Former Bon Jovi road crew member speaks...and it's nice.

I just came across this article about Jeff Hamer, former Jovi roadie, in my Google alerts. It's a nice article, and damn if I wouldn't love to have had his job. :)

-B

Jeff Hamer on Touring With 80's Bands
By Matt Flumerfelt

[excerpts]

Jeff 'Hillbilly' Hamer and Kayla Victor.

“Bon Jovi was the king of the 80’s hair bands," Jeff said. He has gold records on the wall of his home from the Slippery When Wet and New Jersey tours. The framed records were a token of appreciation to crew members. There are also gold records from the 7800 degrees Fahrenheit album — both the Japanese and American versions, and another from the band Skid Row that sold over two million copies. Stevie Ray Vaughan’s framed signature also hangs there.

In the picture accompanying the Slippery When Wet gold record, Jeff is seated next to Jon. He said they traveled all over the world — Japan, Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, France, Italy. Jeff said he used to list his road experience on job applications but stopped because he found that no one believed he had actually done those things.

Then, in 1984, he got the call to join the Bon Jovi tour in New Brunswick, N.J. When Jeff joined Bon Jovi, the band had just released Runaway, its first hit single. He said Bon Jovi’s whole family was there, his mom and dad, little brothers, etc., and they all wanted shirts. He said they played a lot of small bars where the band was basically set up in the corner.

"Sometimes they only played to 300 people," Jeff said.

"But Jon gave it his all every night."

Bon Jovi treated the crew very well, Jeff said. He rented bowling alleys on days off, so the crew could bowl and play pool. He paid, so the crew could watch the famous Roberto Duran-Sugar Ray Leonard fight on Pay-Per-View.

“If he saw us out on the town, he’d buy us dinner and drinks,” Jeff said.

The next band Bon Jovi opened for was The Scorpions, and Jeff said that’s when everything started happening. Bon Jovi’s record Slippery When Wet went No. 1, and the band went out on its own. They did a European tour, traveling to 13 countries. Jeff said it was better because they often played three nights in one place, so they didn’t have to travel as much. They performed on Pop Rock TV shows in Europe, the same ones stars like Jimi Hendrix appeared on.

Bon Jovi changed merchandising companies. Jeff said the band was burnt out after traveling and playing together for two years on the New Jersey tour and on the verge of breaking up. They eventually did break up but have since gotten back together, Jeff said, minus the original bass player, Alex John Such. After Bon Jovi, Jeff worked with Aerosmith for several months. He said they were a fun band to work for. He sold a lot of merchandise.

“They were all characters,” he said.

full article HERE