‘It Was Eye-Opening’: Desmond Child Speaks on Bon Jovi Management Wanting to Remove His Name From a Classic Hit

“I called Jon and I said, ‘Are you kidding?’ I said, ‘If your manager keeps us up [with this], we won’t be able to work together.'”

Desmond Child commented on the alleged fact that Bon Jovi’s management wanted to remove his name from “You Give Love a Bad Name”, and explained how he avoided “ego” clashes while working with rock ‘n’ roll’s greats.

After achieving success with his band Desmond Child & Rouge, the celebrated musician, songwriter, and producer rose to acclaim as *the* person rock stars turned to when in need of career-boosting hits during the ’80s, with Alice Cooper’s “Poison”, Aerosmith’s “Angel”, and KISS’ “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” being only some of the iconic songs that would have never existed without the famous hit doctor’s touch.

However, after Child’s hit-making magic became common knowledge, some tried to keep his contributions a secret, and in his memoir “Livin’ On A Prayer: Big Songs Big Life”, he revealed that Bon Jovi’s management offered to pay him to remove his name from appearing on the songwriting credits for “You Give Love a Bad Name”, which he promptly refused.

Asked in a recent interview with Mike Brunn whether refusing that offer was one of the “smartest” moves in his career, Child said:

“Well, I would never have done it. I already had a hit with ‘I Was Made For Lovin’ You’; I already had money. I wasn’t starving. And I couldn’t be taken advantage of. But you know, it was eye-opening. I never had been offered such a deal [until then]. It was like, ‘You have no respect for me, for what I brought to the table.'”

“I called Jon and I said, ‘Are you kidding?’ I said, ‘If your manager keeps us up [with this], we won’t be able to work together.’ And to his credit, he went back and told Doc [McGhee, Bon Jovi’s manager] to back off, and we proceeded to write ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’. So, it was the best decision he made too.”

Not letting ego get in the way

Elsewhere in the interview, Child explained why ego never got in the way of his many collabs, saying:

“I’m a control freak in so many aspects of my life — how my business is run, how I put my homes together, how I [take care] of my children… There are a lot of things out of my control. But when you’re in a room with equals, like Diane Warren, Jon Bon Jovi & Richie Sambora, Joe Perry & Steven Tyler, Alice Cooper — there’s no ego.”

“There’s no controlling the other person, because you have to bring your best. And you have to know when to back off and let the other person lead; let them play out their idea, even if you know you have the better idea in the back of your head.”

Child says that the circumstances of his early life had made him a “perfectionist”, which, in turn, proved useful in his career:

“People are sometimes ready to give up on a song, or not give up but say, ‘Okay, it’s done.’ It’s like, ‘No, it’s not done. Let’s go take another look at that second verse. It feels like the energy drops, we’re losing the storyline.’ Usually, everybody’s very happy after we spend two more hours on two lines; it could make all the difference in the world.”