Slippery When Wet

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Slippery When Wet

Slippery When Wet, recorded in Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal city and major seaport located in the Lower Mainland of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is the largest city in British Columbia and the second largest metropolitan area in the Pacific Northwest region....
, Canada

Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
, is the third studio album

Studio album

A studio album is an original collection of new tracks by a recording artist.It usually does not contain live recordings and/or remixes, and if it does, those tracks do not make up majority of the album and are often "bonus tracks"....
by Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi is an United States hard rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Fronted by lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi, the group originally achieved large-scale success in the 1980s....
, released on August 18, 1986. It is the band's most commercially successful album, selling over 12 million copies in the U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
and 25 million worldwide. It was named the top selling album of 1987 by Billboard

Billboard

Billboard is a weekly United States magazine devoted to the music industry. It maintains several internationally recognized Record chart that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis....
. Today it stands as one of the six best selling hard rock albums ever, and spawned two #1 singles, "You Give Love a Bad Name

You Give Love a Bad Name (song)

"You Give Love a Bad Name" is a song written by Jon Bon Jovi, Desmond Child and Richie Sambora about a nameless woman who has jilted her lover. Although originally written for the band Loverboy, the song was recorded by Bon Jovi....
" and "Livin' on a Prayer

Livin' on a Prayer

"Livin' on a Prayer" is Bon Jovi second single from their Slippery When Wet album. The song is considered the band's signature song.Jon Bon Jovi did not like the original recording of this song, which can be found as a hidden track on 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong....
", making Bon Jovi the first hard rock band to have 2 consecutive #1 hit singles.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Slippery When Wet'

Start a new discussion about 'Slippery When Wet'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

Slippery When Wet, recorded in Vancouver

Vancouver

Canada

Studio album

Bon Jovi

United States

Billboard

You Give Love a Bad Name (song)

Livin' on a Prayer

Wanted Dead or Alive (Bon Jovi song)

"Wanted Dead or Alive" is a song from Bon Jovi's 1986 in music album Slippery When Wet. The song was written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora and was released in 1987 as the album's third single....
" was a Top 10 hit, reaching #7 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling Albums and extended play in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine....
. The album is the band's biggest selling album in the USA and is featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die is a musical reference book edited by Robert Dimery, released in 2006.It consists of a list of albums released between 1950 and 2005, part of a series from Quintessence Editions Ltd....
.

The album was remastered and re-released in 1998 adding the music video

Music video

A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a pop music or rock music song with lyrics. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings....
for "Wanted Dead or Alive

Wanted Dead or Alive (Bon Jovi song)

Background

The album went through various name changes during its inception, with Slippery When Wet being the final title conceived. According to Jon Bon Jovi in a DVD interview on the box set 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong, the album's working titles were Wanted Dead or Alive and later Guns N' Roses when Bon Jovi read a newspaper article about then-upcoming Los Angeles band Guns N' Roses

Guns N' Roses

Guns N' Roses is an American Rock music band, formed in Los Angeles, California, California in 1985. The band, led by frontman and co-founder Axl Rose, has gone through numerous line-up changes and controversies since their formation....
and wanted to name the album after them.

Jon Bon Jovi was initially reluctant to include "Livin' on a Prayer" on the album, believing that it was not a good enough song. Richie Sambora was convinced it was a hit single in the making, and so the band re-recorded it, releasing the second version on the final album. Ironically, it became the band's most popular and well-known song. The song is referred to in Bon Jovi's 2000 single "It's My Life

It's My Life (Bon Jovi song)

"It's My Life" is Bon Jovi's first single from the album Crush . It was released on May 23, 2000. It was written by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Jay Orpin and Max Martin....
" among other songs. The original demo, which Jon Bon Jovi thought was not good enough for the album, can be found as a hidden track

Hidden track

In the field of Sound recording and reproduction, a hidden track is a piece of music which has been placed on a CD, Compact Cassette, Gramophone record or other recorded medium in such a way as to avoid detection by the casual listener....
on the band's box set.

With this album's singles, Bon Jovi was the first hard rock band to ever have two consecutive #1 Hot 100 chart hits.

Slippery When Wet was the first hard rock album to spawn three Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard Single popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on airplay and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday; while the airplay tracking-week runs from Wednesday to Tuesday....
Top 10 hits. The band would go on to break this record with New Jersey
New Jersey (album)

New Jersey is Bon Jovi's fourth album, released on September 13, 1988. Approximate sales were in excess of 7 million copies in the United States and over 18 million copies worldwide....
, which spawned five.

With Slippery When Wet, the band twice had the #1 single and the #1 album simultaneously, another hard rock first.

The cover consists of a wet black garbage bag

Bin bag

A garbage bag, trash bag, refuse sack, can liner or bin bag, swag sack, bin liner is a disposable bag used to contain garbage....
with the words "Slippery When Wet" traced in the water. The album originally was to feature a busty woman in a wet yellow tee shirt with the album name on the front of the shirt. This original version of the cover was swapped for the wet plastic bag cover just prior to release, mainly due to the fact that Bon Jovi hated the pink edging to the cover. The exception is in Japan, where most releases of the album do include the original cover art.

The track "Raise Your Hands" was featured in the 1987 motion picture Spaceballs
Spaceballs

Spaceballs is a 1987 science fiction parody film co-written, directed by, and starring Mel Brooks. It was released on June 24, 1987, and earned only modest returns, but has gone on to become a seminal cult film on video....
. "Raise Your Hands" also remains a staple in Bon Jovi's live shows, being a stalwart on their recent Have a Nice Day Tour

Have a Nice Day Tour

The Have a Nice Day Tour was a worldwide concert tour by United States rock band Bon Jovi. It took place between November 2005 and July 2006, and commenced two months after the release of their ninth studio album Have a Nice Day ....
.

The German team handball club VfL Gummersbach

VfL Gummersbach

VfL Gummersbach is a team handball club from Germany. Currently, VfL Gummersbach competes in the Bundesliga and the German Handball Cup.Gummersbach is one of the most successful team-handball club ever....
often uses this song during their home matches when the players enter the field.

"Wanted Dead or Alive" is currently the theme song to the television show Wanted
Wanted (TV series)

Wanted was a 2005 United States primetime Police procedural television series broadcast on the Turner Network Television network. The series was created by Louis St....
, Dog The Bounty Hunter
Dog the Bounty Hunter

Dog the Bounty Hunter is a reality television show on A&E Network and on Bravo which chronicles Duane Chapman operations at his job, at Da Kine Bail Bonds in Honolulu, Hawaii....
, and a short section for the opening theme of Deadliest Catch
Deadliest Catch

Deadliest Catch is a Documentary film television series produced by Original Productions of Burbank, California for the Discovery Channel that documents the events aboard Fishing vessel in the Bering Sea during the Alaskan king crab and Chionoecetes crab fishing seasons....
and was in the 1991 film Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man.

"Wanted Dead or Alive" is credited with spawning the very popular MTV Unplugged series when Bon Jovi and Sambora appeared on the MTV Music Video Awards with just acoustic guitars and performed it in front of the live audience.

Edge of a Broken Heart

One of the songs written during the making of the album was "Edge of a Broken Heart

Edge of a Broken Heart

"Edge of a Broken Heart" is a song by United States rock music band Bon Jovi.It was one of the songs written during the making of the album, Slippery When Wet, but did not feature on the final version of the album, yet appeared on the soundtrack of Disorderlies....
", which did not feature on the final version of the album but appeared on the soundtrack of Disorderlies
Disorderlies

Disorderlies is a 1987 in film comedy film starring the hip hop music group, The Fat Boys, and Ralph Bellamy....
. It became a Billboard Top 40 hit on airplay alone, and has since become a fan favourite, with the band receiving numerous requests to play the song live at their concerts. It has since been released on the band's box set, and featured on the special 2-CD edition of Cross Road
Cross Road

Cross Road is the first greatest hits compilation released by the United States band Bon Jovi in 1994. The album contains two new tracks: the hit singles "Always" and "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night", as well as a new, updated rendition of "Livin' on a Prayer" entitled "Prayer '94" available only on the US version....
.

Jon Bon Jovi has since said (from notes in the boxset booklet and on the boxset DVD (Disc 5)) that this track should have been on the album. Jon said "It was absolutely appropriate for the Slippery record - coulda, shoulda, woulda been on Slippery had cooler minds prevailed. Here's my formal apology." Jon also mentions that this was the same era when he thought "Livin' on a Prayer" wasn't a hit (see above) and he's never claimed to be a good A&R

A&R

Artists and Repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and the artistic development of recording artists....
guy.

Track listing

"Let It Rock" (Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi

John Francis Bongiovi, Jr. , better known as Jon Bon Jovi, is an United States musician, songwriter and actor, best known as the lead singer and founder of Bon Jovi....
, Sambora
Richie Sambora

Richard "Richie" Steven Sambora , is an American Rock music guitarist, producer, musician, singer and songwriter who is the lead guitarist of the rock band Bon Jovi....
) - 5:25
"You Give Love a Bad Name
You Give Love a Bad Name (song)

"You Give Love a Bad Name" is a song written by Jon Bon Jovi, Desmond Child and Richie Sambora about a nameless woman who has jilted her lover. Although originally written for the band Loverboy, the song was recorded by Bon Jovi....
" (Bon Jovi, Sambora, Child
Desmond Child

Desmond Child is an American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame....
) - 3:44
"Livin' on a Prayer
Livin' on a Prayer

"Livin' on a Prayer" is Bon Jovi second single from their Slippery When Wet album. The song is considered the band's signature song.Jon Bon Jovi did not like the original recording of this song, which can be found as a hidden track on 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong....
" (Bon Jovi, Sambora, Child) - 4:09
"Social Disease" (Bon Jovi, Sambora) - 4:18
"Wanted Dead or Alive
Wanted Dead or Alive (Bon Jovi song)

"Wanted Dead or Alive" is a song from Bon Jovi's 1986 in music album Slippery When Wet. The song was written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora and was released in 1987 as the album's third single....
" (Bon Jovi, Sambora) - 5:08
"Raise Your Hands
Raise Your Hands (song)

Raise Your Hands is a song by the United States hard rock band Bon Jovi. The song is from their 1986 album Slippery When Wet. Not only does the song appear on their "Slippery When Wet" album, it also appears in the 1987 comedy film "Spaceballs", directed by Mel Brooks, starring John Candy and Rick Moranis....
" (Bon Jovi, Sambora) - 4:16
"Without Love" (Bon Jovi, Sambora, Child) - 3:30
"I'd Die for You" (Bon Jovi, Sambora) - 4:30
"Never Say Goodbye
Never Say Goodbye (Bon Jovi song)

Never Say Goodbye is a song by United States rock music band Bon Jovi. It was released in 1987, as the 4th single off the band's hugely successful album Slippery When Wet....
" (Bon Jovi, Sambora) - 4:48
"Wild in the Streets" (Bon Jovi) - 3:54

Special Edition Bonus CD

Japan Only Limited Edition

"Wanted Dead or Alive" (Live/Wembley 1995)
"Livin' on a Prayer" (Live/USA 1987)
"You Give Love a Bad Name" (Live/USA 1987)
"Wild in the Streets" (Live/Wembley 1995)
"Borderline" (Studio Outtake)
"Edge of a Broken Heart" (Studio Outtake)
"Never Say Goodbye" (Live Acoustic Version)

DualDisc

In 2005, Slippery When Wet was re-issued as a DualDisc

DualDisc

DualDisc is a type of double-sided optical disc product developed by a group of record companies including EMI, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and 5.1 Entertainment Group and now under the aegis of the Recording Industry Association of America ....
. This released supposedly to celebrate the album's 20th anniversary the following year. The CD side containing a newly remastered version of the album, and the DVD

DVD

DVD, also known as "Digital Versatile Disc" or "Digital Video Disc,"is a popular optical disc data storage device media format. Its main uses are video and data storage....
side containing the same album in its original stereo mix, plus a slightly expanded Dolby 5.1 Surround version. The expanded album included additional elements many of the songs, in some cases increasing their runtime. The audio material is playable through a DVD-Audio

DVD-Audio

DVD-Audio is a digital audio format for delivering very high-fidelity audio content on a Digital Versatile Disk. DVD-Audio is not intended to be a video delivery format and should not be confused with DVD-Video containing concerts and music videos....
player and standard DVD

DVD

"You Give Love a Bad Name"
"Livin' on a Prayer"
"Wanted Dead or Alive"
"Never Say Goodbye"
"Wild in the Streets"

The DualDisc was released on September 20, 2005, the same release date as Have A Nice Day.

Samples

Personnel

Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi

John Francis Bongiovi, Jr. , better known as Jon Bon Jovi, is an United States musician, songwriter and actor, best known as the lead singer and founder of Bon Jovi....
– lead vocals
Richie Sambora
Richie Sambora

Richard "Richie" Steven Sambora , is an American Rock music guitarist, producer, musician, singer and songwriter who is the lead guitarist of the rock band Bon Jovi....
– guitars, guitar synths, backing vocals
Alec John Such
Alec John Such

Alec John Such is the former bassist for the band Bon Jovi. He left the band in 1994 and has not been officially replaced. As well as playing bass guitar, Such sang backing vocals and occasionally took the lead for part of 'Blood on Blood' at live shows....
– bass guitar, backing vocals
Tico Torres
Tico Torres

Hector Samuel Juan "Tico" Torres is an United States drummer and percussionist of Bon Jovi. He also has taken lead vocals on a song on the box set 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong, as well as backing vocals on a couple of the early Bon Jovi tracks, notably "Born to Be My Baby" and "Love for Sale"....
– drums, percussion
David Bryan
David Bryan

David Bryan is the keyboard player of the band Bon Jovi. Bryan also sings backing vocals and often at live shows sings part of or the whole of the song 'In These Arms', one of a handful of Bon Jovi songs credited to him....
– keyboards, piano, synthesizer, various noises, backing vocals
Bruce Fairbairn – percussion
Percussion instrument

A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound by being hit with an implement, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action which sets the object into vibration....
, horn
Horn (instrument)

The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. It is descended from the natural horn and is informally known as the French horn....
, producer
Record producer

In the music industry, a record producer has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, Audio mixing and audio mastering processes....
Bob Rock
Bob Rock

Robert Jens Rock, aka Bob Rock,, is a Canada musician, sound engineer, and record producer....
– engineer / mixer
Tim Crich – assistant engineer
Audio engineering

Audio engineering is a part of audio science dealing with the recording and reproduction of sound through mechanical and electronic means. The field draws on many disciplines, including electrical engineering, acoustics, psychoacoustics, and music....
Tom Keenlyside – horns
Bill Levy – artwork
George Marino – digital remastering engineer
Hugh McDonald – bass guitar, backing vocals
Lema Moon – horn
Mark Weiss – photography
Photography

Photography is the process, activity and art of creating still or moving by recording radiation on a sensitive medium, such as a photographic film, or an ....

Singles

"You Give Love a Bad Name
You Give Love a Bad Name (song)

"You Give Love a Bad Name" is a song written by Jon Bon Jovi, Desmond Child and Richie Sambora about a nameless woman who has jilted her lover. Although originally written for the band Loverboy, the song was recorded by Bon Jovi....
" / "Raise Your Hands"
"Livin' on a Prayer
Livin' on a Prayer

"Livin' on a Prayer" is Bon Jovi second single from their Slippery When Wet album. The song is considered the band's signature song.Jon Bon Jovi did not like the original recording of this song, which can be found as a hidden track on 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong....
" / "Wild in the Streets"
"Wanted Dead or Alive
Wanted Dead or Alive (Bon Jovi song)

"Wanted Dead or Alive" is a song from Bon Jovi's 1986 in music album Slippery When Wet. The song was written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora and was released in 1987 as the album's third single....
" / "I'd Die for You"
"Never Say Goodbye
Never Say Goodbye (Bon Jovi song)

Never Say Goodbye is a song by United States rock music band Bon Jovi. It was released in 1987, as the 4th single off the band's hugely successful album Slippery When Wet....
" / "Social Disease"

Chart positions

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1986	The Billboard 200	1
1987	The Billboard 200
1987	Australian Kent Music Report Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by a music enthusiast, David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998.... Albums Chart

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Rank
1986	"You Give Love a Bad Name"	The Billboard Hot 100	1
1986	"Wanted Dead or Alive"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	13
1986	"You Give Love a Bad Name"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	9
1986	"You Give Love a Bad Name"	UK Singles Chart	14
1986	"Livin' on a Prayer"	UK Singles Chart	4
1987	"Livin' on a Prayer"	The Billboard Hot 100	1
1987	"Wanted Dead or Alive"	UK Singles Chart	13
1987	"Wanted Dead or Alive"	The Billboard Hot 100	7
1987	"Livin' on a Prayer"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	1
1987	"Never Say Goodbye"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	11
1987	"Never Say Goodbye"	UK Singles Chart	21