Dennis the Phantom Menace

The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” and Bon Jovi's “It’s My Life” go head to head in our tenth matchup of the Jacktical Magic tournament.

Amelia and Cooper chat about a generous walkie-talkie donation, going above and beyond for Emilio Estevez, and the best way to consume chili dogs.

Which song will be declared the winner and move one step closer to the title of having the most Jack FM energy?

Your vote decides.

Cast Your Vote:  Each week, vote for the song you think has the most Jack FM vibes at instagram.com/jackticalmagic/

Call the Hotline: Tell us which song you think should win next week’s matchup. Leave a voicemail at (424) 666-1711.

Email Us: Send your Jack FM stories, questions, memories, or music anecdotes to jackticalmagic@gmail.com.

Theme Song: ‘Heavenly Pop Hit’ by The Chills. Used with permission.

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:08

Welcome to critical examination of North America's baffling radio station, Jack FM.

SPEAKER_03 0:16

My name is Amelia Skinell, and I'm joined by my co-host. Hi.

SPEAKER_05 0:22

I think we nailed that.

SPEAKER_03 0:24

Yeah, that'll that's a great compromise. We'll just do that every week now. Yeah. Your kids will respect you, and everyone will know that I'm kinda a co-host, but more.

SPEAKER_05 0:37

If you analyze our little waveforms, I definitely have the co-host energies because I'm barely talking.

SPEAKER_03 0:43

I know. I I don't talk to anyone all week. And then I sounded very sick last week. So sorry, listeners.

SPEAKER_05 0:51

I feel like I have sounded sick every week. I just I have like a Chucky Finster nasal thing that I just can't get rid of. I don't know, Toby. Happy unofficial 10th episode.

SPEAKER_03 1:04

Thank you. Happy unofficial 10th episode to you. Well, I think it's officially no, it's unofficially the 11th episode. Oh, that's right. Canonically, it is the 10th episode because we retconned episode one is episode zero. So this is our 11th episode that you're hearing, but this is episode 10.

SPEAKER_05 1:27

We got 10 in the bag, or almost 10 in the bag. It's pretty exciting. We're we're cruising.

SPEAKER_03 1:33

Okay. Uh well, first of all, this is Jactical Magic. We got some outcry from Floridians from last week's episode. Uh when we were listing cities in Florida, we forgot a few big ones. They were wanting to know, you know, where was Fort Lauderdale? Where was Jacksonville? St. Petersburg, Palm Beach, you know, where Jeffrey Epstein bought the entire police force.

SPEAKER_05 2:00

Right. Is that who contacted us?

SPEAKER_03 2:03

No. Okay, so he he moved into, you know, not far from Mar-Lago. He had that house. And when they moved in, he just became friends with the Palm Beach police department. He, you know, just donated, like gifted them with like new equipment, new walkie-talkies or whatever. I will go in the whole thing, and it's not that much of a bummer, actually.

SPEAKER_05 2:27

So um, yeah, I mean it's starting out with him donating some walkie-talkies.

SPEAKER_03 2:32

Yeah, yeah. He's a good guy sometimes. Ooh, is that a is that a hot take? Jeffrey Epstein's a good guy sometimes.

SPEAKER_05 2:39

That's the pull quote that's gonna launch our podcast into the stratosphere. Jeffrey Epstein, good guy sometimes. A pro-Epstein podcast. In these times, that's just unheard of, and uh that just might work.

SPEAKER_03 2:53

Well, I think when everyone believes one thing, I'm always skeptical, like, well, what about the other thing?

SPEAKER_05 3:02

Yeah, when was the last time you gave the police department some walkie-talkies?

SPEAKER_03 3:07

Right. So, anyway, Jeffrey Epstein. For some reason in Florida, that was Jeffrey's like slumminate era. So it was not models, it was not, it was not Victoria's Secret Angels. Ghlaine would go to the high school and recruit massage therapists for Jeffrey or high schoolers who she was like, you know how to give a massage, it's easy. And she would just pay like a couple hundred bucks. What teenager would say no to a lot of cash? But anyway, enough kids and enough parents complained. Yeah, the Palm Beach police department arrested Jeffrey. He got the sweetest of sweetheart deals. Basically, this plea deal with the uh Florida BA, Alex Acosta. One, they busted the charge down to soliciting, which is just like caught with an escort. And then he was sentenced to uh a little over a year in jail, but the jail was he would basically only sleep there at night. He was allowed to leave during the day to go to an office and just come back to jail at night.

SPEAKER_05 4:18

Sometimes coming home feels like going to jail, if you know what it means. Might as well just go to jail. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_03 4:25

You know what I'm saying? Yeah, I get it. I get it, buddy. Family can be the worst.

SPEAKER_05 4:34

Family can be the worst and Epstein.

SPEAKER_03 4:37

Good guy sometimes. And that plea deal protected all unnamed co-conspirators, which is why nothing really went further in Florida, even though it was just almost just as big as Zorro Ranch or New York. And Alex Acosta, that BA or attorney general of Florida, he ended up being Secretary of Education for Trump's first administration. What a what a promotion.

SPEAKER_05 5:07

Must have been a real go-getter.

SPEAKER_03 5:09

Yeah, a real, real man on the cum.

SPEAKER_05 5:11

Okay. Welcome to Covet.

SPEAKER_03 5:14

So, Florida, you've been placated. We've pacified you.

SPEAKER_05 5:18

Speaking of Florida, I actually was just in Florida this past weekend. Lovely place, you guys. I'm sorry that we forgot all those wonderful cities. And we hope you enjoyed all of that info linking you to Epstein. But uh I want to say that they had Bob FM down in Florida. And also my parents have Sirius XM Radio, and we came across this channel called Road Trip. Boy oh boy, does that channel have Jack FM energy? Oh. Do you remember some of the songs that were on Road Trip? Literally most of our bracket. I there was one song that was definitely out of place. Um, and I I thought about writing it down, but then I remembered that I had free will and didn't want to.

unknown 6:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 6:06

But yeah, mostly bracket-worthy songs. And a couple that I was like, oh, maybe we should have considered that.

SPEAKER_03 6:12

But I held I held some songs out of the tournament on purpose that I'm regretting. I I'm not quite sure why I did that. Um Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 6:24

All right. So to recap, we're having 64 songs compete for the title of Biggest Jack FM Vibes. Last week, all the small things by Blink182 beat Creeds Higher, and all the small things will go on to compete against the winner of today's matchup. And for our 10th matchup today, we have Just Like Heaven by the Cure versus It's My Life by Bonjoy.

SPEAKER_03 6:50

Oh, what a good oof, what a good matchup. Um, I'm not right, is it? Yeah, I mean the votes are already in.

SPEAKER_05 7:01

I haven't seen them and I don't even need to see them because I feel this is this this has to be a runaway.

SPEAKER_03 7:08

I will say one of these songs beat the other one by the largest margin we've ever had. Because one of these songs, and I'm not saying which, really is one of the first songs that come to mind. Caitlin, our bestie and co-creator, more behind the scenes producer of the show. I was kind of reaching for some stuff, and she put that one out there, and I was like, thank you. How did I forget that one?

SPEAKER_04 7:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:37

That song that we're referring to, It's My Life by Bon Jovi, it has several Jack FM qualities. And we've been dancing around this entry into the Jack Doctrine long enough. You've heard us just giving you the littlest little taste of this Jack Doctrine with this entry. And this entry is known as the second act. Basically, and I'll say this simply Jack FM loves a new song or a comeback of a band that you used to know, you used to have figured out, they pivot and come out with a pretty well-received, maybe even the biggest hit of their career. Jack FM loves it. If I can guess why, I'd say because it transcends a few generations. Like you get the old fans and then you get new fans. Let me give you a few examples. We've known Green Day to be little dirty gutter punks.

SPEAKER_04 8:41

Sure.

SPEAKER_03 8:42

They named their albums after excrement. Right. They don't care for it. People had them figured out. Then they came out with what is known, I guess, as a rock opera, the American Idiot. And my lord, people respected the hell out of them. And they gained big time credibility. I don't know. They started putting on black shirts and a red tie, and that was the new Green Day.

SPEAKER_05 9:09

Definitely American Idiot is second act, Jack, Green Day.

SPEAKER_03 9:13

On the tournament, we've already had one of the biggest examples of this, which would be red hot chili peppers, scar tissue era, their maturity. They all decided that, you know, diminishing returns on being the uh red-hot chili peppers that people knew. It was time to grow up, time to slow down a little, be more introspective. They all got clean and people loved it.

SPEAKER_05 9:42

Yeah. And uh also on the list, I mean, I'm gonna go ahead and say Dave Grohl, transforming from Nirvana to Foo Fighters is in itself kind of a second act.

SPEAKER_03 9:53

I think we all we all know that Cher pulled off quite a feat. Believe I always picture that Sting where he went like, turn the clock to zero, honey. Like, who the fuck knew that Sting was still making music? And then he comes out with like that, and then he got like a little tribal, very Middle Eastern for a while, Desert Rose. Yeah, white musicians, a lot of them have an Africa phase.

SPEAKER_05 10:24

Peter Gabriel Paul Simon big Paul Simon really, really went for it, but so did Sting's. Sting went Middle Eastern, where Paul Simon went Africa.

SPEAKER_03 10:35

You know what's a good example of a pivot? John Cougar Mellencamp drops the coup, and then he gains Michelle Negday Occello. And they do that cover of Wild Knights, that non-melodic I Saw You First. He had a couple hits late in his career, and it completely kind of changed, and it gained some new respectability, and people saw him differently. And uh, I I love that cover.

SPEAKER_05 11:07

Yeah, I love that cover too. Like, that's that the extent of my dipping my toe into the Cougar Melon Camp Pool is that song, that cover. It's great, it's wonderful. I have a lot of fond memories tied to it. Your tozies were like, this feels good. Yeah, this feels good. But then he brought his chili dog into the pool to suck on it, and uh I was out. Oh don't care for it.

SPEAKER_03 11:33

Don't care for sucking on chili dogs.

SPEAKER_05 11:35

Um but I will say when I have a chili dog, the idea of just being able to slurp one down is quite appealing to me. I do love a good chili dog.

SPEAKER_03 11:45

I'll always order chili dogs uh at a restaurant. Yeah, the people next to me are like, I wish you wouldn't do that. Like when I'm at a restaurant. Always. And they're like, ma'am, one, you're scaring us. Two, it's disgusting to look at. You sucking on this chili dog.

SPEAKER_05 12:03

Please take small bites.

SPEAKER_03 12:05

And raise your hand if you feel like you're choking. I think some bad examples of a Jack Doctrine second act would be where bands gained credibility. Some of them gave up credibility for commercial success. I'm thinking of Counting Crows, who were a very a little, a couple sweet, I don't know. What would you nothing like Yeah, singer-songwriter, darlings? Yeah, like alternative. And then they came out out of nowhere with Hangin Around, which is in the tournament. And that says nothing like old Mr. Jones and Long December and what have you. Not in the tournament, but it's kind of a sad example. I would say Jewel Intuition. Um, yeah. I remember watching her when Intuition came out, which was, you know, Jewel was a folk singer, very down tempo. She comes out with Intuition, which has a bit of a Middle Eastern, has like a little genie in a bottle to it. Very produced. I remember seeing her on a talk show performing that, and she was in like this little slinky dress. She she wore the shit out of that dress, I'll say that. But she was having to like writhe around in front of the like at the microphone, and you could tell she was so uncomfortable.

SPEAKER_04 13:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:26

You could tell that she hated that, but happy ending. Those checks have to be coming in for that razor intuition. They still use her song. Yeah. I'm like glad for her.

SPEAKER_05 13:38

She's a very pretty girl, and so they just kind of were like, Well, maybe you'd fit better in this box, and it was forced. I honestly just thinking of that song, thought it was Shakira or something, like in my head.

SPEAKER_03 13:51

That's what I meant. Probably not genie in a bottle, but like whenever, wherever. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 13:56

Right.

SPEAKER_03 13:56

Definitely, definitely Shakira.

SPEAKER_04 13:58

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:59

But I hope she's cashing those checks and maybe got braces. She just has that one little tooth that will I know, it's adorable. Don't that run away? Don't put a runaway.

SPEAKER_05 14:09

Don't change a thing, Jewel. Okay, go on. So, yeah, so secneck jack, redefinition of band of self, re-emerging, back in the spotlight. Definitely the case with It's My Life, big time.

SPEAKER_03 14:22

Um, so yeah, that is a very large entry into the Jack Doctrine. If I were to take a venture as to why Jack FM loves it, I would say cross-generational appeal. A four-quadrant song. I I mean, they just gain new followers and attract old followers. I want to say quick, and yes, we will get into this song in detail more, but It's My Life by Bon Jovi, he mentions Tommy and Gina, who are fictional characters, who were first in the song Livin' on a Prayer. He told the story of Tommy and Gina. And then in the lyrics of It's My Life in 2000, he said, never back down. They didn't quit. They are doing great. A little Brenda and Eddie almost.

SPEAKER_05 15:12

Yes. I was gonna say Brenda and Eddie or uh Major Tom. Major Tom had a nice little run across. Yeah. We we revisited him. Kind of cool. Maybe the Koog needs to give us an update on Jack and Diane. Jack and Diane, yeah. Did Jack survive all the heart attacks from sucking down all those chili dogs? Did they cut back on the chili dogs?

SPEAKER_03 15:36

Do you do do you think Diane didn't love the chili dogs either? Or it just wasn't in her genetics to have heart disease.

SPEAKER_05 15:44

Right. What do you think? I think the the latter. I think she probably outlives Jack and works at a rural Indiana supermarket. Something about I don't think we've talked about it on this podcast, but there's something that I just it's too Americana, John Cutter Melancade. It's too small town. Like Bruce and John Fogerty and Billy Joel, they're all kind of like wanting to escape their small towns. Billy Joel's very specifically small town to Long Island, so it doesn't really translate as well as like Bruce does to the rest of America, because everyone's like, yeah, I don't know what a longshoreman is. I don't have that problem. My problem is that I'm stuck in a tiny town and I want to get out. But Cougar's kind of like, hang out. Let's just hang out in the town. Like, I don't need scope beyond my little rural town. I just want to be in my little town.

SPEAKER_03 16:39

Yeah. Every little town has a tasty freeze. Not every town has port authority. Um and uh I listened to John Cougar Mellencamp's demo of Jack and Diane, where he's just kind of working out the song and coming up with the words. He Americanos it up even more. Jack was quarterback, Diane was, you know, head cheerleader. Something about bleachers, like this guy fell out of the Americana tree and hit every branch on the way down.

SPEAKER_05 17:15

I like that. I've been seeing him pop up. I think there's either a new album or a new documentary or something because he keeps popping up on my feed and he's like smoking cigarettes on a treadmill in like a rundown house. I'm like, yep, it's this all tracks. He's living out his dream.

SPEAKER_03 17:31

Yeah, that's hilarious. I want to see that. I know, yeah, I think he has he made like a big cabin in Indiana or something, but good to know it's more shack-like. I didn't realize that. Yeah. You know what? We're gonna take a little break. And then when we come back, Cooper, why don't you tell us a little about just like heaven by the cure?

SPEAKER_05 17:52

Sure.

SPEAKER_03 17:53

Okay. Then in that case, you will hear from us soon. Coming at you later. Here is a break.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

Jack FM will return with something dead in its mouth and drop it on the carpet to impress you.

SPEAKER_03 18:08

Download the Odyssey.

SPEAKER_01 18:09

All right, we're back.

SPEAKER_02 18:11

Oof, okay.

SPEAKER_03 18:12

Uh, yeah. Okay. Well, I I was the one who took us to break. Uh-huh. I feel like I should have gotten us back from break.

SPEAKER_05 18:22

Well, I just figured since you took us, that then I could look, we'll run this by the mediator and that's for the lawyers to decide.

SPEAKER_03 18:30

Yeah. I guess we were focused on the introduction and forgot that we go to breaks.

SPEAKER_05 18:34

Um we have to do this a lot.

SPEAKER_03 18:36

All right.

SPEAKER_05 18:37

Well how about this? You get the breaks during the week, and I get weekends and Christmas. Something like that. Do we have ourselves a deal?

SPEAKER_03 18:47

Sure. But you're gonna need to get a new apartment. I'm sorry. I'm our breaks are not staying in that rat's nest.

SPEAKER_06 18:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 18:54

Oh I I I want to know where who the brakes are hanging out with on these weekends, basically. Okay, Cooper, you want to get us into uh just like heaven?

SPEAKER_05 19:03

I sure do. Okay, so just like heaven, Elizabeth Masterson, a dedicated young San Francisco physician, dies in a serious car crash. And then three months later, a recent widower named David Abbott sublets Elizabeth's apartment. Now they're both so confused. Elizabeth thinks David is a squatter, and David thinks Elizabeth broke in, but then finds out she can walk through walls. Are you recognizing this yet? No, wait. Okay. This is the plot of the film Just Like Heaven. What is my favorite Reese Witherspoon film.

SPEAKER_03 19:42

Okay, with Mark Ruffalo.

SPEAKER_05 19:44

The romantic comedy of our lifetime.

SPEAKER_03 19:46

Cooper, you were supposed to research Just Like Heaven by the Cure, the song. Oh gosh, golly, how did I do this again?

SPEAKER_05 19:59

We're kidding. He knows it. I knew it, but I did go down the Just Like Heaven movie rabbit hole because it was the first thing that came up, which I found interesting. The first thing you Google comes up as just like heaven the movie. More than the more than the song. Right. Which is the movie's clearly named after the song, and they use the song in the trailer at least.

SPEAKER_03 20:22

I don't know if they use it in the movie, but but I mean, like Google, they're not gonna be like, hey, buy this old song. They're they're gonna be like, hey, this movie is owned by our parent company or whatever, or we just acquired it and you can rent it.

SPEAKER_05 20:39

Plus, they're just using my own search history of Witherspoon movies and guessing that that's probably what I'm up to. Okay. Okay, so anyway, the cure. Little band from Crowley. The cure sits tightly in post-punk new wave. Um just a little backstory. Robert Smith has a band with his siblings when he's 14 called the Crowley Goat Band. I love that Crowley Goat Band. Then he gets together with the cure guys. Their first band name is called Malice, which fucking rocks. That's a cool name. This is so weird. They start out as a cover band doing like Jimi Hendrix songs and David Bowie songs, and then they decide to change their name to Easy Cure, but Smith eventually thinks that Easy Cure sounds a little too Allman Brothers kind of Southern rock. So he's like, let's just drop the easy. What is your first impression of the cure? Just thinking of them.

SPEAKER_03 21:42

Robert Smith's like face and hair.

SPEAKER_05 21:44

Yeah. Yeah. Let's talk a little bit about his hair journey. So when their first album comes out, you'll notice if you go look at the album covers, Robert Smith has a really nice center part. He's just a boy singing about how boys don't cry. Then They get booked as the supporting act for Suzy and the Banshees. But since then, Robert Smith has been just doing his hair like Suzy Susie. To this day. His hair is the most rat's nest hair I've ever seen out of a human. But you know what? Good for you. But yeah, if you if you just kind of watch his journey throughout the albums, which they have 14 albums, I don't think he's cut it since their second album just keeps growing and it's just a big nest.

SPEAKER_03 22:31

Let me ask you this like when they were with Susie and the Banjo, like was there sound since you know England had a post-punk kind of movement? Did the cure always sound like that? When I think of like early new wave, I think of XTC, which actually like went from punk to new wave. Like you can you can hear the growth with the genre change. I've never really listened to the cure. Are they they always sounded like little pussies? Oh god.

SPEAKER_05 23:01

Yeah, I would say so. I I think they really dig their heels more into being gothic around their second or third album. The first couple albums are just a little bit more straightforward, post-punk, definitely soft. They're definitely softies. That's for sure. They're following in the steps of Joy Division. And yeah, I mean, I guess we can call them little sissies. Now they're more like sissies in the Banshees, if I may say so myself.

SPEAKER_03 23:30

So you're saying like Joy Division came much earlier?

SPEAKER_05 23:35

No, but Joy Division's first. They're really contemporaries. Yeah. But they I believe started doing Joy Division songs. Like maybe when they were easy cure, they were starting to do some Joy Division songs. So Joy Division was definitely around. And yeah, I mean, most cure songs are just kind of a longing. Sad boy. Sad boy is good. This tour with Susie and the Banshees was really where gothic rock got their claws into the cure. And they started doing the eyeliner and the lipstick. Gothic rock, it actually starts in the 50s and 60s. Bowie, the doors. Monster Mash. Yeah. Oh that's as gothic as it gets.

SPEAKER_03 24:20

That's Boris Bobby, that little creep.

SPEAKER_05 24:23

I mean, that's literally a yeah. There was a real obsession with the morose in the 50s, right? So often the idea of gothic is tied to the fashion, but it's really about the themes and the dark romantic lyrics. The cure is probably the biggest embodiment of this that we have in popular rock and roll music. Mm-hmm. You can put away your hedge trimmers, because I ain't beaten around this bush. Just like Heaven is probably my favorite song on this entire bracket. It actually doesn't come out until like their seventh album or something. Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. That album is even by Smith's admission, that album is kind of like a best of, like the culmination of the last 10 years of their career. Like it's a singles album. They've had hits. Their first hits, Boys Don't Cry, They Have Close to Me. But just like Heaven is their first big smash hit in 1987.

SPEAKER_03 25:25

87? Wow.

SPEAKER_05 25:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:27

I'm always surprised by how much newer these songs are than I thought. Like when I think of Depeche Mode, uh, what's the something silence?

SPEAKER_05 25:39

Yeah, Depeche Mode, Enjoy the Silence.

SPEAKER_03 25:42

Yeah. That had to be like 89, maybe 90. Same with Duran Duran, Hungry Like the Wolf. Like that, I think that's 90.

SPEAKER_05 25:51

Right. Like, actually, a lot of the cure songs that we know are in the 90s, which is crazy. Like, Friday I'm in love is 92.

SPEAKER_04 26:01

Holy shit.

SPEAKER_05 26:03

Yeah. It's funny because I definitely think of these songs as defining the era of New Wave, and it's like they're all at the tail end of it. To think about 92 Friday I'm in love is is nuts. Like MC Hammer's already been out for three years. Exactly. The landscape has changed, and yet I don't know, these these songs just stand out as being a part of this one thing, but it's it's weird that they're all so late.

SPEAKER_03 26:31

I'm always maybe I think they're way more 80s because they look like those Patrick Nagel illustrations.

SPEAKER_04 26:39

Mm-hmm. You know what I'm talking about? Okay.

SPEAKER_03 26:42

The Rio album cover.

SPEAKER_04 26:44

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 26:45

Like it looks like it's in a beauty salon in the 80s. Just those cheekbones and those lips.

SPEAKER_05 26:52

And with Just Like Heaven, there's not a whole lot to the song. Robert Smith challenged himself to write a song every day, or like 15 songs in a month. And he wrote a song that he thought sounded a little bit too much like the song Another Girl, Another Planet, by The Only Ones, which is a really cool song. Um structurally, it was the same. And so he brought it to the group and they sped it up a little bit. And the drummer did his little intro. And that gave Robert Smith the idea that each instrument should kind of have an introduction in the song in the order in which they come in. So it like builds the drums, the bass. It's like, here's all the players, and by the time you get to the organ, and it's and he doesn't even begin singing like well into a minute into the song. Yeah, it's just them jamming. They like doing synth, but they always were a rock band first. So they always played instruments and kind of let the synths be the accompaniment. Just like heaven, I it's it's one of those songs. It's for me, it's a song that I love for karaoke, but I just I think it's actually such a banger of a song. Yeah, to be honest with you, I almost I feel like it doesn't even deserve to be on this list. Um I think that you you have your prejudice against the cure, but I think this song is way more than this list. I think it's the best.

SPEAKER_03 28:20

Okay. Well, speaking of prejudices, Cooper, who just said my pet peeve is women of color in positions of power. So you're gonna call me out on my prejudice. I'll give it right back.

SPEAKER_05 28:35

Thank you for putting me in my place. Um, I did want to say I think they have great lasting power for this gothic era of new wave. They go on, they have a ton of singles, and I personally have experience being in a gothic rock band. Many years ago, I was in a band called Solomon Down, sad, uh, we call ourselves. This was in the MySpace days. And everybody on MySpace was comparing us to the cure, almost like they were saying, like, you guys just ripped off Fascination Street, like exactly.

SPEAKER_03 29:22

Yeah, I also had a MySpace and I followed sad.

SPEAKER_05 29:27

Unfortunately for us, you know, we had a very short run with this band, but our lead singer, Solomon Downs, he became kind of a recluse and just started reading all the Russian romantics and just we haven't really heard from him since we can't get him out of the house. But who knows? Maybe if we can get like a big internet push, we could get him back out on the road and get like a little sad second act jack reunion.

SPEAKER_03 29:53

Okay. Yeah, you know, like it's only a matter of time. Like, I can't think of a single band who has stayed broken up after a while.

SPEAKER_04 30:01

Right.

SPEAKER_03 30:02

Yeah, you know, Tempers Cool. Was it an acrimonious break? What happened?

SPEAKER_05 30:07

Well, we only ever had one concert and he was just kind of too sad to come out on stage, and then we just we're done after that. So we just vamped for about 10 minutes to try to get him to come out, and he never would. So that was the end of it.

SPEAKER_03 30:20

You try to get a chant going with the uh the crowd. That scared him even more. You you go into the bathroom and you see the bathroom window open and a little curtain glowing, and you're like, oh shit, Solomon is gone.

SPEAKER_05 30:39

And then we had to go back out and we started playing some covers, and the crowd was like, No, we want to hear your songs. Play some originals. Familiar story, tale as old as time.

SPEAKER_03 30:50

Sure. I mean, people who see shows, they eventually want to hear something they've never heard before. They they like being completely alienated and feeling left out of the good time. And I I think the whole crowd feels that way. Okay, I'm sorry. I I yeah, maybe he's stopped being so sad. And that'd be nice. So what do we need to do? Yeah, I don't know. Just like a hashtag or don't be sad. No, do be sad. Oh, do be sad? Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 31:21

Do be sad.

SPEAKER_03 31:22

And then we'll get a bunch of doobie as in, you know, yeah. Got that indica. They're just just on the couch not answering their phone.

SPEAKER_05 31:33

Been there too.

SPEAKER_03 31:35

I hate indica people. I'm sorry, audience. Get some sativa. Fucking well, that's because as we always say, you're a sativa diva. Yes. And as Hemingway said, write drunk, edit sober. And I love a sativa idea session, and then reading it a day or two later and hating myself for what I came up with. Yeah. But Indica, that you don't even have that state. Two each their own, but I don't understand how that relaxes people. I that makes me feel like I just wasted my life or something. Or like even if I'm only high for a couple hours, I feel like, what am I doing with my life when I'm on Indica?

SPEAKER_05 32:20

Yeah, whenever I'm on Stiva, I come up with so many creative ideas that, yeah, then the next day I reread them. I'm like, nope.

SPEAKER_03 32:29

But I like that I like that you were trying. Yes. Well, last you let me know if this is a good idea. I thought of one thing last weekend when I was on Sativa, but I'm not ready to share that because I do actually want to patent this. But before that, okay, what do you think of this? Dennis the Phantom Menace. Oh, is that a thing?

SPEAKER_04 32:51

That absolutely is. Oh, I love it. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 32:54

Okay. Yeah. Um, Dennis the Phantom Menace. So I'm picturing, and I don't know why I'm complicating it. I'm picturing a t-shirt of Dennis the Menace playing an organ with a mask, with like a half-face mask. So he's Phantom of the Opera Menace. Okay, so that's so it's like it's like a triple reference. Yeah, slingshot in his back pocket. I don't know where the phantom menace comes in Star Wars wise.

SPEAKER_05 33:30

Um, I was thinking Dennis would just be little Annie. Like Okay.

SPEAKER_03 33:35

Or like, no, he um, you know, Anakin is standing against that wall and he casts a shadow and it looks like Mr. Wilson. Because yeah, I I guess because I haven't read the comics in a while, NSM NS becomes Mr. Wilson, right?

SPEAKER_05 33:51

Like he I like that you you become the bad guy.

SPEAKER_03 33:55

That's what I mean.

SPEAKER_05 33:56

Yeah, because Mr. Wilson's definitely the bad guy. Just a man trying to enjoy his retirement.

SPEAKER_03 34:03

Right. He raised his kids. What if he had to go over to the parents' house and he's like, maybe Dennis should be on a should be supervised more? I'm not telling you how to raise your kid, but this child needs a firm hand. It's not on me to raise your child. My opinion on the cure, I feel like it was always something that everyone else liked. My kind of new wave was, like I said, XTC, Joe Jackson, the squeeze. I liked kind of a little more upbeat new wave. Like new wave didn't have to, like, that is a characteristic that people associate with new wave, is the sadness, the melancholy. I I I never sought that out. I think when I got older, I did like or I started appreciating Durand Duran, Depeche Mode, the cure, and Joy Division were just, I don't know. I feel like I missed the bus too much with them. I don't know. Yeah. I just uh I love I do love this song. It's really pretty, it moves along really well. It's pretty listenable. The intro, and by virtue of being new wave, it qualified for the tournament. I think we've danced around the truth. The cure, just like heaven, does not win this week. I'll just we'll just we'll stop being vague.

SPEAKER_05 35:29

They are not the winners this week, or that song isn't, but for me, that speaks to them being more than Jack FM and above it. I don't think that they should feel bad about being removed from this bracket. In fact, I'm positive that Robert Smith probably wouldn't care at all that they were ever in contention.

SPEAKER_03 35:48

Yeah, and I think Cure fans would also not care.

SPEAKER_05 35:51

Yeah, I think Cure fans would would like it best if if we weren't the ones talking about it.

SPEAKER_03 35:57

If we left the cure out of the conversation. Yeah. So I don't know. That's that's what I think of the cure. I do think they are quality. I'm very surprised that they existed. When did that come out? 93?

SPEAKER_05 36:11

Just like heaven came out 87.

SPEAKER_03 36:13

What came out? Oh, uh Friday I'm in love was 93.

SPEAKER_05 36:16

Yeah. Just like heaven is definitely the radio hit, though. And it it would be the one that Jack Effet would play. But it's a song, like I said, if that song comes on, I'm pumped. I'm excited. I'm shouting the lyrics, very, very evocative lyrics. Yeah, I I just think it's it's a really good song, and I think it deserves not to continue down this bracket.

SPEAKER_03 36:40

So right. It's admits that it gives off energy, but not the most Jack I found manager.

SPEAKER_05 36:47

So even though we already know the destination, that doesn't make this journey not worth taking. There's still twists and turns to come as we make our way to the east coast of America. That's right, New Jersey, as we come back and we'll talk about Bon Jovi right after this. That was beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 37:07

Yeah, it's my life after this.

SPEAKER_01 37:10

Sorry about Jack FM's wet note. We're both healthy and extremely curious.

SPEAKER_03 37:15

Downloads Hi, welcome back to Jack Tical Magic. I'm Amelia. That's Cooper. I'm going to tell you about the second song, which is It's My Life by Bon Jovi. Where should I be? All right, well, New Jersey, obviously. But further back than you may think. We're talking uh the boardwalks. We're talking jazz, big band, prohibition. All right, there were other towns in New Jersey that kind of had the boardwalk, the ballroom kind of attractions that all kind of, you know, eventually made its way to Atlantic City. So a lot of these other towns had a lot of musicians with not a lot to do. Communities of musicians would pop up. And, you know, there were neighborhood kids who wanted to play music. These guys would teach them. They would let a little Bruce Springsteen on stage, a young, a young John Bon Jovi on stage. John grew up around music, you could say. In fact, John's cousin owned a recording studio in New York City known as the Power Station. This is the place where the Ramones, Togging Heads, Rolling Stones, Huey Lewis, they all recorded their shit in the early 80s. It was a power station. And like most Italian Americans, Tony hired his cousin John to uh push a broom. Little John worked at the radio station uh as a little gopher, a little janitor. That gave him access to a lot of equipment and a lot of studio musician. While working, he also stuck around and got a demo, got a song written and made. It was called Runaway. And John knew it was a hit. His family loved it, his his neighborhood loved it. There is a New York radio station. And the name of the radio station, I'm not making this up, W-A-P-P. WAP.

SPEAKER_04 39:27

Uh yeah, talk about slippery when wet.

SPEAKER_05 39:32

WAP? Wet ass pussy?

SPEAKER_03 39:35

I was thinking the names that Italian Americans are called. Sure, yeah, that's much. Yes. WAP meaning wet ass pussy. Okay. That was that didn't occur to me. Very good. John's cousin, owning this power station, had had a lot of access to this radio station, had a lot of pull. The station really made it well known and a hit. And that eventually got John a record deal. The record company said you're gonna need a band if you're gonna make a new album. So what little John here does, he he actually starts a corporation, Bon Jovi Inc.

SPEAKER_05 40:16

Just to clarify, are we talking about Lil John the rapper or John Bon Jovi?

SPEAKER_03 40:22

Because I was saying little we're talking about John Bon Jovi. This episode, I will only be talking about Bon Jovi the band. Thank you. So I'm sorry, when I say Little John, I meant he's not old.

SPEAKER_05 40:35

Because I was picturing Lil John in all these situations and I was just like, this is blowing my mind. Little John is doing all these white people things. Yeah. I'm glad thank you for the clarification.

SPEAKER_03 40:47

No, let me say from now on, if I refer to John Bon Jovi as little John, I want you just to remember that I'm talking about Bon Jovi for the rest of the episode. Okay. Just so that I can prepare myself. Is there ever a point where he becomes Big John? I will raise my hand when that time comes. Okay. So you will know. John was the CEO of Bon Jovi Inc. He hires members of his band as salaried employees. People like Richie Sambora, Tico Torres, his drummer, Alec John Such, his bassist. These people are professional studio musicians. Richie was a little more rock and roll, became kind of a creative force for the band, but everybody else, they were just uh working stiffs. John paid them a salary and he would promise a little cut of tour profits. So basically, John had the contract, and everybody else were employees of Bon Jovi.

SPEAKER_05 41:50

In his career, like, why didn't he just continue being John Bon Jovi, but with the backing group? Why did it get shortened to just Bon Jovi? And throughout the rest of his career, is there times where it's like, well, this one's under John Bon Jovi, not just Bon Jovi?

SPEAKER_03 42:08

Yes, and I can tell you, John hired a business manager, Doc McGee. And Doc's assistant said, Why don't you name it Bon Jovi? The same way like Van Halen. John always did like the idea of a band name. He didn't mind. John Bon Jovi is a little, he's got an entrepreneurial spirit. He's a real capitalist. He's just a very business-minded, hardworking kind of guy, where a lot of bands are old friends from around the way and a lot of history. That is not really the case with Bon Jovi. It is a an organization. So Doc McGee.

SPEAKER_05 42:48

Not enough docks these days. Right? I feel like that's a name that needs to come back so that we can have these kinds of stories. Because every one of these stories of like rock and roll history has to have a doc somewhere. There's a doc, so-and-so, who did something.

SPEAKER_03 43:04

But Doc is a great, you're right. Doc's a great name. Baby Doc. So Tico Torres, drums, Alec John Such. These guys were a good 10 years older than John Bon Jovi. These guys were just not rock stars. They have an album in 84 called Bon Jovi. It had Runaway on it. It had some other songs. Didn't light the world on fire. Same with 7,800 Degrees 1985. Didn't do great. They were touring with bands like Motley Crewe, Kiss, Rat with two T's. They were getting the reputation of good, professional, hardworking young men, if not creative. They didn't have a creative temperament. They weren't glam. They weren't metal. And Bon Jovi didn't want to be glam. They weren't metal. Hair is where they fell. And if you look at their first couple album covers, you will see a bit of makeup, a bit of teased hair, some flamboyant uh dress. And John hated that. He was like, if the guys in the old neighborhood could see me, they'd beat me up.

SPEAKER_05 44:21

Rightfully so.

SPEAKER_03 44:22

While Richie and John did write songs together, they were like a McCartney and Lennon, but mediocre. They had a writing partnership. And they realized we need some help. They got this guy, Desmond Child, who wrote some songs you've heard of. I didn't write them down, but you've heard of them. They're good. Now John and Richie will downplay this man's involvement, but he wrote Living on a Prayer and Wanted Dead or Alive.

SPEAKER_04 44:53

Whoa.

SPEAKER_03 44:54

Yes. Those songs ended up on their 1986 album, Slippery When Wet. That is the album that people took notice of Bon Jovi, where everybody was being crazy boys and, you know, just wild tour stories here of Warrant and Winger, Poison, Van Halen. These were party bands. Meanwhile, Bon Jovi's over here singing to the people. Where these other bands would, you know, sing songs about smoking in the boys' room or their teacher giving them erections. These guys were singing, living on a prayer. Like, keep going. Times are hard. You have to persevere. There's a song, Raise Your Hands, which is just getting an audience to have fun. The key to Bon Jovi, he sings and you can hear the words. He's a clear singer, and the lyrics are super relatable. Wanted Dead or Alive was just about being on tour, being away. Not that every person in America can relate to being on tour, but not a lot of subtext. Like relatable songs, like bad medicine when a boyfriend or a girlfriend are not good for you, but I need it. I like it. Me, whenever I hook up, I like to go through people's medicine cabinets and, you know, steal medicine. And sometimes the medicine's bad. So I get it. It's very relatable.

SPEAKER_05 46:29

Yeah. Now when you say bad, do you mean expired or like I mean expired, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:35

Or something I have no use for. Right. It has no street value.

SPEAKER_05 46:39

Right.

SPEAKER_03 46:39

It's not going to get me feeling good.

SPEAKER_05 46:41

So and do you see yourself out the door at that point? Do you just leave and turn around and say, Your love is like bad medicine?

SPEAKER_03 46:48

No, because maybe in the morning while she's taking a shower, that's when I go into the underwear drawer and the jewelry box, which is where the song bad underwear and bad jewelry comes comes from. So they just weren't creatively adventurous. And that was good. There is a certain quality about these songs that were extremely appealing to women, especially, where those other bands had a very large male fan base. Bon Jovi, women thought they were cuties and not the like gay-coated makeup, the gross songs. I mean, women did like it, but you go to a Bon Jovi concert, you've got at least 75% of that audience is female.

SPEAKER_05 47:41

You're right. I do kind of immediately categorize them as hair metal or hair metal adjacent, I guess. But you're right that the songs are not the same themes. They're not about fucking, but it's it's it is funny then that they have this album full of these kind of inspirational songs. And then they're like, let's call it Slippery Winwed, though. Like we'll still do it up for the title.

SPEAKER_03 48:07

John Ever the businessman. Yes, it was a calculated move to show a little authenticity, but he knew what the industry looked like at that time. And that's not the only time he does that. He definitely has his finger on the pulse of current music, and that will come into play with It's My Life, but I just have a little more to talk about. So Slippery When Wet, huge. Their follow-up in '88, New Jersey. These two albums are what people think of with Bon Jovi.

SPEAKER_05 48:42

That's the era of Bon Jovi that the world knows, and it feels contained. It feels like these Bon Jovi can be summarized by these two records.

SPEAKER_03 48:51

Great, yes, yes. If the aliens came down and they said, show me your Bon Jovi. Um that was through like a voice box so that we could translate. Uh we would give them slippery when wet and New Jersey. And what exactly does slippery when wet mean? And then the other alien whispers in his uh ear, like, oh, that's gross. Of course, I've been with a woman. My girlfriend lives on Nebulon 25. She she rides me a letter once a month. No, you you can't meet her. She's she's off on business.

SPEAKER_05 49:31

It'd be funny if they came and we had to explain like sex to them. I like that idea. I like having to have the birds and the bees talk with some aliens.

SPEAKER_03 49:41

Yeah. They because they're we notice that they're starting to feel uncomfortable in their own bodies. They're seeing changes.

SPEAKER_05 49:50

Yeah. Listen, sweetheart, I could I could smell your armpits. I I know that your body's changing. All eight of your armpits. And uh, I think it's important that we sit down and talk about safety.

SPEAKER_03 50:03

It means your body is ready to start laying eggs. Yeah. It's it's actually a beautiful thing.

SPEAKER_05 50:11

Here, just take this Bon Jovi record, and I think it'll do the explaining for you. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 50:18

Um 88, New Jersey. They're global superstars. 1992, John, he's seeing the he's seeing the writing on the wall, music's changing. In 1992, they released the album Keep the Faith. Again, more inspiration, more Living on a Prayer, like platitudes. And it's a little slower, I don't want to say melancholy, but you know, the boys, they're seeing things a little differently. They're growing up. They can't be pair metal forever.

SPEAKER_05 50:51

And from what I, if I'm correct, I know that Bon Jovi is one of the few rock and rollers who has always been pretty faithful in his relationship. I think he's married in 1989 and still married to this day.

SPEAKER_03 51:05

John Bon Jovi was dating Diane Lane, who was smoke show. Smoke him. Today is a smoke show. But back then, she was in that one. It was like the it's the first time I saw Tommy Lee Jones, and he scared the shit out of me. Anyway, Matt Dylan is really good at playing dice or something, and Diane Lane plays like this kind of show girl. It takes place in Chicago. I should have written it down.

SPEAKER_05 51:32

But uh Oh, I know what you're thinking of. Men in Black.

SPEAKER_03 51:35

I'm not thinking of Men in Black, but hey, that's cool because Diane Lane married Josh Brolin, who played the Tommy Lee Jones character in the third Men in Black.

SPEAKER_05 51:48

Jeez Louise.

SPEAKER_03 51:49

Okay, so anyway, why did why was I talking about that movie?

SPEAKER_05 51:52

We were talking about Diane Lane.

SPEAKER_03 51:54

John was dating Diane Lane, and Richie, he had the hots for Diane. And he was like, skin in line, Richie.

SPEAKER_05 52:02

You and everybody else.

SPEAKER_03 52:03

Like, yeah. For him to even declare that is like, okay, and what? Um Yeah, I have eyes. So John was like, yeah, you know, Diane, not for me. Richie, you can have her. And then he goes back and marries his high school sweetheart. And the record company's like, What are you doing? You're you're a sex symbol. You don't marry some Jersey, some Jersey girl. John is on at every turn, he shows this humility or this dyed-in-the-wool values.

SPEAKER_05 52:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 52:38

Really lives by some values.

SPEAKER_05 52:39

I worked on a TV show and there was a joke made at John Bon Jovi's expense. That first joke was like, oh, he's a rock star and he'll just fuck a bunch of women. And then the second joke was, no, he's a good guy who stands by his girl. So he, I don't know, his people sent a ton of merch to the show because they were so happy with the joke. He loved that it was like about his love story. And they gave us posters, they gave us guitar picks, CDs, books, everything. And audience, I'm unbuttoning my shirt right now. I've had this on this whole time, waiting for this moment. A tattoo gift card. All I need today is a little bit of coffee and John Bon Jovi. This is a ladies.

SPEAKER_02 53:29

That is quite I was gonna say, that is quite a neckline.

SPEAKER_05 53:32

Well, it's meant to meant to be one of these things, I believe. But I've been wearing this under my shirt just waiting for this moment. Very nice.

SPEAKER_03 53:39

Okay, so 92, keep the faith. It was way more um maybe like they were wrapping it up. Um in 94, they had a best of album. And the song Always was written for that. Kind of the way that Mary Jane's Last Dance was on a best of.

SPEAKER_04 54:00

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 54:01

Always ended up being like their biggest hit. I listened to it a couple days ago and it's very sappy, and yeah, I don't get it, but that's a huge hit. Then in 95, I guess the greatest hits album didn't stick because they put out Keep the Faith, which was just really about society's ills, flopped in the United States, did huge numbers in Europe, Asia, and South America. Even though these guys, they they were industry dinosaurs at this point. But you know how other continents are um not as cool as us, so so they like these days. And uh, so they had to go on a very long world tour for this album that was really more of a complainy. And they really hated each other. Doc McGee, John had to fire him for trafficking weed. Like the only rock star thing this band has ever done. John's not having that. But this tour is different. They're taking different buses. They don't come, like, they don't do rehearsal or soundcheck, they they see each other when it's time to go on stage, and then don't even speak backstage or in between shows. Once it's over, they get on separate planes, go home, and stop speaking for like two, three years. During that time, John he decided he wanted a little acting career, he did a few movies, people didn't hate it. Emilio Esteves gives him a call and says he wants Wanted Dead or Alive for Young Guns 2. And John was like, No, what part of Steel Horse I Ride do you not understand? It's not actually about cowboys, Emilio. No, you can't. But he writes him Blaze of Glory. Oh. That song is a solo, John. Interesting. Emilio is like, oh wow, thanks, bud. That's even better. And it was nominated, it may have won the Golden Globe. It was nominated for an Academy Award. John played at the Oscars. Richie Sambora's at home. Pissed. He is very jealous, consumed by Envy. He puts out a solo album. Nobody gives a fuck. Cut to let's say 99. John's is doing okay. The guys, he doesn't know. He doesn't think of them. He does see how music's changed. You got the new metal, but mostly what you turn on the radio, you're gonna hear Britney Spears. You're gonna hear the Backstreet Boys. All of these songs were what had taken the place of Bon Jovi. John Bon Jovi, that didn't sit right with him, but he knew if you can't beat him, join him. So John calls Richie, tells him, Hey, get your passport. We're going to Sweden. We got a date with the enemy. Max Martin, the hitmaker.

SPEAKER_05 57:03

Still to this day, the hitmaker.

SPEAKER_03 57:06

Yes. People don't know this, but Max Martin, he was in a Swedish hairband before writing the Max Martin formula, the hits. So John didn't know how this meeting was gonna go. He thought maybe he'd get laughed out of the office. And Max said, Well, you may not know this, but I am a huge hair band fan. I will write you a song that makes my other songs look like someone else wrote them. So that song was called It's My Life. And it it beat the Britney's and the Backstreet Boys for a while.

SPEAKER_05 57:43

Rolling Stone said, Is My Life is like a Britney song shot through Richie Zambora's voice box. The talk box, yeah. The talk box. Yeah. I always think of the talk box being from this song, but it is in the earlier songs too.

SPEAKER_03 57:59

It's it's more living on a that wow wow.

SPEAKER_05 58:04

But this song really features it prominently. It's part of the intro.

SPEAKER_03 58:09

It's it's all throughout this entire it's a definite way for the audience to be like, this is a Bon Jovi song. Exactly.

SPEAKER_05 58:17

It's shorthand for Bon Jovi for sure.

SPEAKER_03 58:20

People loved it. It brought a new audience and it brought the old audience. The Tommy Gina who never backed down was from what do you call it? Living on a prayer. Frankie. Frankie said, I did it my way. This was a I'm not dead yet, assholes. And that kind of Bon Jovi suddenly was in the conversation again. You know, they were putting out albums. I don't know what they were, but they've still continued to put out albums, they've continued to tour. John's still very much in charge. When Richie Sambora, like seven or eight years ago, asked if he could take some time off to be with his daughter. John was like, we got a tour coming up. And he replaced Richie, his old friend, with without a second thought. Alec John Such, the bassist that they've always had, he really sucked and he would always mess up. In fact, he sucked so much that for the first couple albums, all the bass was actually performed by a studio musician named Hugh McDonald. Uh Alec, he would be the touring bassist, he would be the face of the bassist. He was on the album covers, on the promotional materials. And like I had said, he looks a great deal older than Bon Jovi. So I hate to see what Hugh McDonald looked like if he didn't have the look. So uh Alec messed up big time one performance and John fired him and got Hugh McDonald. So he is a real philanthropist. He he has a few restaurants in New Jersey where they don't even have menu prices. You can pay a suggested amount, but if you can't pay, you can eat and then you can do some dishes for a while. It's a very neoliberal kind of way of being nice, like welfare to work or like it's not quite charity. It gives people a little dignity. It's not charity. And he's just a very he's very giving, he's very nice. September 11th, there was a like a ground zero for the first responders, a little concert. And Bon Jovi played It's My Life, and it was, you know, just one of those American songs of that time. And uh that's that's that for Bon Jovi.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:41

I do like with this song, I think his, you know, his reference to Frank Sinatra does a couple things. It like you said, it it kind of bridges generations. I always compared it to Eddie Money's Take Me Home Tonight because he says just like Ronnie said. And I always was like, Who's that? When I was a kid, I was like, Who's Ronnie? Who's this Ronnie person you want me to know about? Everyone knows Frank, right? Old blue eyes. I did learn that that's Ronnie Specter, and she's actually singing on the track, and she had a song called Take Me Home Tonight. I feel like I have given Bon Jovi too much credit my whole life because Eddie Money actually had the better reference.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:26

Yeah, he should have gotten Frank. He may Frank may have not been taking breaths anymore, but I think Frank was still alive then.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:34

Not a chance, fruitcake.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:36

Yeah, I would say during this time, Frank was probably wearing tuxedos, eating at Italian restaurants, and singing off of cue cards. He was just a little prick in a tuxedo. Um, I think while I was at college and I came home to St. Louis, St. Louis has an Italian district called the Hill. And St. Louis loves to say it's some of the best Italian in the world. My dad and I went to a restaurant there. I ordered spaghetti carbonara and it had cream in it, which I was not expecting. And I said, I'm sorry, I didn't realize this was gonna have cream in it. And the server, who was like 70 years old, said a Frank Sinatra ate here and loved it. I was like, okay, Frank Sinatra's eaten everywhere. He's that wasn't like the first time he decided to try um an Italian restaurant.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:34

I've heard lots of good things about this place in St. Louis. I gotta go to.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:38

Yeah, every Italian restaurant can probably say that. All right, well, you got anything else you want to say about Bonjo?

SPEAKER_05 1:02:46

No, I mean, I think that just in every single way, down to the Max Martin production, it's just the most Jack FM thing that I've ever heard. It's, you know, I I think you made it the case that even though John Bon Jovi is business first, there's still some sort of effort put into his career to make music or make meaning something meaningful. I don't think that this isn't that, but this is definitely the most commercially packaged version of anything in his entire library.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:21

And I think that's what he set out to do. Like, I think that was his objective, which is like all the more curious. Like when he sets his mind to things, it pretty much happens.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:34

Right. And it's the only song on the I'm looking now, it's the only Max Martin song on the album. Um so it wasn't like they were in cahoots and he wasn't going back to the weld. He's just like, I just need one to get me back in the conversation, and then I know they have more albums past this. I'm sure he has some solo stuff. I don't know it.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:54

I'm sure there's a fan base for it, but oh, they did a they did a lot, they did some country, which is what a lot of bands do when their time is up.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:04

Yeah. It somehow feels like that song did enough. Like that was the that was the thing that made him remain in music. His, you know, his back catalog is great, and we know it more now because that song got them the radio play. It's just for me, this one, once I sat down, I was like, oh wait, this is not a contest. This is a this is a runaway.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:31

Like little John's uh runaway. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:35

Right, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:36

Little John Bon Jovi.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:38

Again, it's not stake you.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:39

Phew. Well, then let's take a break and let's see how badly, how badly, just like heaven got beaten. All right, one sec.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:49

Come for the bunches of songs in a row. Stay because K Earth is playing Tainted Love for the seven billionth time today.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:57

All right, we're back. We've got It's My Life by Bon Jovi versus Just Like Heaven by the Cure. We will weigh in and do our results, but first we've got a voicemail.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:09

Hey, party people. This is Aaron in Texas, and I am calling to cast my vote for It's My Life by Bon Jovi. You know, I was never a Bon Jovi fan, period. Like I just was never into it. And um this song to me is Jack FM vibes because it is like you got you guys use the term like second act, and it's so their second act. Like even as a non Bon Jovi fan, I know that they had better stuff before this. For me, the cure is just the cure. The cure will always be like cool to me. And so I guess. Also, though you hear the cure on Jack FM, they exist just like as a cool band. And even just like heaven persists. I don't know how else to explain it, but I do have a little anecdote about just like heaven. Back in the olden days. Oh my god, that was my dog. I'm so sorry. Back in the olden days when I used to run marathons, just like heaven was my pace song. And so in like 2009, I listened to Just Like Heaven like hundreds of times. That's my child now. Um just to keep me on pace for like a long run. Just like heaven is like my 2009 anthem. Um, and like I said, I guess it could be Jack FM vibes, but for me, the ultimate second act is it's my life. So mark my vote for Bon Jovi. Thanks. Bye.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:10

Aaron, I love that you brought up second act. Like, I'm so glad everybody gets this. This is this is wonderful.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:20

Thank you, Aaron. That was a great voicemail. And yeah, unprompted. You you were ahead of us on that one. So we will officially make that an entry into the Jack Doctrine on your behalf. We'll call it Aaron's Law.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:31

Okay, yeah. That's yeah, like one of those, you know, those sad.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:36

Yeah, but this one will be a good one.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:38

Yeah. Nobody got kidnapped. There's not a registry due to this one. All right. Well, thank you, Aaron. Also, I loved that's my that's my child, or whatever you said when the kid made noise. All right, I've got the results. Let me tally it up. Add Aaron's. All right, this week's winner, including Aaron's voicemail. The winner of this week is Bon Jovi. It's my life. Just like Heaven, you did not win. It's My Life got 93.75% of the vote. Oh my god. Just like Heaven got 6.25. Um we've never had that. That is by a massive margin. That's almost an A plus if we were grading It's My Life on a test or something.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:27

Yeah, in sports, that's definitely within slaughter rule territory. It'd say like, all right, we're calling this thing.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:34

I love the slaughter rule. When I had to be in sports, I can we just invoke the slaughter rule. There's a real world marathon on right now. Yeah, I think Doug is back to back right now, and I really want to get home. Okay, so thank you for everyone who voted.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:51

That's 100% the way it should have gone. Yeah. All right, so we need you guys to vote. Keep this energy up, bring it to the polls next week. We know it won't be such a slam dunk, but please vote in the polls on our Instagram account. It'll be in the stories. Yeah. And that's at Jack TickleMagic one word. You can vote on Instagram. So if you submit a vote through an email or anything else, it won't be counted. However, you can call us and leave us a voicemail at 424-666-1711. Use this opportunity to campaign for which song you think has more Jack FM vibes. Because we will count your impassioned voicemail as a vote in addition to the vote you cast on Instagram. That's twice the voting power. That's just logic. That makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:37

Yeah. I love when my power gets doubled. You become unstoppable. So if you want to become unstoppable, leave a voicemail and you will probably get your way.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:49

You can also email us any relevant anecdotes at jacticalmagic at gmail.com. You can call and leave us anecdotes too, or just talk to us. But we would prefer it if you also throw on a vote. Just vote quick and then and then just give us the goods. Yeah. We'd love to hear from you.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:07

Yeah. We're working on getting a P.O. box because I know you guys want to send handwritten letters.

SPEAKER_05 1:10:13

Okay, so join us next week when we decide the winner of our 11th matchup. When I come around by the aforementioned Green Day. Nice. Versus start me up by the Rolling Stones. No thing. No, I I don't know. That's good. Good enough. Yeah. All right. Uh so again, you go vote on our Instagram.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:00

I'm Cooper Willis. And and I'm Amelia Scannell. And we'll see you next week. Go on. See you next week. Bye. Bye.