Born to Be My Baby
Encyclopedia
"Born to Be My Baby" is a song performed by American
rock
band Bon Jovi
. It was written by Jon Bon Jovi
, Richie Sambora
, and Desmond Child
. It was released as the second single from their hugely successful album New Jersey
in 1988
. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100
in 1989
, #7 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks
chart, #22 in the UK
, and #30 in Australia
.
"Born to Be My Baby" was the second of five singles from the New Jersey album to chart in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, the most singles from an album to chart in the Top 10 for a rock band. Despite the song's success, it was not included in the 1994 Cross Road
greatest hits album. Eventually the song was included on Bon Jovi's Greatest Hits
album in 2010.
A very low budget video, it was shot all in the studio, chronicling the recording process for "Born to Be My Baby". In the full length video, there is actually dialogue between band members and the band does the chorus again, unsatisfied with the original version. The video prominently features photogenic
shots of Jon Bon Jovi
singing, as well as the band gathering around a microphone to sing the "na-na-na-na-na" part. The video also features Jon Bon Jovi's wife of 22 years Dorothea.
The video was featured on New Jersey: The Videos
, a promotional VHS
that is no longer manufactured. The video was absent from the video collection Cross Road: The Videos
. It was later featured on Bon Jovi's 2010 release Greatest Hits - The Ultimate Video Collection
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi , guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald...
. It was written by Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as the founder, occasional rhythm guitarist, and lead singer of rock band Bon Jovi, which was named after him...
, Richie Sambora
Richie Sambora
Richard Stephen "Richie" Sambora is an American rock guitarist, producer, musician, singer, and songwriter who is the longtime lead guitarist of the rock band, Bon Jovi. He and frontman Jon Bon Jovi form the primary songwriting unit of the band...
, and Desmond Child
Desmond Child
Desmond Child is an American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.-Career:...
. It was released as the second single from their hugely successful album New Jersey
New Jersey (album)
New Jersey is Bon Jovi's fourth album, released on September 19, 1988. The album charted at #1 on The Billboard 200. New Jersey was particularly notable for producing five Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 singles, the most top ten hits to date for a hard rock album.-Unreleased songs:The album was...
in 1988
1988 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1988.-January-March:* January 1 – André Rieu's Johann Strauss Orchestra plays its first concert....
. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in 1989
1989 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1989.-Events:*January 14 – Paul McCartney releases Снова в СССР exclusively in the USSR...
, #7 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks
Mainstream Rock Tracks
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...
chart, #22 in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and #30 in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
"Born to Be My Baby" was the second of five singles from the New Jersey album to chart in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, the most singles from an album to chart in the Top 10 for a rock band. Despite the song's success, it was not included in the 1994 Cross Road
Cross Road
Cross Road is a greatest hits compilation released by the American band Bon Jovi in 1994. The album contains hits from between Bon Jovi and Keep The Faith and two new tracks: the hit singles "Always" and "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night", as well as a new, updated rendition of "Livin' on a Prayer"...
greatest hits album. Eventually the song was included on Bon Jovi's Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits (Bon Jovi album)
-International edition:While the standard edition released in North America will have 28 tracks, the Australian and Japanese editions are set to have 30 and 31 tracks respectively. There are a few differences between the North American tracklist and the international tracklist. The main difference...
album in 2010.
Video
The video for the song was done in all black-and-white, like many of the band's videos from the New Jersey album.A very low budget video, it was shot all in the studio, chronicling the recording process for "Born to Be My Baby". In the full length video, there is actually dialogue between band members and the band does the chorus again, unsatisfied with the original version. The video prominently features photogenic
Photogenic
A subject is photogenic if appearing aesthetically or physically attractive or appealing in photographs. Photogenic drawing, coined by William Fox Talbot, also describes the earliest method for recording camera images....
shots of Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as the founder, occasional rhythm guitarist, and lead singer of rock band Bon Jovi, which was named after him...
singing, as well as the band gathering around a microphone to sing the "na-na-na-na-na" part. The video also features Jon Bon Jovi's wife of 22 years Dorothea.
The video was featured on New Jersey: The Videos
New Jersey: The Videos
New Jersey: The Videos is a package featuring all the videos from Bon Jovi's New Jersey album, together with interviews and backstage footage...
, a promotional VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
that is no longer manufactured. The video was absent from the video collection Cross Road: The Videos
Cross Road (videos)
Cross Road is a video release of music videos by rock band Bon Jovi, coinciding with the bands greatest hits album of the same name. It contains 16 of the bands music videos, 4 of which previously unreleased.- Track listing :# "Livin' on a Prayer"...
. It was later featured on Bon Jovi's 2010 release Greatest Hits - The Ultimate Video Collection
Greatest Hits - The Ultimate Video Collection
Greatest Hits - The Ultimate Video Collection is a DVD by rock band Bon Jovi, coinciding with the bands Greatest Hits compilation. It contains 17 of the bands most popular music videos and 17 corresponding live versions of those songs taken from various concerts...
.
Chart performances
- 3 (U.S.United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Billboard Hot 100Billboard Hot 100The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
) - 7 (U.S.United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Mainstream Rock TracksMainstream Rock TracksHot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...
) - 22 (UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
) - 30 (AustraliaARIA ChartsThe ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
)