Bon Jovi 'Slippery When Wet' party in Asbury Park with band photographer

Chris Jordan, Asbury Park PressWed, November 4, 2026 at 10:15 AM UTC

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Mark Weiss witnessed music history and he took the pictures, too.

Bon Jovi’s iconic anthem “Livin’ on a Prayer” just turned 40 and photo legend Weiss is celebrating in Asbury Park with a gallery show of his Bon Jovi pictures at the Art Spot on the boardwalk.

“40 Years of Slippery When Wet” will feature Weiss’ transcendent pics from the era of band members on stage, off stage, fooling around and getting serious with plenty of their Jersey attitude coming through. There will be an exhibit preview 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6 that includes new copies of Weiss’ Bon Jovi special issue of Rock Scene Reloaded magazine for sale and a performance of the Bon Jovi tribute band Never Say Goodbye at 6 p.m.

Never Say Goodbye will perform two sets at 8 p.m. Friday at the Wonder Bar, which is across the street from the Art Spot. There will also be an '80s-themed “Rock Your Look” contest with celeb judges at the Wonder Bar and the grand prize is a photo shoot with Mark “Weissguy” Weiss.

Weiss’ camera didn’t miss a shot of the band’s rise, but shooting the cover for “Slippery When Wet” did prove a bit troublesome.

“The album was originally going to be called ‘Wanted Dead or Alive,’ not ‘Slippery When Wet’,” said Weiss, a native of Matawan. “I heard the song (‘Wanted Dead or Alive’) and it was pretty cool and we built a theme for the album cover around that song. l came up with the idea of a wanted poster and have all five guys on the poster. Each one came up to my studio and they had beards. The idea was for them to have the beards and look like a Billy the Kid gang, piece it together and that would be the cover.”

It didn’t go over so well. The record company didn’t like the beards.

Several more attempts faltered, including a shoot of a band carwash party on Ocean Avenue in Bradley Breach. A suggestive photo of a woman in a wet “Slippery When Wet” T-shirt almost made it but was called back at the last minute when it was deemed too racy.

However, copies of the T-shirt album were sold in Japan.

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It was crunch time. Weiss got a call from Jon Bon Jovi.

“Mark, we have a day or we’re not going to have a release, so what are we doing?” Bon Jovi said. “‘I'm going to come over.’ As he was coming over he said, make sure you have a black plastic bag. I have a bag from my garbage. He told me the idea to write ‘Slippery When Wet’ on it so I opened it up, I hung it on some stands, I got an oil mixture so it would repel nicely and I sprayed it on the background and Jon just wrote ‘Slippery When Wet’ with his fingers and just left.”

“You want to see the Polaroids?” said Weiss to Bon Jovi.

“‘No, just take it, send it, that’s it,’ so that's what I did,” Weiss said.

“Slippery When Wet,” released on Aug. 18, 1986, has sold more than 28 million copies around the world. "Livin' on a Prayer" was released as a single on Oct. 31, 1986.

Go: “40 Years of Slippery When Wet”: featuring the Mark Weiss photos of Bon Jovi opens Friday, Nov. 6. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. The Art Spot Gallery, 1100 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park. www.instagram.com/artspotap

Go: Never Say Goodbye Bon Jovi tribute with Billy Pontiac from Atlantic City Expressway and hosted by Mark Weiss, 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, Wonder Bar, 1213 Fourth Ave, Asbury Park. $20. wonderbarasburypark.com.

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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at cjordan@app.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Bon Jovi 'Slippery When Wet' party in Asbury Park with band photographer

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