Wanted Dead or Alive (Bon Jovi song)

Infobox Single
Name = Wanted Dead or Alive


Artist = Bon Jovi
from Album = Slippery When Wet
B-side = "Never Say Goodbye"/"I'd Die For You"
Released = 1987
Format = CD Single
Recorded = 1986
Genre = Rock, Hard rock
Length = 5:08
Label = Mercury
Writer = Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora
Producer = Bruce Fairbairn
Certification =
Last single = "Livin' on a Prayer"
(1987)
This single = "Wanted Dead Or Alive"
(1987)
Next single = "Never Say Goodbye"
(1987)
Misc = Extra album cover 2
Upper caption = Alternate cover
Type = single

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Lower caption = Japanese Cover "Wanted Dead or Alive" is a song from Bon Jovi's 1986 album "Slippery When Wet". The song was written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora and was released in 1987 as the album's third single. The song peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it the third single from the album to reach the Top 10 of the Hot 100. Slippery When Wet was the first hard rock album ever to have 3 top 10 hits on it.

Background

The song's title pays homage to Jon's admiration for Old West heroes, and how he identifies with them as being hated (wanted dead or alive). On the band's "Behind the Music" special on VH1, it is even revealed that the band had originally planned to do an Old West-themed album in the 1980s, but scrapped the idea. Jon Bon Jovi said during a concert in Detroit, Michigan on February 20, 2008 that the song "absolutely positively was influenced by [Bob Seger| [Bob] Seger's] 'Turn the Page.' " [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioZ7h2qFbNU] Jon Bon Jovi talks with Richie Sambora and the audience about Bob Seger]

The song was prominently featured in "El Viejo", a 1986 episode of "Miami Vice", featuring Willie Nelson as a retired Texas Ranger.

The song can be considered a precursos to Bon Jovi's full length, 2007 album "Lost Highway"

Video

The video for the song is black and white and features footage from the band's massive 1986-1987 world tour, including shots from Chicago's UIC Pavilion, Rochester, Minnesota's Mayo Civic Center, and other venues. The video strongly captures the grueling life-on-the-road feeling, with several shots of the exhausted band members on their mammoth 1986-87 Slippery When Wet World Tour.

The audio for the video is slightly different from the one on the album - specifically at the end, where instead of Jon singing "I'm a cowboy, I got the night on my side, I'm wanted dead or alive," the music simply fades out.

Covers

Chris Richardson performed the song in the sixth season of "American Idol". In 2006, the song was covered by Chris Daughtry in the fifth season and later by Daughtry on "" CD. His version went to #43 on the Billboard Hot 100 the first week of its release. He had also managed to beat out Taylor Hicks' version of "Takin' It to the Streets" which debuted at #69 that same week.

Chris Cagle also performed a cover of the song on his 2005 album "Anywhere But Here".

Montgomery Gentry covered the song on the 2001 album "Dancin' With Thunder: The Official Music of the PBR".

In 2004, Beanie Sigel sampled the song for the track of his album, "The B. Coming". The song was moderately successful in the underground scene.Fact|date=October 2007

On June 30, 2008, Gabe Garcia performed the song on "Nashville Star."

Wanted Dead Or Alive in popular culture

* A shortened, lyric-reduced version of the song is used as the opening theme for the US version of Discovery Channel's TV show about Alaskan crab fishing, Deadliest Catch.

* The song is heard in the Miami Vice episode "El Viejo."

* Used in the opening of Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man

* In an episode of sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live featuring Jon Bon Jovi as the host and musical guest the song is referenced in the sketch La Revista Di La Television Con Vinny Vedecci where Vinny Vedecci confuses the line "on a steel horse I ride!" with Jon actually riding on a robotic horse.

* The song was used as the opening theme for the 2002 edition of "Hard Knocks" featuring the Dallas Cowboys

* Owen Wilson references the famous line, "I've seen a million faces and I've rocked them all", by saying "We've been to a million weddings, and guess what, we rocked them all!" in Wedding Crashers.

* In the 11th episode of the 2nd season of the television show American Dad! entitled "American Dream Factory," Roger uses the line "I've seen a million faces and I've rocked them all" after a performance with the band he stole from Steve.

* The song is featured in the movie Wild Hogs when John Travolta's character steals a motorcycle back from a bike gang.

* In Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, near the end of the movie.

*This song is featured as playable content in the video game Rock Band.

*Featured in the TV series Supernatural, in the third season finale "No Rest for the Wicked". Characters Sam and Dean Winchester sing along to a portion of the song.

References