SamboraBlog

Bon Jovi song may promote tourism

Thursday, January 5, 2006

By JONATHAN TAMARI
Gannett State Bureau

TRENTON
Getting a big star famous for big hair could cost New Jersey big money.

The state tourism commission has plans to use a song by Jersey-born rocker Jon Bon Jovi in an upcoming advertising campaign, but it could cost $250,000, according to a memo prepared for a legislative committee that will consider the spending today.

Most of the money $175,000 -- would be used to pay rights fees for "Who Says You Can't Go Home," a song on Bon Jovi's most recent album. An additional $75,000 would be for actors in the proposed commercial.

The state Commerce, Economic Growth and Tourism Commission is trying to get the $250,000 added to its $19.6 million budget, according to the documents. Lawmakers on the Joint Budget Oversight Committee are scheduled to vote on the proposed funding today.

The commission recently spent $260,000 to a consultant for a study on a state slogan that was rejected by acting Gov. Richard J. Codey as overly negative. Codey instead opened up a slogan contest, which ends Sunday, to the public.

Bon Jovi and band mate Richie Sambora, both from New Jersey, agreed to let the state tourism commission use the song "gratis," but their publishers and record label want the fee, according to the JBOC memo.

Commission spokeswoman Karen Wolfe said via e-mail the money would be used for the rights of a professional artists' song but would not discuss details of the plan and did not return phone calls Wednesday.

Asked via e-mail why the commission needs added money, she responded, "The campaign is in the preliminary stages. Several options are being explored and as a result, no contracts have been signed. We have no further comment at this time."

Within the commission's budget, $12.76 million is already set aside for advertising and promotion.

The extra $250,000 would come from a fund that pays debt service on Higher Education Facilities Trust Fund bonds. A refinancing has left the New Jersey Education Facilities Authority with more money than it currently needs for repayments, according to the memo.

Spokespeople for Bon Jovi and his label, Island, did not return calls seeking comment.

South River music video promoter Andy Gesner said it is common for artists not to own the rights to their own songs.

The song, from Bon Jovi's 2005 album Have a Nice Day, includes lyrics about traveling the world but still loving home.

"Been all around the world and that's a matter of fact/There's only one place left I want to go, who says you can't go home," he sings, according to lyrics on several Web sites.

In the song's opening, Bon Jovi describes spending "20 years trying to get out of this place/I was looking for something I couldn't replace . . . I was a gypsy lost in the Twilight Zone/I hijacked a rainbow and crashed into a pot of gold."

Carol Kaufman-Scarborough, professor of marketing in the business school at Rutgers University in Camden, said a famous New Jerseyan could help sell the state, depending on the song.

"Look at Bruce Springsteen and the appeal that he has to so many people locally," Kaufman-Scarborough said. "Certainly a person that has home-grown roots is always a real plus."

Bon Jovi was raised in Sayreville and now lives in Middletown.

Gesner had a different take.

"I would personally choose an artist that wasn't so long in the tooth," he said.