to know. Instead of opting to find the beam of light in his time with Bon Jovi, he embraced animosity, let it seep through and it infects the book as a whole. Like a virus with no cure, the sullenness overtakes Bozzett’s journey and sadly by its conclusion, the reader is disheartened as well.

What saddens me is that there is a story to be told here in a different light. For the record, I have had no issue questioning Jon Bon Jovi’s motives from a business perspective, but this book does the impossible; initially deemed to show the band in an inappropriate light, it actually makes you empathize with them. The nail in the coffin for Sex, Drugs and Bon Jovi was how it was marketed. Promising juicy details about drug busts, financial revelations and sex scandals proved to be futile. Bon Jovi fans will show up with extinguishers to put the fire out when in reality, there is nothing more here than those cheap sparklers parents give to their children on the 4th of July. The book may be journalism at its laziest, but the marketing takes it one step lower. It’s a shame because the Unsung Heroes idea is one Bozzett could have rode far, but the stance the marketers took on this book are proving to be inelegant and a turn off for anyone who would have had an open mind and ear to begin with.

Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network. His daily writings can be read at The Screen Door. He can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com and can be followed on Twitter