The Song Jon Bon Jovi Thought Could Have Been A Number One Hit
Most rock bands are known for their electric instrument sound. But Jon Bon Jovi would have preferred one song to remain acoustic.
That’s how Jon Bon Jovi felt about this song, which he wrote with Richie Sambora and Desmond Child. Born To Be My Baby was the second single from Bon Jovi’s New Jersey album (wikipedia.org). Released in November 1988, the song came right after the major exposure the band saw with Slippery When Wet. So they really couldn’t do wrong by their fans in the wake of that success.
But Jon Bon Jovi still thinks the song shouldn’t have been put on their album as an electric version. The song was originally recorded as an acoustic song. But Bon Jovi’s then-producer, Bruce Fairbairn, convinced the band to rerecord it electronically for the album, according to songfacts.com.
Born To Be My Baby did chart, and relatively high. It went to number three on the Billboard Hot 100. But Jon Bon Jovi still believes it could have gone to number one if the band had put the original version on the album instead of the harder rocking style (songfacts.com).
Although number three on the chart is nothing to sneeze at, the timing of this song’s chart position is important. Bon Jovi had just sealed their mega star fame with 1986’s Slippery When Wet. Then the first single from New Jersey went to number one on the chart. That was Bad Medicine. So it’s probably not that the next single released didn’t hit number one that bothered Jon Bon Jovi. It’s probably more likely that he believes it could have, if they had just left it alone.
Bon Jovi did recover, however. I’ll Be There For You was the third single from New Jersey. It went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. But I’ll guess we’ll never know if the band would have had that rock music hat trick back in the late 80’s.
Here’s the original version of Born To Be My Baby. What’s your verdict?
