Bad Medicine (song) explained

Bad Medicine
Cover:Bad Medicine (song).jpg
Type:single
Artist:Bon Jovi
Album:New Jersey
B-Side:99 in the Shade
Genre:Glam metal[1] [2] [3]
Length:
  • 5:16 (album version)
  • 3:54 (single version)
Label:Mercury
Producer:Bruce Fairbairn
Prev Title:Never Say Goodbye
Prev Year:1987
Next Title:Born to Be My Baby
Next Year:1988

"Bad Medicine" is a song by American rock band Bon Jovi. It was written by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, and Desmond Child, and was released on September 12, 1988, as the lead single from the band's fourth album, New Jersey (1988). The song reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, Bon Jovi's third single to do so, and became a top-10 hit in Australia, Canada, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.

Critical reception

Cash Box said that "producer Bruce Fairbairn and Jon Bon Jovi fashion gang harmonies around a typically monumental guitar sound."[4]

Music video

There are two videos for the song, one with the band live in concert, and a more well-known live video which begins with a crowd of young people waiting in line to get into the video shoot. Before being let in, one of the security guards asks if there are any questions, and Sam Kinison asks if the video will "be the same of video slop that we get from these glam rock pretty boys". When he answers "yes", Kinison rallies the crowd to hijack the cameras and "make a better Bon Jovi video than these guys can." The members of the crowd are given hand-held cameras and invited onstage to help shoot the video.

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1988–1989)Peak
position
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[5] 5
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[6] 50
scope=rowFinland (Suomen virallinen lista)[7] 7
France (SNEP)[8] 98
South Africa (Springbok Radio)[9] 23
US Cash Box Top 100[10] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1988)Position
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[11] 67
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[12] 35
US Billboard Hot 100[13] 41

Release history

RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)
United KingdomSeptember 12, 1988Vertigo[14]
United StatesSeptember 14, 1988Mercury[15]
JapanOctober 10, 1988Mini-CD[16]
February 25, 1989Mini-album[17]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Ultimate Hair Metal Party Playlist. March 4, 2021. Kerrang!.
  2. Web site: Smith. Troy L.. April 4, 2018. Bon Jovi's 25 greatest songs. March 4, 2021. Cleveland.com. en. If there was a song that showcased just how larger than life Bon Jovi had become by the time "New Jersey" dropped, it was "Bad Medicine." To be clear, the single was in line with the glam metal every rock band was doing in the late 1980s. Bon Jovi was just doing it better..
  3. Web site: June 9, 2021. The Number Ones: Bon Jovi's "Bad Medicine". July 2, 2021. Stereogum. en. Bon Jovi did something similar when they used New Jersey as the title for their first album after their insanely popular 1986 album Slippery When Wet. With that title, Bon Jovi put their roots front and center, making the implicit point that they weren't one of those Sunset Strip glam metal bands. But for the first single from that album, Bon Jovi dropped maybe the most straight-up Sunset Strip glam metal song of their career..
  4. Single Releases. Cash Box. September 24, 1988. 2022-12-22. 12.
  5. RPM 100 Singles. RPM. 49. 8. 6. December 10, 1988. October 11, 2019.
  6. Eurochart Hot 100 Singles. Music & Media. 5. 43. 24. October 22, 1988. February 25, 2021.
  7. Book: Pennanen, Timo . 2006 . Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 . fi . 1st . Tammi . 978-951-1-21053-5 . Helsinki.
  8. Web site: Accès direct à ces Artistes . Infodisc.fr . fr . October 30, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130920063547/http://infodisc.fr/Bilan_B.php . September 20, 2013. Select BON JOVI then press OK.
  9. Web site: SA Charts 1965 – 1989 Songs A–B. South African Rock Lists. October 11, 2019.
  10. Book: Whitburn, Joel. Cash Box Pop Hits 1952-1996. Sheridan Books, Inc.. 2014. 978-0-89820-209-0.
  11. Top 100 Singles of '88. RPM. 49. 10. 9. December 24, 1988. October 11, 2019.
  12. Web site: End Of Year Charts 1988. Recorded Music NZ. October 11, 2019.
  13. Web site: Billboard Top 100 – 1988. Billboardtop100of.com. October 11, 2019.
  14. New Singles. Music Week. 31. September 10, 1988.
  15. Bon Jovi Bows 'N.J.' Album. Gett. Steve. Billboard. 100. 34. 76. August 20, 1988. PolyGram is to release 'Bad Medicine' as the album's leadoff single Sept. 14..
  16. Web site: バッド・メディシン ボン・ジョヴィ. Bad Medicine Bon Jovi. Oricon. ja. January 18, 2024.
  17. Web site: バッド・メディシンWith Live ボン・ジョヴィ. Bad Medicine with Live Bon Jovi. Oricon. ja. January 18, 2024.

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