You Give Love a Bad Name

When you dive into the chords of You Give Love a Bad Name, you encounter an energy that invites you to raise your fist. This song, released in 1986, was the first single from Slippery When Wet, an album that defined an era. The story behind its creation is interesting: the main melody of the chorus had already been recorded by Bonnie Tyler with different lyrics, under the production of Jim Steinman. However, Desmond Child, one of the songwriters, felt the song had greater potential and rewrote it with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. The result was a hard rock anthem recorded at Little Mountain Studios in Vancouver, Canada, with the production of Bruce Fairbairn.

The sound they achieved, with that mix of glam metal and powerful rock, became a trademark. The impact of You Give Love a Bad Name was immediate. It reached the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 29, 1986, marking Bon Jovi's first number one on that chart. The song became a true "jackhammer single," as it was described at the time, with production that aimed directly at AOR (Album-Oriented Rock). Jon Bon Jovi's vocals and the song's power catapulted it. Even years later, in 2007, it had a resurgence when performed by Blake Lewis on American Idol, reappearing on the charts. The music video, filmed in Los Angeles, California, captured the band's live essence, with concert footage and close-ups of Jon Bon Jovi, and was directed by Wayne Isham, who was already working with bands on the circuit.