A Shot Through the Heart Look to Help Others . . . It Pays    by Scott Quinn

Last month we left our main performer, a certain Jon Bon Jovi, hanging on the limb of a tree, fighting for dear life. Well as we return to our main character, we learn a bit about how being diverse and forgiving can literally change one’s entire life!

It seems many moons ago when I was a mere lad, I played guitar in a “band” with a school mate of mine named Jack. We used to “rehearse” in my cleaned out garage with amps on 10 and drove not only my mom, but all the neighbors crazy. We had a drummer as well, and used to try to play Aerosmith, Mott the Hoople, and Grand Funk tunes. I remember Jack used to talk about all the rock stars he wanted to meet and grow up to be like.

Jack and I hung around some, but he dropped out of school and we didn’t really see too much of each other after that. He then went on to form his own band called The Rest and developed the flare of writing his own tunes and putting on rock and roll shows. As time went on, he started playing in clubs around town and Asbury Park and had a kid named Jon as his lead singer. They gained a little notoriety in the area, as an okay bar band, but nothing special. Then one day Jack fired Jon for some unknown reason, but continued to play out, forming yet another band with another singer.  And Jon moves on as well. Jon had a cousin that was an engineer/producer at the Power Station recording studio in the NYC and got a job sweeping the floors. While there he got some singing lesions, recorded demos and soon, gets a record deal starting him on his path to fame and fortune.

So, as the story is told to me by Jon, after the fact, Jon is writing tunes for his first album and gets stuck on a part of a song. He remembers is old pal Jack who had a talent for writing songs and decides to call up him. Jon runs the tune by him, asks for some help in a certain section or two, Jack gives him some ideas, and presto, the song is done! Jon, being the honest nice guy he is, decides to give Jack a writing credit on the tune. And of course we all know the album does well, the tune goes on to become an ‘80’s rock anthem and Jack’s name is right there along side Jon’s! Because of that simple tune, Jack went on to work with Alice Cooper and co wrote his Hey Stupid album, as well as many other gigs along the way. All from a simple phone call over one single tune! So one never knows where he might end up in this industry!

The lesson? Write your own tunes! Be flexible and look to help others! You never know how it might repay you! Because of one single act of kindness on Bon Jovi’s part, Jack’s life was changed forever. And so can yours! Till next month, keep the rock-n-roll flames burning! Oh, and if you have any questions or comments, please write me at the Beat