Bon Jovi

Image by Christian Frarey

You already know I’m old and I wear bifocals, so it shouldn’t surprise you when I say that I remember when MTV began! I didn’t see the original broadcast of "Video Killed the Radio Star" in 1981, but by 1985 my sweetie and I were fans (for a few years anyway). 

I graduated from high school in 1983 and married that same year, so I was still very young and very much a fan of rock ‘n roll music. When Bossy was born in 1984, Jon Bon Jovi was working really hard to promote his new band. In 1986 they released the album "Slippery When Wet." Bossy was 2 years old and absolutely smitten with Jon. She wanted to be just like him when she grew up! MTV was different then. It was the equivalent of watching the Wiggles or Yo Gabba Gabba or maybe even PBS. Most videos were pretty wholesome with the bands performing their songs or a story made from the song. Even the costuming was pretty tame. 

It was like YouTube except that you couldn’t just pick whatever song you wanted to hear at any given moment. We didn’t own a VCR because we were in school and they cost about $400.00. Most people still rented them from the video store along with the movies they wanted to watch. So MTV was amazing, but you had to hang around and wait for your song to play. And when it did, Bossy would come running! 

Her favorite song was "Livin’ on a Prayer." She had worn out jeans with holes in the knees, cowboy boots, and big hair just like Jon’s. If you’ve never seen that video, take four minutes for a guilty 80s pleasure:

Did you like how they strap harnesses on the band members and they fly out over the audience while they are singing? Well, Bossy didn’t have a harness, but she had a Daddy! He would fly her all over the living room with both of them singing, "Whoa-oh livin’ on a prayer…!" at the tops of their lungs. (She was a lot smaller then…) That was almost 25 years ago and my kids still love this song! 

I’m about to shamelessly promote a fun music video on YouTube that reminded me of those early days of MTV. I’ve been told that these movies have been created in hopes of winning free tickets to the upcoming Bon Jovi concert. Please take a minute and click on this link and support these kids. Maybe it will drag you back to the 80s too. You might just feel an insane desire to rat out your hair and rip out the knees in your jeans. Just remember; Jon Bon Jovi has plenty of money to replace his!