I Remember Them

It started back in 1986 in Toms River, New Jersey with a couple of tribute bands and a famous childhood friendship. Guitarist Dave Sabo and singer Jon Bon Jovi were teenage friends (Sabo was in an early iteration of Bon Jovi) and played in a cover band. Sabo would later introduce Bon Jovi to guitarist Richie Sambora. That left Sabo looking for a singer.

He and his band came across Sebastian Bach after spotting him singing at a wedding. The band Skid Row was finalized and Bon Jovi did them a big solid helping jumpstart the band as the final lineup came together and a demo tape that instantly garnered the attention of local metalheads while heading out on tour in support of Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet tour and Aerosmith. They signed with Atlantic, hit the studio and produced one of the great metal albums of the 80’s - their debut album Skid Row released on this day in 1989.

Following the formula of their spandexed predecessors, they came out swinging with the lead single "Youth Gone Wild" but it was the next two singles that threw the band into the spotlight of not only MTV but sold out areas around the country.

"18 and Life,” written by Sabo, deals with his brother Rick's life after coming home from Vietnam. The writing process eventually led the song to being about an accidental murder. For me, however, it was the power ballad (and I would argue it’s Top 5 best hair metal ballads ever), "I Remember You".

The song reached number six on the Hot 100 charts and was powerful without being too ballady. The power of Bach’s vocals stand out on this song with the beautiful mix of acoustic guitar with a loud, crescendoing chorus. Bach claimed that it was the number one prom song in 1990. Makes total sense…

The rest of the album is no slouch. The hard rock/metal kicks in nice and loud on tracks like “Here I Am” and “Makin’ A Mess” - both songs have excellent harmonizing vocals.

I think working with German producer Michael Wagener helped - An established producer, Wagener had previously worked with Dokken, Extreme and so many others. He helped shape the already big sound from Skid Row to a more accessible yet heavy sound.

The band never achieved greater success in the albums that followed. But at least, because of “I Remember You” we can flip through our high school yearbooks remembering the good times and how many people we’d call that summer.