HAPPY BIRTHDAY JON BON JOVI! Who is one of HIS inspirations?

Today on Throwback 102.3 and tonight on Throwback Nation Radio, we’ll be dipping our toes DEEP into the catalog of some of Jon Bon Jovi’s BEST for his 60th birthday.  And, we’re learning more about some of the music that inspired him through the years as well.

Although Jon, Richie Sambora, and the rest of the band have certainly inspired plenty of us, their music doesn’t go without inspiration from others.  One that I hadn’t heard until preparing for Jon’s birthday – but that was OBVIOUS in listening – is that “Wanted Dead Or Alive” was inspired by Bob Seger’s “TURN THE PAGE.”

Just a few notes into this Bob Seger classic – followed by a few notes of the Bon Jovi classic below – and you’ll hear it too.  If there were the sound of fog, slowly rolling into a town in the darkness, with a sense of unease in the air, these songs embody it PERFECTLY.

It’s that, “you know something’s going to happen, and it might be kind of spooky” feeling.  It’s so ominous; so lush, and so…almost…creepy.  Even if you don’t love the feeling of loneliness that these songs evoke, you love how they do it.

So, here’s to others who have inspired the greats like Jon Bon Jovi.  As men wiser than I have said, we all learn from each other – and if Bon Jovi was taking cues from Bob Seger – he was certainly learning from one of THE BEST.