In a new interview given to Columbia’s W Radio. SKID ROW: co-founder and guitarist Dave “Snake” Szabo looked back on his childhood friendship Jon Bon Jovi and how it inspired him and his bandmates to become better songwriters. He said (as transcribed BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “First of all, [Jon and I] we have been best friends since childhood. He grew up three streets over from where I grew up, so we’ve known each other for an awful long time, over 40 years now. His work ethic, dedication to music, and his perseverance showed me that it was possible to succeed in the music business. He was very, very helpful right from the start with our group, and he’s always been a great mentor to me. And he always has been one hundred percent honest with me all aspects of our relationship. We always played him the music we wrote and he always gave us his honest opinion. And he was the one who really pushed us to be better songwriters, better musicians, a better band from the very beginning. And he was the guy who really inspired us that just being good isn’t enough. You must aspire to be great. And he was the one teaching us that.”
Despite the fact that in 1989 Sebastian Bach– with the forehead SKID ROW: went five times platinum and released several hit singles including “18 And Life”, “I remember you” and: “Youth Gone Wild” — at first there was much bitterness about its success, largely due to the fact that the helping hands in return Jon Bon Jovi, SKID ROW: Reportedly forced into a publishing deal John:was newly established at that time Underground Music Company in which they waived their rights to publishing royalties. The full amount has been paid Jon Bon Jovi and: Richie Sambora. After a public controversy, Sambora returned his share of the money SKID ROW:.
About a decade ago, Bach referred to a business arrangement between him and his bandmates at the time Bon Jovitelling ArtScenics TV:”Bon Jovi took us on our first tour and we signed some papers with him that he got a cut of if we scaled that he would be compensated for helping us. No one expected us to become as big as we did. No one thought that we would become a big group. It happens all the time in the music industry. John: “We’ll take you on a tour, but if you guys can make it big,” he gets a cut. So I was bitter for a while, but then I realized that we probably wouldn’t have been as big, or maybe at all, if he hadn’t taken us.”
Still in 2015 Bach told Rodney Holder of Australia Music Business Facts that she no longer held any grudges against him Bon Jovi to publishing royalties generated by Skid Row album.
“We signed a publishing contract Bon Jovi‘s company that gave him a huge cut on the first album,” he recalls. “And when it happened, none of us understood it, really, and we were very bitter when we found out. But our next record went to #1 Billboard chart so quit your whining. [Laughs] It’s like looking back… He took us on tour… No one thought we’d make it. There were a million groups. We could be BANG TANGO! or TIGERTAILZ: or… We could be… There are a billion groups. We could be BABYLON AD … Anyway, so the fact that we were one of the bands that made it was like a needle in a haystack. So for Bon Jovi to put us on the road in front of his crowd every night, so we managed. So he deserved to be paid for it. He could have taken any other group. So we did all those deals again after the first album “Slave To The Grind” and: “Subhuman Race” and best album. We did it all again.”
SKID ROW:the new album of “The Gang’s Here”released in October via earMUSIC:. It is the band’s first LP with a new vocalist Eric Groenwallwho used to be a member of the Swedish hard rock band GERMANY:
