New Jersey

Bon Jovi made New Jersey straight after the Slippery When Wet tour, because they wanted to show they were not a one-hit wonder. Jon and Sambora demoed 17 songs, then felt pressure because, Jon said, they did not have the amazing song. They wrote Bad Medicine and Born to Be My Baby with Desmond Child. Born to Be My Baby was first recorded acoustically, until Fairbairn persuaded the band to redo it with electric instruments. Recording took place in Vancouver from 1 May to 31 July 1988, with Fairbairn producing and Bob Rock engineering. The record company would not allow a double album, and a working title was Sons of Beaches.

The album debuted at number 8 on the Billboard 200 and reached number one the following week, staying for four weeks. It was Bon Jovi's first number one in the UK. Five singles reached the Hot 100 top 10, and Bad Medicine and I'll Be There for You went to number one. It was certified 7 times platinum in the United States. It was also the first American album officially released in the USSR, by the state label Melodiya. The tour began in Dublin on Halloween 1988 and, in Jon's words, almost killed the band. A 2014 deluxe edition added the Sons of Beaches demos.