#3 The "Live Easter Eggs"

In Bon Jovi's career, there have been the occasional "Easter Eggs" live which might have been stuff like one-off jam sessions (e.g. Lyin' In A Bed Of Fire with Steven Van Zandt in New York '87) or covers (e.g. Alison from Elvis Costello in Dublin '93). 

Other notable events were when the band and/or Jon went on to play something no one knew at that point. That did not only happen during promo shows where these kind of things are normal but especially on tours in 1995 and 2013 where the album had not been released yet at the launch of the tour.

Some might think of songs like Diamond Ring (first played in 1988) and Fields Of Fire (first played in 1992) but these were later-on released on albums or bonus CDs. 

However, there are certain tracks we know snippets of that never made it to a studio album or were not fully recorded in there at all! More often than not, these bring a great amount of fascination to the fan world as imaginations run high as to whether a recording might be in the vaults and how it may sound. 

So let's dive into some of these cuts...

Heart Of America

In 1985, while on tour in support of their second album 7800° Fahrenheit, Bon Jovi were approached with the question of whether they were interested in participating in the then-newly-created Farm Aid festival which is being held in order to support farmers and cut the danger of them losing their farms due to mortgage debts in the US. 

Bon Jovi's style wasn't necessarily the most fitting one on the bill (musically) but Jon and Richie wrote a mid-tempo song called "Heart Of America" which was exclusively performed on this festival. They made an impression as Jon was invited back for a jam the following year. In that period of time, Jon also went on record saying the song was solely written on tour and never done in the studio.

We're Not Lovers Anymore

The most mysterious one on this list. There have been two or three fans stating they did hear that one as Jon was guest on Simon Bates' Radio 1 show in 1992. Archived lists show that Jon actually was a guest in August and then again later on the fall. It's most likely that many heard it but kind of dropped the ball on this (just as when Jon played a part of their original writing session demo of We Weren't Born To Follow off his phone at a radio show in 2009). It was a song written during the Keep The Faith era, yet it is unknown whether it was actually brought to the studio since none of the song charts from that era (or demo tapes lists) seem to have it. Jon did play a bit of it on the spot live on air. The lyrics have mostly been preserved, but the tape hasn't been recovered since.

"So I raise a toast with an empty glass

As the jukebox fades

On our last slow dance.. oh oh

There's one thing I know for sure

That this world ain't made up

Of happy ends, and I know

I can't be just friends.. oh oh

There's one thing I can't endure..

Were not lovers anymore

Hey baby..."

Fighter For Love

The well-known snippet from their Access All Areas documentary where Jon and Richie are sitting in their hotel room trying to remember how the song went. Not much context is given, making it hard to determine whether it was written on tour for a possible upcoming album or for another artist or whether it had been an idea toyed around for New Jersey. The latter seems highly unlikely since that album is the one with the most well-documented demo process. Including old tapes, song lists, tape reels etc., something like 5 or 6 full recordings of various demo stages are available, yet none of them have the song anywhere to be found.

Don't Say Goodbye

Very late on the Slippery When Wet tour (just 5 shows before its end), Jon all of a sudden opted not to introduce Never Say Goodbye by Not Fade Away or Twist And Shout, but to do a song no one had heard before (or since). As with Fighter For Love, it is unknown if it simply was a song idea that was floating around in his head or wherever it came from. 
It's been documented that Jon sometimes would add lines of working titles into then-current shows as on the second night in Cologne 1996 where he improvised the break of Saturday Night with lyrics of the then-unknown track Destination Anywhere.

If it was a cover, then no one has been able to place it in almost 40 years (despite numeroues attempts of the fan base throughout the years). So to this day, that little performance in Osaka still holds some mythical aura to it.

Life's Too Short For Days Like These

Jon was gearing up for a possible third solo album called "Sex Sells" during his solo tour in 1998. Songs like Hush and Older were presented multiple times and while the first made it as a B-side onto the It's My Life single, the latter would be reworked into the band's track Just Older. Another one that was in the batch of "I'll play you something I just wrote" on that European leg was a track called Life's Too Short For Days Like These. A performance of this was documented twice, in Bremen and Nuremberg. However, even at the listening party at the fan club weekend in August of that year, it was gone from the track list. Many songs from that era made it onto the Box Set in 2004 but not this one. If Jon's words were precise with regards to him just having written it on tour, chances are the track was never carried on into the studio at all and there simply is no further version than the live one.

Never Wanna Say Goodbye (Steven van Zandt)

In 1995, Little Steven was opening for the band on their European tour. During many dates, the band was to come together for jam sessions on Rockin' All Over The World or Someday I'll Be Saturday Night. However, for the band's shows at the Waldbühne in Berlin, they opted to deliver a song Stevie had just written, called Never Wanna Say Goodbye. It was played by the full band on both nights and then again a week later in Barcelona. After that, it vanished for good and hasn't been heard of since that summer week in June of 1995 ever again.

Cadillac Man

Leading up the band's Australian leg of the New Jersey tour in late 1989, Jon and Richie were asked to pen the title track for a film called Cadillac Man starring Robin Williams. They did so and it's been like the big "Holy Grail" ever since. Some even tried to scam others over the years by stating they had the studio recording of it. To put this to rest right away - a band recording of it was not made! Jon said that in an interview in that era and confirmed it during a Q&A in the BWJBJ magazin in late 1991:

In the band's 2024 documentary, hopes were rising amongst some again, but even the tape Jon presents there clearly was made at some soundcheck. So yeah, Soundboard recordings most likely exist in Bon Jovi's vaults, but not a polished full band studio take.

The band went on to premiere it in Melbourne 1989, then added it to their setlists at Hammersmith Odeon and Red Bank in 1990 before giving it a final outing at the second night in Osaka 1991. Such an obscure song having been performed over the span of 14 months certainly was rare.

The song's chorus bared quite some strong resemblance to New World's Living Next Door To Alice which was later on made famous by the band Smokie. Since New World was an Australian band, the time frame and alleged inspiration fits all too well.

The film was released in May of 1990 and since Bon Jovi were on hiatus, French artist Johnny Hallyday ended up releasing that song with French lyrics in 1991. Since his album also featured with the track Le Nom Que Tu Portes which was Jon's and Richie's track You're Not My Lover (But You Were Last Night), Richie was also involved in the album on these two takes. His signature guitar playing can be heard on Cadillac Man there, but no other band member has been credited on it.