Editing Bon Jovi (album) (section)

==Background==
In 1980, [[Jon Bon Jovi]] (born John Francis Bongiovi) began work at [[Power Station (recording studio)|Power Station]], a [[Manhattan]] recording facility co-founded by his cousin, [[Tony Bongiovi]]. Jon made several [[demo (music)|demos]] and sent them out to record companies, but failed to make an impact.

In 1982, Jon went to local radio station [[WAPP 103.5FM "The Apple"]]. DJ Chip Hobart listened to the demos and loved "Runaway", deciding to include it on the station's compilation album of local homegrown talent. The studio musicians who helped record "Runaway" were known as The All Star Review. They were: guitarist [[Tim Pierce]], keyboardist [[Roy Bittan]], drummer [[Frankie LaRocka]], bass guitarist [[Hugh McDonald (American musician)|Hugh McDonald]], and additional singers David Grahmme and Mick Seeley (Seeley also composed the distinctive keyboard riff that opens the song). In 1994, McDonald would later replace Alec John Such as Bon Jovi's bass guitarist, initially only as a touring and session musician, before becoming a full member in 2016.

The song began to get airplay around New York. Jon signed to [[Mercury Records]], part of the [[PolyGram]] company. He wanted a band name and the [[A&R]] staff at PolyGram came up with Bon Jovi.

In March 1983, Bon Jovi called [[David Bryan]] (then known as Rashbaum), who in turn called bass guitarist Alec John Such and an experienced drummer named [[Tico Torres]]. At that time Bon Jovi's lead guitarist was [[Dave Sabo]], a childhood friend of Jon's who later formed the band [[Skid Row (American band)|Skid Row]]. Sabo was never intended as a full-time member of the band, and was soon replaced by [[Richie Sambora]].

"We weren't a good band", Bon Jovi said in 2007. "We didn't become a good band until [[Slippery When Wet|the third record]], but we had [[Tico Torres|a drummer who could keep time]], which you should never take for granted. But I did okay for a 22-year-old. I'd only been in a studio for three years total prior to that record and I didn't know anything about comping a vocal – where you take a word or a line from one track and piece it together. I was thinking, My God, I'm so bad that they have to put my vocals together for me. The [[audio engineer|engineer]] was saying, Don't fret, Jon: even [[Freddie Mercury]] and the greats have to comp a vocal."<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Mark|last=Blake|author-link=Mark Blake (writer)|title=My brilliant career: Jon Bon Jovi|magazine=[[Q (magazine)|Q]] #253|date=August 2007|page=67}}</ref>