For Better Or Worse: The Legacy of Bon Jovi's 'Slippery When Wet'
Thursday, 17 November 2016
Written by Simon Ramsay
Beyond the sales numbers that run well into eight figures. Beyond the way it catapulted its creators to superstardom. And beyond the pin-up good looks of the band’s frontman, Bon Jovi’s 1986 breakthrough ‘Slippery When Wet’ was a game-changing release with far-reaching consequences. It reinvigorated the ‘80s rock scene, only to play an unwitting part in its demise.
It was a time of transition. What was once new and thrilling had, by the mid-point of the decade, become established, somewhat respectable and, in many cases, outdated.
Although still selling records, Kiss and Van Halen were evolving in a way that confounded many of their followers, with the former reinventing themselves as a glam-metal group to fit in with the changing landscape and the latter, having split with David Lee Roth, an MOR outfit fronted by Sammy Hagar.
Journey, Toto and Foreigner were past their prime and deemed more uncool than ever, while promising young bands, although expanding their fan base, weren’t making a significant dent in the mainstream market.
Writing for the Observer, Bryan Reesman – author of ‘Bon Jovi: The Story’ - recently noted: “While Sunset Strip glam rockers like Ratt and Mötley Crüe had charged out of the gate with hard-rocking records, they soon softened their looks and hooks to seduce growing legions of female followers. Other than Def Leppard with the guitar-heavy ‘Pyromania’, no one had achieved monster success with the formula. Until Bon Jovi came along.”
From teetering on the brink of being dropped by their record label following a lukewarm sophomore effort, ‘7800 Degrees Fahrenheit’, ‘Slippery When Wet’ was a bona fide phenomenon. The record’s immaculate pop hooks were tailor made to make it a smash with mainstream audiences, while Richie Sambora’s catchy riffs and melodic solos, although not too aggressive for casual listeners, were still heroic enough to appeal to hard rockers.
It’s clear from their first two records Bon Jovi already had this crossover potential in their locker. They just needed a helping hand to develop it. The arrival of songwriter Desmond Child was pivotal. The Gainesville native had co-written a number of hits for Kiss - including I Was Made For Lovin’ You - and was brought in by the label to help craft the kind of radio-friendly singles that would sell their make-or-break third album. The chemistry between the trio was instant.
“On day one we wrote You Give Love A Bad Name and that’s not a bad way to start any professional relationship,” Child told Classic Rock magazine’s Malcolm Dome. Without Love, I’d Die For You and Livin’ On A Prayer followed, each a skin-deep exploration of love’s rich tapestry served up with an everyman appeal and a large dollop of romantic bombast.
Child’s work is evident throughout. His chord progressions are deceptively simple but incredibly powerful within the context of a song’s structure. Take ...Bad Name’s explosive refrain, for example. Its a cappella intro piques our curiosity, but when it strikes later on, backed by the whole band, the chorus becomes an irrepressible pay off, highlighting the tunesmith’s mastery at moving through those passages in a way that carefully ups the tension before landing the knockout blow.
Livin’ On A Prayer undergoes all sorts of subtle modal shifts as momentum builds, culminating in the legendary final chorus that, after missing a beat, jumps up a minor third with dramatic, fist-pumping results.
It’s typical of this record’s hooks, all of which pack a meteoric punch courtesy of gang-chant backing vocals seemingly belted out by hooligans with hearts of gold. Decked in cavernous reverb and bursting with life-affirming vigour, it’s a sound that was oft repeated, but rarely bettered, during the rest of the decade.
The men responsible for those good vibrations were Canadian producer Bruce Fairbairn and his engineer and protégé Bob Rock. Having already made a name for themselves working with Loverboy, Krokus and Honeymoon Suite, they set about sprinkling Bon Jovi’s compositions with a liberal helping of sonic gold dust to maximise their broad appeal.
From the heaven-shaking organ roar of Let It Rock to the firecracker pop-metal of Raise Your Hands, Wanted Dead Or Alive’s mythic acoustic rock and the swaggering sexuality of Social Disease, each song’s commercial pulling power is framed by a perfect balance of rock ‘n’ roll raunch and pop gloss.
Although they hadn’t reinvented the wheel as much as given it a damn good polish, Bon Jovi had provided a hit-making road map for anyone looking to capitalise on the prevailing zeitgeist to follow. Which they did in droves, either by hiring the men responsible or merely copying them.
Child was a man in demand, co-writing Aerosmith’s huge comeback singles Dude (Looks Like A Lady) and Angel, turning Cher into a modern rock staple and giving Alice Cooper a glam metal makeover by writing and producing the whole of his ‘Trash’ album. Elsewhere, he penned hits for John Waite, Jimmy Barnes, Jennifer Rush, Joan Jett, Robin Beck and Ratt, shaping the predominant rock soundscape of the day.
That’s evident when you hear the majority of Whitesnake’s ‘1987’ album. Or any number of tunes from Poison’s ‘Flesh and Blood’. Not to mention songs by Winger, Warrant, Bryan Adams, Tyketto and even Kiss’s Crazy Nights, with its final, soaring modulation. None are credited to Child, but his influence is stamped all over them.
The production team, meanwhile, were equally hot property, also working on Aerosmith’s comeback album ‘Permanent Vacation’, while Fairbairn went on to helm the massively successful ‘Pump’ and ‘Get A Grip’, as well as relaunching AC/DC with the ‘The Razors Edge’ and overseeing efforts by the Scorpions and Poison. Rock, meanwhile, became a producer in his own right, giving a Jovi-style makeover to The Cult’s ‘Sonic Temple’ and Mötley Crüe’s ‘Dr Feelgood’, both mega-selling records.
As the ‘80s drew to a close, the commercially lucrative sound Bon Jovi had forged became increasingly imitated, over-exposed and watered down by an onslaught of acts desperate to experience the same success. By the dawn of the ‘90s ‘hair metal’ had earned its belittling title.
Hopelessly out of touch and awash with superficial D-list copycats, its cocktail of sex, drugs and debauchery jarred against the backdrop of a world plunging into global recession. Younger, angrier fans couldn’t relate to those pretty boys and craved something with more substance and depth. Seconds after Kurt Cobain’s vitriolic opening chords to Smells Like Teen Spirit entered the public domain, ‘hair metal’ was effectively exterminated.
Of course, you can’t blame Bon Jovi for the scene’s decline any more than you could point the finger at the Sex Pistols for destroying punk, Oasis for killing Britpop or Nirvana for slaying grunge. There have always been bands that, although not necessarily pioneers of a genre, have taken it to the masses only for said style to be exploited by record executives intent on milking the cash cow. They never learn, but that shouldn’t tarnish the memory of ‘Slippery When Wet’.
After 30 years and with an estimated 28 million copies sold, the record’s effervescent pop-rock remains gloriously uplifting, thrillingly vibrant and undeniably important within the context of rock ‘n’ roll’s rich history. If you doubt that, just think about how Aerosmith, Whitesnake, Mötley Crüe, Guns N’ Roses and many more iconic bands benefited from the scene it rejuvenated and all the music we were gifted as a result. As far as legacies go, that’s one every rock fan should salute.
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