I saw Jon on stage, and I was like, WOW, that kid is a star. I knew it, immediately. He had the charisma, he had the chops, you know. I was the missing link, the missing piece.

Music is my life. I brush my teeth with rock and roll!

When we were broke, around 1985, it was cool. We were all living in the same apartment in Philadelphia, sleeping on the floor when it was 12 below zero outside, the heating wasn't working well, and there wasn't a lot of food in the refrigerator. Even then, we never stopped having fun. That's the kind of thing that bonds you, high points, low points, everything. I never, ever thought that Jon wasn't there for me. And vice versa. That's what makes a great band, I think.

It was Jon’s birthday. And after you know somebody for 25 years it’s hard to get’em something unique. Both of us are huge Bob Dylan fans and respect Bob as a writer. So I called Bob and asked: Would you do me a favour and would you sign this guitar for Jon Bon Jovi. So I sent him the guitar and Bob fell in love with it and calls me, he goes: Ain’t giving it back! So I had to go find another guitar for Jon, and Bob signed it with: To Jon, Happy Birthday, Keep livin’ on a prayer, Love Bob Dylan.

I thought Jon was so charismatic. It was just magic. I went backstage kneeled down on my knee and said, "Here I am!" I said: "I have made some records before and I'm a pro and I'm not full of baloney. We should get together and try something." He was kinda, "Hey, uh, who is this guy? What's going on?" But about a week later I got a call, inviting me to arehearsal. By the time Jon got to the rehearsal I had whipped the band into shape. He came in, listened to it, and said: "You're hired."

Jon didn't like Living on a prayer. I had to convince him, I had to like buy him dinner.