Lifestyle
Bon Jovi docuseries 'Thank You, Goodnight' is an argument for respect
David Bergman/Hulu
Hulu’s docuseries Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, spends a lot of time building up the Bon Jovi legend — exploring the band’s almost unbelievable 40-plus-year run from playing hardscrabble rock clubs in New Jersey to earning platinum albums and entry into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
But what moved me most in the four-part series was something more revealing: its close look at the struggle by lead singer Jon Bon Jovi to overcome vocal problems which nearly led him to quit the band.
Footage of the singer croaking through vocal exercises, undergoing laser treatments, enduring acupuncture and finally turning to surgery is sprinkled throughout the series, which toggles back and forth between his problems in 2022 and a chronological story of the band’s triumphs and tragedies from its earliest days.
Refusing to be Fat Elvis
Disney/Hulu
Through it all, a question hangs: Will Bon Jovi ever recover enough vocal strength to lead a 40th anniversary tour?
“If I can’t be the very best I can be, I’m out,” he tells the cameras, still looking a bit boyish despite his voluminous gray hair at age 62. “I’m not here to drag down the legacy, I’m not here for the ‘Where are they now?’ tour … I’m not ever gonna be the Fat Elvis … That ain’t happening.”
Filmmaker Gotham Chopra — who has also directed docuseries about his father, spiritualist Deepak Chopra, and star quarterback Tom Brady — digs deeply into the band’s history, aided by boatloads of pictures, video footage and early recordings provided by the group.
Disney/Hulu
Chopra gets folks from the group’s tight inner circle to speak up, including former manager Doc McGhee and guitarist Richie Sambora, who quit the band in 2013. (“Are we telling the truth, or are we going to lie, what are we going to do?” Sambora cracks to his offscreen interviewer. “Let’s figure it out.”)
But anyone expecting gossipy dish will walk away disappointed. Even major scandals in the band’s history are handled with care, including the firing of founding bassist Alec John Such in 1994 (and the admission that his replacement, Hugh McDonald, already had been secretly playing bass parts on their albums for years), drummer Tico Torres’ stint in addiction treatment and Sambora’s decision to quit midway through a tour in 2013, with no notice to bandmates he had performed alongside for 30 years.
Sambora’s explanation: When issues with substance use and family problems led him to miss recording sessions, Bon Jovi got producer John Shanks to play more guitar on their 2013 record What About Now. And Sambora was hurt.
“[Bon Jovi] had the whole thing kinda planned out,” Sambora says, “which basically was telling me, um, ‘I can do it without you.’”
Building a band on rock anthems
Disney/Hulu
The docuseries shows how young New Jersey native John Bongiovi turned a job as a gofer at legendary recording studio The Power Station – owned by a cousin — into a recording of his first hit in the early 1980s, Runaway. His song eventually caught the ear of another little-known artist from New Jersey called Bruce Springsteen.
“The first demo I got of Jon’s was a good song,” says Springsteen, a longtime friend of Bon Jovi. “I mean, Jon’s great talent is these big, powerful pop rock choruses that just demand to be sung by, you know, 20,000 people in an arena.”
Thank You, Goodnight shows the band really took off by honing those rock anthems with songwriter Desmond Child, while simultaneously developing videos that showcased their status as a fun, rollicking live band. Hits like You Give Love a Bad Name, Livin’ on a Prayer and Wanted: Dead or Alive made them MTV darlings and rock superstars.
Through it all, the singer and bandleader is shown as the group’s visionary and spark plug, open about how strategically he pushed the band to write hit songs and positioned them for commercial success.
“It wasn’t as though I woke up one morning and was the best singer in the school, or on the block, or in my house,” he tells the camera, laughing. “I just had a desire and a work ethic that was always the driving force.”
I saw that dynamic up close in the mid-1990s when I worked as a music critic in New Jersey, spending time with Jon Bon Jovi and the band. Back then, his mother ran the group’s fan club and was always trying to convince the local rock critic to write about her superstar son – I was fascinated by how the band shrugged off criticisms of being uncool and survived changing musical trends, led by a frontman who worked hard to stay grounded.
Bon Jovi was always gracious and willing to talk; he even introduced me to then-New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman at one of his legendary Christmas charity concerts. (And in a crazy coincidence, the band’s backup singer Everett Bradley is an old friend from college.)
I think the docuseries captures Bon Jovi’s skill at leading the group through challenges musical and otherwise — from metal’s slow fade off the pop charts to the rise of grunge rock — something the singer rarely gets credit for achieving.
Still, much of Thank You, Goodnight feels like an extended celebration of the band and its charismatic frontman, leavened by his earnest effort to regain control of his voice. If you’re not a Bon Jovi fan, four episodes of this story may feel like a bit much (I’d recommend at least watching the first and last episodes.)
More than anything, the docuseries feels like an extended argument for something Bon Jovi has struggled to achieve, even amid million selling records and top-grossing concert tours – respect as a legendary rock band.
The audio and digital versions of this story were edited by Jennifer Vanasco.
Lifestyle
Is Jerry Seinfeld's 'Unfrosted' a tasty treat, or just a stale old standby? : Pop Culture Happy Hour
Netflix
The new Netflix film Unfrosted tells a fanciful invented version of the Pop-Tart’s origin. The film was directed and co-written by Jerry Seinfeld, who also stars as a Kellogg’s executive who’s in a race to release a new breakfast idea before their rival beats them to it. Seinfeld is joined by a big cast of funny people including Melissa McCarthy, Amy Schumer, Jim Gaffigan, and Hugh Grant. But is the movie as satisfying as the Pop-Tart itself?
Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour
Lifestyle
Do you love your waterbed? We want to hear from you
The waterbed was invented by a San Francisco State University graduate student in 1969, and it quickly captured the American imagination. It soon became a symbol of the sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll lifestyle for which the 1970s was famous. It hit the peak of its popularity in 1987, when one in every five mattresses sold in the U.S. was a vinyl bag that could be filled with up to 250 gallons of water. But even as waterbed design has evolved in modern times (more stability, less sloshing), these once-popular mattresses have seen a significant decline.
Are you a holdout who still sleeps on a waterbed in Southern California? We want to hear your story.
Lifestyle
2024 Met Gala Red Carpet: Looks we love
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
Monday is the Met Gala, a.k.a. fashion’s biggest night, when superstars from across the celebrity stratosphere throng to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art to fete fashion – and each other.
This year’s glitzy gala hosts are Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny and Chris Hemsworth; the price of a single ticket to the evening is a reported (and eye-watering) $75,000. The guest list is always kept secret — and there’s a no-phones policy once guests step inside the Met’s doors — but past attendees include multi-hyphenate stars like Beyonce, Rihanna and Kim Kardashian.
The gala raises funds for the Met Museum’s Costume Institute. Unlike the rest of the Met’s curatorial areas, the fashion department must pay for itself — and last year, the gala raised some $22 million.
Each year’s soiree heralds the opening of a new exhibition at the Costume Institute; this year’s display is called “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.” It features about 250 pieces from the Met’s permanent collection, including garments by Givenchy, Dior and Schiaparelli.
Here are some of the red carpet outfits from tonight:
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
Theo Wargo/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty
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