The Kiss guitarist and singer Paul Stanley recalled during a conversation with fans at 2022 Kiss Kruise (Transcribed by Rock Celebrities) his reaction when he first saw Bon Jovi playing. The musician said that he wanted to produce them at the time but he is happy that he didn’t, because they ended up working with Desmond Child.
Kiss’ Paul Stanley recalls his reaction to Bon Jovi in the early days
“I remember we were on tour in Europe, and we had a new band called Bon Jovi opening for us. They were good, they needed some work, but they were good. Their managers said I would be interested in working with them, and I was a big ego. I said, ‘Well, I’ll only work with them if I can produce them.'”
“Thank God, I didn’t produce them because I said, ‘If that doesn’t work, here is Desmond’s number.’ I gave him Desmond Child’s number, and they did ‘Slippery When Wet,’ something I couldn’t have done in my wildest dreams. So, it worked out really great, and that was a big start with this. He is a great guy, a super talent,” Paul Stanley said.
Released in 1986, “Slippery When Wet” was Bon Jovi’s third studio album. It was an instant commercial success, spending 8 weeks at number 1 on the US Billboard 200 chart. Some of the most classic tracks are: “You Give Love a Bad Name”, “Livin’ on a Prayer”, “Wanted Dead or Alive” and “Never Say Goodbye”. Still is the Bon Jovi album that sold the biggest number of copies. Also is one of the top 100 best-selling albums in the United States.
The album
During a live session with fans on Facebook (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage) back in 2016, Jon Bon Jovi picked two albums of Bon Jovi’s career as important and explained the reason why they are so special to him. One of them was “Slippery When Wet” (1986).
“Everytime I make an album it’s your favorite album. It’s the best record you could make at that time. The question I think it would be ‘which ones stand the test of time?’. With that in mind I guess we will always be remembered for ‘Slippery When Wet’ (1986),” Jon Bon Jovi said.
Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi had released 15 studio albums and sold an estimated amount of 130 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling bands of all time.