Bon Jovi has plenty of music videos under their belt. Some of their best, most memorable videos capture the fun of a Bon Jovi show. Others? Well, they pretty much make Jon Bon Jovi literally cringe.
The topic of Bon Jovi music videos was discussed in a recent interview JBJ gave to Andy Cohen. Bon Jovi touched on band’s first single “Runaway,” which he called “technically socially conscience.” He said that when he used to take a bus from New Jersey to Manhattan to work at a recording studio, he would see young girls “working the bus station, if you know what I mean.” This inspired the song, and, unfortunately, the music video, too.
“When we made a video…’Wait a minute, I just learned to play the guitar and write a song. You want me to be a filmmaker? What the hell do I know?’” recalls Jon about the video for “Runaway.”
He continued, “I fell for it hook, line and sinker. And the stupid record company with the stupid video director who says ‘Fahrenheit 451’ [instead of ‘7800 Fahrenheit,’ which was the title of Bon Jovi’s second album] or whatever with his niece starring in the video, it’s like Jesus God!”
To drive his feelings home further, Jon says, “You want to embarrass me? Tie me to a chair and make me watch videos from my first two albums.” When Cohen follows up and asks if the “Runaway” video is included among that group, JBJ responds, “Horrible! Horrible!”
The fact that Bon Jovi and Cohen failed to mention those bitchin’ lavender leather pants he wore in the “Runaway” video is rather disappointing. Perhaps, the video’s plot visuals were embarrassing enough for him.