BY FRANK LOVECE

aSFlon Jovi" does not meanll "good morning." The Ameri-

canization of singer Jon Bongiovi'sname means only that people canpronounce it. Or sometimes, anyway."The name change wa$ done here(at PolyGram Records) for thephonetics," explains Bon, uh, Jovi."And people still mispronounce it,saYing lBon Jo-Yee.' " Could beworse. One of his closest chums isthe rock musician redubbed "AldoNova," a professional moniker thatsounds nothing like AldoCaporushio, his name by birth.

Bon Jovi borrowed his guitarist/synth-player buddy from Nova's ownrecord label to help season hisdebut album, Bon Jovi. lronically,another paisan on the LP is co-producer Tony Bongiovi, a second-cousin by Jovi's estimation: "lhonestly didn't know him until I was19," maintains the 23-year-oldvocalist. He didn't know a relative inthe music business? "We have apretty big family,." he says.

The family is one which, strangelyenough, lent support to a kid whoobviously wasn't going to grow up tobe Mario Lanza. Bon Jovi had his' share of scoffing uncles and girl-friends' fathers-after his first,pre-high school talent show, for in-stance, already people were tellinghim to give up on show business,he recalls-but the bug was inhis genes.

"My father at one time tried to bea singer: He pursued it for a shortperiod of tirne, and he really had agood voice, but that never evolvedinto a career. My mom was aPlayboy bunny around '62, one ofthe first, and she was on the thresh-old of the entertainment busi-ness. So both my parents havebeen supportive."

The junior Bon Jovi's voice onBon Jovi probably is nothing like hisfather's. Consciously tough, but notto the point of rock 'n' roll pgstur-ing, Bon Jovi's voice lells ratherthan merely hinting. The confidenceis a result not only of his nature, butof a goodly bit of vocal training aswell. No, the man didn't go toJulliard, but he did graduate fromone of the most vibrant musical col-leges around: the New Jersey beach-and-bar scene. Jersey may be theGarilen State for its vegetable farms,

':'.,.. r:.:

but it's the Madison Sguare GardenState when it comes to churning outmusicians. "The closeness to NewYork City probably has a lot to dowith the rock scene in Jersey," BonJovi figures. "All through highschool, there were a zillion bands.They formed their own little gangs;either you were in or you weren't."

What made Bon Jovi stand out,apparently, were two things: hardwork and the ability to sleep sittingup. "Other bands would rehearse fora while, then quit for beers and goto party downtown. With my bands, I

was always the slavedriver. You setyour goals and that's that." He doesadmit, "l'll never be a great guitarist,but l'm a singer, first, a songwriterand an entertainer when you comeright down to it. That's what I

wanted to be from the very first timeI ever got up on a stage, and that'sall I've pushed myself toward.

"l used to sneak into the clubswhen I was 16, and started playingin them when I was 17, 18. Thereason I wear sunglasses all thetime is that I'd play till three in themorning, so I had to doze off sittingat my desk in school. The glasseswould hide my eyes. lt's a goodthing I had teachers who under-stood," he concedes after a mo-ment's thought, "'cause I could'veseriously flunked high school."

Somehow he didn't, though, gndthings coalesced for Bon Jovi insuch early groups as the 10-pieceExpressway, a Southside Johnny-esque ensemble with plenty ofhorns, and the all-originals band,The Rest. Expressway did the barcircuit ("We thought we were socool, playing clubs and not highschool dances, but we lost a lot ofmoney that way") and Bon Jovi saysthat he attracted the attention firstof Billy Squier, and then SouthsideJohnny Lyons himself.

"l've always been thrown intothese situations where I've had ex-cellent people looking over me," BonJovi reflects, "but Southside's beenthe greatest, even giving me openingdates when he could've gottensomebody who would've helped sell *tickets." Few producer-performers,even the most successful, give theircharges- potential rivals-thatmuch exposure.

Something was in the air, connec-tions or luck or whatever, and the

yet-unsigned band oBened aMadison Square Garden show for ZZTop. "That first time at the Garden,"remembers Bon Jovi, "my father thesinger looked at his kid and said,'yeah-that's good."' On thestrength of both growing attentionand a demo produced by music in-dustry friend Lance Quinn, the grouplanded not just your routine newband recording contract, bul promo-tfonal support strong enough to holdup a building.

The songs on Bon Jovi, as quotedin the official bio, are of "lust, notlove." Sometimes these bios areless than accurate, but in this case,admits Bon Jovi, "it sounds durnb,but I really said that. lf you read thelyrics, you'll see I really don't writelove songs, because I'm not likethat. I don't like to stick arou4d, ordo the whole, 'eh, my sweetheart'trip and holding on," he says dis-gustedly. "With the one girl you fallin love with, it's a different thing,and you shelter her as much as youcan. She wouldn't want to see whatgoes on on the road."

The "one girl," in Bon Jovi's case,turned out not to be heavy-metalguitarist Lita Ford, once with TheRunaways (from whence Joan Jettsprang). Though Ford and Bon Joviare friends ngw-and possibly morein the past-she was not, he stress-es, the muse that inspired his firstsingle, "Runaway." "Lita is a friend,but no relation to the song title. I did'Rundway'before I met her.

"'Roulette' is my favorite song onthe album," he continues. "ltdescribes love, lust, whatever, as faras I can take it. Around and around,and when you're done,you're done."

Bon Jovi, the band, is abouthalfway through recording its sec-ond album, and the group's beenmaking the rounds, with TV appear-ances on American Bandstand andThicke of the Night, plus theirubiquitous touring as an openingact. Neither the group nor itsnamesake promises the advent ofItalo-American rock, but every nowand then the stubborn intensity otthe ltalian sensibility pokes its headup from Bon Jovi: the LP, the bandand the man-individually and col-lectively. Mario Lanza would beproud, even if he's turning overin his grave. n

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