Bon Jovi, ‘Runaway’ – Butch’s Way Back Wednesday

As a music fan there is always something new and great, but there really is something special about the songs you grew up listening to. For me, that was 70′s and 80′s classic rock. If I am in a shi**y mood, I throw in a little Zeppelin or Rush and take a trip back to rolling in my mom’s T-Bird. Now every Wednesday you get to take that trip with me. It’s Way Back Wednesday with Butch, and today’s feature goes back 30 years to celebrate the release of this band's first album… Bon Jovi's, "Runaway."

Seeing how they've dominated airwaves and concert arenas over the past three decades, it’s easy to forget that Bon Jovi faced odds as steep as any lottery when they released their self-titled debut album in January 1984.

he album charted at #43 on The Billboard 200. The album was ranked the 11th best rock album of 1984 by Kerrang! magazine.

While aspiring rock star John Francis Bongiovi, Jr. did possess a fortuitous “in” at New York City’s Power Station Studios because they were part-owned by his cousin Tony Bongiovi, he still got nothing but record-company rejection letters in response to his early demos, which included a little song called ‘Runaway.’

Recorded as a solo single in 1982, with the help of available session aces including E Street Band regular Roy Bitttan, ‘Runaway’ seemed bound to vanish without a trace until it surprisingly won a New Jersey radio station’s Best Unsigned Band competition and went on to become a regional hit.

Now take a trip back 30 years with us here...