Trying to track a controversial Alec John Such interview..

Alright, so... Richie's recent absence from the band reminded me of another Bon Jovi member who went missing (with a little help from Jon) 15 years ago. I was trying to find out what Alec's been up to and went for the easy source, wikipedia. The article mentions an interview that Alec gave to some dude called David Ling where he apparently reveals behind-the-scenes info. Jon tried to sue Ling to ban him from publishing the interview claiming that it was exaggerated but Ling had recorded his interview on tape with Alec so Jon didn't get what he wanted.

I've been looking online for that interview and I can't seem to find it anywhere. All I find are the mentions of it on various websites. I'm really curious to see what Alec has to say. I've always respected the band for not doing their laundry in public but sometimes I wonder what exactly goes on between them. I know they're super friends but it seems there was some weird stuff going on between them in the early 90's. I mean, they practically broke up for a year or two though now they swear it was just a break. I especially find it sad that Alec never got to tell his side of the story.

Anyone has a lead on where to find that interview? Thanks!

I wouldn't use wikipedia as a good source of information. Anyone can go on that site and post anything on it and make it seem legit, which alot of the times it's not.

Nah, I checked. Different sources refer to that interview too. It's out there.

Could be the interview from the '90's that Alec said that Jon wanted Tico to have liposuction done, and lots of crazy stuff like that. Can't remember everything from the article but I do remember at the time thinking some of the stuff just didn't make sense.

LOL...that sounds pretty crazy :) I think of all the band members, Jon wouldn't DARE tell Tico to get lipo'd. From the way he acts around him, I believe Jon suspects Tico to be God! Anyway, I would've loved to hear that conversation if it ever happened.

Still tho, where is that interview :(

Ok, so I'm getting close now. Kerrang's article but not Ling's yet.

Taken from page six of the News section - KERRANG! No.501 July 02 1994:

(has the text BON JOVI! ALEC JOHN SUCH OUT?! on the front cover..)

BON JOVI BASS CRISIS!
Bon Jovi bassman Alec John Such will tour, but not record with Jersey giants!

BON JOVI bassist Alec John Such has made the shock revelation that he will not be playing on the next Bon Jovi album.

However, Such was at pains to set the record straight with mayhem, and confirm that he will be touring with New Jersey's favourite Rock cowboys.

Rumours circulated last week that the four-stringer had actually quit the band and been replaced by Meat Loaf's tour-bassist Kazim Sultan. These rumours were fired by the fact that sultan appeared with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora when the duo played at the prestigious Brit Awards a few months back.

In issue 483, Sambora told Kerrang! that Such couldn't be at the Brits with them, because he had "got himself involved with some shit that he couldn't get out of". He added: "We met Kazim on the flight over here, and said 'D'ya wanna play bass?'!"

Such flew into London last week in preparation for the 'Night Of 100 Guitars' event, held last weekend at Wembley Arena and organised by the Gibson Guitar company.

"The Guys are writing songs right now, but I'm not doing the next record with them," he admitted. "I will be touring with them, however. In fact, we've just done the MTV Movie Awards where we played a song together and a couple of new videos for future consumption in Europe. Plus we all went to the Bahamas to check out a studio over there and also to do a live telecast.

"I mean, I'm still in touch with what's going on, they send me tapes to ask my opinion and stuff, but the thing is I want time to smell the roses. I want to do some stuff for myself, like doing guitar clinics, and basically jam with a bunch of other people."

How did the rest of the band react to your decision? "well, Jon always thinks I suck anyway!" Such chuckled. I don't think they minded. It's just one of those things where I wanted to do a bunch of other things. See, the last time we were off the road I went and broke my collar bone in a motorcycle accident, so that meant I couldn't do anything.

"In fact there was a period where I didn't know if I was going to be able to play the bass again. So, whilst Jon and Richie did albums,David (Bryan, Jovi Keyboardist) did his movie soundtrack stuff, I couldn't do anything. As a result, i felt they were ahead of me in that respect.

"It Just felt right to look at other things. At one time, Bon Jovi was the one, the only, the be all and end all, but I'm finding there ARE other things."

Such's place for the next record will be taken by seasoned session man Dewey McDonald ("An excellent bass player. The Real studio type," comments Alec) and not Sultan, "despite the fact that he has a cool name!".

One of the projects Such is currently involved with is the co-management and production of an as-yet-nameless band he's discovered in florida, who he rates very highly indeed. "They have the potential to soar like an eagle, but they don't realise it yet," he enthuses.
"But it's up to them, otherwise they could just fly with all the other pigeons, y'know?"

Of his invitation to appear at the Wembley event, Such was clearly delighted to be given the chance to play with the likes of legendary Free/bad Company vocalist Paul Rodgers and one-time Journey guitar hero Neal Schon. It helped that Such is endorsed by Gibson! His pipedream of playing on tour with The Rolling Stones remains just that, however.

I didn't really put the word out that I was interested in the gig. It was just a dream I had. But I figured it would have been cool, when I was old and grey, to tell anyone who asked me,'Well, who'd ya play with?' that i played with Bon Jovi and The Rolling Stones. I would be too cool. I'd have to kill myself!"

DAVE REYNOLDS, KERRANG!

Ok, getting close. Here's a Kerrang article, not with Ling though.

Taken from page six of the News section - KERRANG! No.501 July 02 1994:

(has the text BON JOVI! ALEC JOHN SUCH OUT?! on the front cover..)

BON JOVI BASS CRISIS!
Bon Jovi bassman Alec John Such will tour, but not record with Jersey giants!

BON JOVI bassist Alec John Such has made the shock revelation that he will not be playing on the next Bon Jovi album.

However, Such was at pains to set the record straight with mayhem, and confirm that he will be touring with New Jersey's favourite Rock cowboys.

Rumours circulated last week that the four-stringer had actually quit the band and been replaced by Meat Loaf's tour-bassist Kazim Sultan. These rumours were fired by the fact that sultan appeared with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora when the duo played at the prestigious Brit Awards a few months back.

In issue 483, Sambora told Kerrang! that Such couldn't be at the Brits with them, because he had "got himself involved with some shit that he couldn't get out of". He added: "We met Kazim on the flight over here, and said 'D'ya wanna play bass?'!"

Such flew into London last week in preparation for the 'Night Of 100 Guitars' event, held last weekend at Wembley Arena and organised by the Gibson Guitar company.

"The Guys are writing songs right now, but I'm not doing the next record with them," he admitted. "I will be touring with them, however. In fact, we've just done the MTV Movie Awards where we played a song together and a couple of new videos for future consumption in Europe. Plus we all went to the Bahamas to check out a studio over there and also to do a live telecast.

"I mean, I'm still in touch with what's going on, they send me tapes to ask my opinion and stuff, but the thing is I want time to smell the roses. I want to do some stuff for myself, like doing guitar clinics, and basically jam with a bunch of other people."

How did the rest of the band react to your decision? "well, Jon always thinks I suck anyway!" Such chuckled. I don't think they minded. It's just one of those things where I wanted to do a bunch of other things. See, the last time we were off the road I went and broke my collar bone in a motorcycle accident, so that meant I couldn't do anything.

"In fact there was a period where I didn't know if I was going to be able to play the bass again. So, whilst Jon and Richie did albums,David (Bryan, Jovi Keyboardist) did his movie soundtrack stuff, I couldn't do anything. As a result, i felt they were ahead of me in that respect.

"It Just felt right to look at other things. At one time, Bon Jovi was the one, the only, the be all and end all, but I'm finding there ARE other things."

Such's place for the next record will be taken by seasoned session man Dewey McDonald ("An excellent bass player. The Real studio type," comments Alec) and not Sultan, "despite the fact that he has a cool name!".

One of the projects Such is currently involved with is the co-management and production of an as-yet-nameless band he's discovered in florida, who he rates very highly indeed. "They have the potential to soar like an eagle, but they don't realise it yet," he enthuses.
"But it's up to them, otherwise they could just fly with all the other pigeons, y'know?"

Of his invitation to appear at the Wembley event, Such was clearly delighted to be given the chance to play with the likes of legendary Free/bad Company vocalist Paul Rodgers and one-time Journey guitar hero Neal Schon. It helped that Such is endorsed by Gibson! His pipedream of playing on tour with The Rolling Stones remains just that, however.

I didn't really put the word out that I was interested in the gig. It was just a dream I had. But I figured it would have been cool, when I was old and grey, to tell anyone who asked me,'Well, who'd ya play with?' that i played with Bon Jovi and The Rolling Stones. I would be too cool. I'd have to kill myself!"

DAVE REYNOLDS, KERRANG!

sorry i posted twice, it didn't look like it posted the first time.

Here's some more info I've found out, while still tracking the Ling interview:

"Whilst in Akron, Kerrang! journalist Alison Joy was disturbed to see bassist Alec John Such and manager McGhee clowning around in the dressing room with handguns: real hand guns. Jon seemed barely phased but played along by taking the precaution of ducking as his interviewer froze in fear. If nothing else , this extroadinary, if harmless incident served as an indication of the fantasy world in which McGhee and the band were living. Being protected by professional security men was one thing, carrying your own firearms was another." (Jefferies 1996;page 112).

And Ling talks about his interview with Such on his website:

"I've just completed Jon Bon Jovi:The Biography. Laura Jackson has already written unofficial biogs on Bono, Ewan McGregor and members of Queen, and is a skilled researcher. Her JBJ book cost just a quid and, not exactly being the biggest Bon Jovi fan anymore, expected it to be tedious and arse-licking. It's actually a decent read. I wondered whether Jackson would mention my 1994 RAW Magazine interview with bassist Alec Jon Such, and sure enough she did refer to Alec's oft-repeated quote: "Jon tells me I suck all the time". What she didn't and indeed probably couldn't have added was that the next (and final) time I spoke to Jon, he snottily informed me that I was "off Alec's Christmas card list" and tried to imply that the interview had never even taken place. Strangely enough, however, Alec had also given Dave Reynolds some almost identical quotes for a Kerrang! story.
In my experience, Saint Jon is a nasty piece of work. It wasn't my first negative encounter with him, and it has been difficult to covering Bon Jovi with any degree of objectivity ever since. So I try to avoid writing about him at all - how's this for a co-incidence; I even declined the possibility of an interview with him this very day. However, I'll definitely make a point of posting the Alec Jon Such interview at this site."

http://www.daveling.co.uk/diaryjuly05.htm

So now, I can specify that the interview I'm looking for was published in RAW magazine 1994. Anybody know where to find it?

btw, i'm only posting that stuff in case someone else is curious about this like i am. I don't endorse any of the negative comments against my Jovis!

I'd say your best best would be eBay unless you can find it online somewhere.

I still have the original RAW issue, give me a few days, I'll type it up for you as soon as I get the chance to.

Chris, any chance you have that typed up? I've been looking for it for a long time too. Thanks!

I have heard that since this incident with David Ling, Jon has made a point of recording all interviews just in case he has to set the record straight. It makes sense as some interviewers have their own agenda and can easily make up quotes or deliberately misconstrue comments.

Jon makes no bones about keeping the lid on stuff and that "there are secrets the band will take to the grave." Not for him the rock autobiographies that have been released by other performers over the years. The confidentiality agreements the crew, et al sign must be pretty severe as nothing negative has been leaked from people around him. Even Laura Jackson's biography (and others) that detail those early wild days of the band gloss over Jon's contribution to whatever sexual escapades were going on.

Kelly wrote:

Chris, any chance you have that typed up? I've been looking for it for a long time too. Thanks!

Sorry, I'll try to post it asap.

I had a car accident and today is my first day back home, so now I can finally sit down and type that up (as well as finally get my paperwork done to claim damages from the insurance co. of the guy who caused the wreck, grrr...)

Apologies for the delay.

But when I looked it up, I also found another article, that probably not a lot of people know: Alec gave an interview to german "bass player" magazine.(Of course, a lot of gear talk included, but interesting nevertheless).
I'd have to translate that into english, but if ppl. are willing to live with my poor translation skills, I'll give it a shot.

Chris, your English is gooood!
We all are looking forward to the article.
And, please, take care :)

... have to split it up. Part 1:

Article published in RAW-magazine no. 154, July 20th 1994

Cover-Story / headline on the cover was:
"METAL STARS AT WAR
W Axl Rose Jon Bon Jovi
How these men treat their bands"

(The G’n’R-Part was an interview with Gilby Clarke, who had just left the band in what RAW called “a messy split”)

BASSIST’S INSTINCT!

In a special column on first page of interview the following semi-headlines:

The facts:
-Such has been banned by Jon Bon Jovi from doing any interviews
-Such is perpetually been treated like an ‘after-thought’!
-Jon Bon Jovi tells Such his bass playing “sucks”!
-Co-founding member is not appearing on the new Jovi LP!

DODGY T-SHIRTS AND AN EVEN DODGIER EYEPATCH ARE WHAT BON JOVI BASSIST ALEC JOHN SUCH IS RENOWNED FOR, BUT NOW, SHOCK HORROR, HE REVEALS HE’S BEEN COLDSHOULDERED WITHIN THE BAND AND WON’T FEATURE ON THE NEW JOVI ALBUM! DAVE LING ASKS WHETHER THERE’S MORE TO ALL THIS THAN MEETS THE EYE ….

Way back in June 1990, we printed a spoof list of ’15 least likely people to be interviewed in RAW’. Topping a roll of dishonour which featured Black Sabbath keyboardist Geoff Nicholls, Chris Johnstone of the Quireboys and Allanah Myles, one name stood proud. Alec John Such of Bon Jovi. It was intended as a bit of a laugh – admittedly a rather cheap one – but everybody knew what we meant. Poor old Alec was the man nobody seemed to know about, or care, too much about.

The media are always on the look-out for a juicy quote from that glamorous and charismatic duo of frontman Jon Bon Jovi and guitarist Richie Sambora, and it has been left to Alec, keyboardist David Bryan and sticksman Tico Torres to scrap amongst themselves for the leftover attention. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever read a full-blown interview with Alec John Such.

“I haven’t been allowed to do any if you want to know the truth” shrugs the four-stringer, who was in London to participate at the Gibson’s Night Of 100 Guitars anniversary show.“I was told that nobody wanted to talk to me and that came right from Jon’s mouth. For me it’s time for no more secrets. I’m gonna tell it like it is. Anything they said I did probably did, but I would lie for Jon and I have done.”

Does Alec feel that he has compromised himself?
“Put it this way, they say that you can forgive and forget. But you can never forget, you can just forgive.”

Alec’s ‘no interview’ embargo was placed on him for the whole of Bon Jovi’s last world tour. Was he banned because he said the wrong things when he was allowed to talk?
“I never really asked Jon about that, but I did tackle Jon about a lot of other things. For me, that was just the way it was, and I started to believe that people didn’t want to talk to me. After a while I realised it wasn’t true.”

One thing which was sorted out when Bon Jovi re-grouped to prepare the follow-up to 1992’s ‘Keep the faith’ was that Alec would not be playing on it. For a week before Such himself would confirm his non-participation, rumour had suggested that ex-Todd Rundgren bassist Kasim Sultan was taking his place.
“No, I haven’t split up with Bon Jovi. And no, Kasim is not doing the record,” he clarifies.“I’m gonna be doing the tour, but they’re using a guy called Huey MacDonald. I’m not doing the record with them this time, I have no desire to.”

Er …. Why?!
"Jon tells me I suck all the time, and I have no desire to get involved in all that tension again. Because I work better onstage than I do in the studio, it gives me the chance to do what I want to do out side the band. I love being on tour and change will help everyone when I go back because it’ll be fresh again. We still keep in touch and they still send me tapes. I’m just very honest with them now, whereas before I guess I wouldn’t have been quite so truthful.”

.... to be continued in part 2 ....:-)

part two ...:

So how are relations between yourself and Jon?
“Now when I see Jon he’s fine. He knows I can’t be taken advantage of, although that’s maybe not the right word for it. I’m slowing down to smell the roses, and it’s not like I haven’t done all this stuff before. I never cared to be in the limelight for more than one day a week. Now there’s other things that have a higher priority; I really enjoy doing things like my Gibson bass clinics.
Now it’s a pleasure when I play out with different people,” he continues.“They ask me what kind of equipment I need, how the monitors sound for me. But with my band (Bon Jovi) they say,‘OK make sure Richie sounds good. Is everything alright for Tico?’ I haven’t experienced people caring about my requirements for a long time.”

So basically you became a bit of an after-thought?
“Yeah. But it doesn’t bother me anymore. There’s been a ton of good times. And there will be many more.”

Does Alec think that Bon Jovi have got out of control?
“I don’t really think so,” such says cautiously.“But what I intended it to be and what Jon wanted are two different things. I wanted to have fun, but then those guys wrote a hit song, and now there is so much pressure to keep having hit songs. I’ve always felt that you write a song and *others*(originally in cursive print) will tell you it’s a hit, you don’t write a song to be a hit and tell everyone,‘This is a hit song’.“

What happens if Jon writes a song that Alec hates?
“I don’t think I would say that I didn’t like it. I’m not a writer so I can’t criticise.”
Has he ever wanted to be a songwriter?
“I know how things work, y’know verse-chorus-verse, but that’s a God-given talent that I would know if I had.”

Jon is said to have smirked at the prospect of an Alec John Such solo album.
“I could believe that. But my calling is something totally different.”

Alec had better watch himself, as too many negative comments might just cause Jon to decide he’s not in the touring band either. There’s a million bassists out there, after all.
“When I decided not to be on the record – and it was my decision, which I took in the second week of January – I didn’t think everyone would just go,‘OK’. First off I called the guys who handle my money and asked them if I’d loose my house if that happened,” he explains.“They said as long as I didn’t buy a yacht every week I’d still be able to have a good life.”

OK, enough speculation. Let’s find out a little about Bon Jovi’s bassist. A portrait which appeared in RAW 151’s Jovi pull-out painted him as something of a mystery man. It is duly produced and Such nods quietly in agreement that his date of birth is indeed 14 November 1951. He chuckles when reminded of the T-Shirt he wore at Wembley Arena that said:‘Blow me … And Just Leave!’(“That shirt was a great idea”), but he wants to set the record straight about the eye-patch he wore on the last tour.
“My eye was infected. It was dripping away every night ad I had to put this Vaseline on it,” he claims.“That was the only time anyone ever saw me with an eye-patch. I wasn’t going or a pirate look because that would be nuts – but I *am*(again, originally in cursive) nuts in other ways!”

Such’s other hobbies away from the spotlight are vintage motorcycles and cars, personal computers and he’s also partners in an Australian company that makes turbo-chargers. But his biggest interest is amateur radio, something that stems from seeing roadies using walking-talkies at the Bon Jovi shows. Now that he owns his own set it’s grown into an obsession. He just loves ear-wigging on other peoples’ conversation!
“If people have anything crazy to say they shouldn’t say it on a radio or a cordless phone,” Such maintains.“I’ve heard many, many salacious things over the years. In Nashville we once got a prostitute on the line and she was telling her pimp how she was ripping off the punters. In LA, you start to get all the drug deals and sex phone calls.”

part 3 is next.

and here is the final part 3:

It takes Such several minutes to list all his motorcycles, and he also adds also owns a pair of ‘his and hers’ 1964 Honda Dreams.“You can’t teach people to ride on a Harley because it’s too big,” he explains with a glint in his eye.“They look at the lighter, 50cc version and go,‘It’s so-o-p cute, of course I’ll ride it!’“

OF Course, music is another huge feature of his life. Alec tends not to attend the big-name concerts, but he’s a regular at local New Jersey venues like the Fast Lane where he checks out smaller bands. His future plans include co-managing one particular fledging Florida act that he has already spotted.
“I’ve been spoiled for the big gigs. If I can’t go backstage and just hang out there I don’t usually bother,” he confesses.“If we go together as a band a commotion will sometimes start in the audience, and that’s not fair to the band you’ve gone along to see.”
“But I’ve been listening to new bands like Candlebox, Tool, Soundgarden and Smashing Pumpkins a lot because it’s so refreshing. People are calling it the Grunge scene, but to me it’s just Rock’n’roll getting back to its roots”.
“These bands aren’t embarrassed about what they do onstage; they don’t have to look a certain way and if they don’t have an instrument to make a sound they’ll go (mumbles noise like a didgeridoo), and that is great.”
Many felt that Bon Jovi went too far left of field with ‘Keep The Faith’, but such feels it didn’t go far enough. What he’s heard of the new record – which is “just about all”– suggests it won’t go too far out on a limb.
“I know how Jon writes and I know how Richie writes,” he says.“I put those two guys together. They should be patting me on the back ‘cos without each other they’d still not be writing right. Jon writes cowboy songs, they all start out that way. He needs Richie to harden ‘em up and turn ‘em into Bon Jovi songs.”
Our allotted time is vanishing, but Alec has enjoyed the experience. He has his bass clinics, he manages his band, he’d like to be more than just an anonymous face at the end of the row … but not a great deal more.
“This is a new facet of what I do,” he beams.“I’d like people to know a little more about me. I’d like them to come up to me on the street and be able to say something more than,‘Hey, you’re in Bon Jovi’.”

----------

Have fun reading it .... honestly, I personally never quite understood the "scandal" this supposedly caused.
But maybe I'll air my opinion to this later.

Just, when you *do* comment, remember that Alec may read or hear about your comments and to me, he is still a person I'm yet to hear anything bad about him from people who were or are in contact with him personally.

Actually, I thought about whether I should post this at all, knowing how discussions here in some cases develop. But to me, this interview shows so much of what has been described to me by people as the "real person" Alec, that I figured I'd let people read the *original* text of the article, rather than the 200th-exaggerated- hearsay and ripped apart version I read or was used as basis for comments on the Inet in the past years!
This is the original text as published (and if you can get an issue of that mag and like Alec, consider it, because the photos of Alec are - in my opinion - great. That is the photosession, that the "sruffy face"-photos came from (but not all used in RAW are published on the web), with Alec on a staircase. Just for those who remeber that set of pics I mean...
To me, Alec looks so healthy, relaxed and in a good mood, I've rarely ever seen pictures of him like that.

well, have fun reading - didn't mean to mumble on and on ...

Chris, thank you for taking the time to post this. I started a thread awhile back wondering what became of Alec and the thread didn't go too far. I wish Alec nothing but peace, health and happiness.

Thamk you so much for taking the time to do this!
I agree, it's not as scandalous as people made it out to be. The most interesting part for me is where Alec describes Jon and Richie's songwriting.
To me it seems that the journalist was desperately trying to get Alec to say negative things about Jon, but Alec never really did...lol