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Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Out There!: "Edge Of A Broken Heart" by Bon Jovi

Because I'm busy as hell today but want to give you something to feed your belly, here's a retro Sonic Clash Out There! article I wrote that might piss off some hardcore Bon Jovi fans. But, oh well!

Bon Jovi had five big hits in 1986 and 1987. Can you name them all? Livin’ On A Prayer, You Give Love A Bad Name, Wanted Dead Of Alive, Never Say Goodbye and Edge Of A Broken Heart. Of course!…. Wait a second. What is Edge Of A Broken Heart? Stumped you, huh? Don’t worry, even the most die-hard Bon Jovi fans don’t even know what I’m talking about when I refer to this magnificent tune. I only wish I was making this up.

Edge Of A Broken Heart was Bon Jovi’s unknown hit during that period, peaking at #38 on The Hot 100 Airplay Chart in 1987. It was never issued on Bon Jovi’s classic album Slippery When Wet. So how did it become a hit song? It was surprisingly featured in the camp classic movie Disorderlies starring the Fat Boys. Which reminds me, why aren’t the Fat Boys given more credit for their influence on hip hop music. Oh yeah, that’s right, because they sucked!

The Disorderlies soundtrack has been out of print since 1995, and the song was tough to get my hands on until a fun little internet program called Napster came along. I don’t think you’ll find any music outlets carrying a copy of this soundtrack, although the album did feature songs by other noted artists like the Fat Boys, Gwen Guthrie, Bananarama, and Art Of Noise. Edge Of A Broken Heart would eventually be released in 2004 on Bon Jovi’s box set of B-sides, demos, and rarities, 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong.

I personally think it’s one of Bon Jovi’s best songs. Although don’t mistake this song as a predecessor to Vixen’s hit song of the same name. Edge Of A Broken Heart has a great hook and features the typical 80’s pop/rock sound. David Bryan’s keyboard work is outstanding on the track, and it makes me yearn for the days when Bon Jovi actually rocked. The country and cheesy pop/rock shit they have recently put out really blows!

“On the edge of a broken heart, whoa yeah!”

4 comments:

  1. Along with "Never Say Goodbye", this is probably my all-time favorite Bon Jovi song. Z-100 played the shit out of this during the summer of 1987. I actually have this song on CD-it was on the CD maxi-single of "Always".

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  2. Glad you to see you are rereading the articles, and yes I do make some minor edits before posting. It's a great song!!

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  3. cool article, but to say that the die hard fans don't know this song is not accurate at all

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  4. I've talked to a lot of Bon Jovi fans who have no idea what this song even is. I wish it wasn't accurate, but it is.

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