One day shortly thereafter, Bon Jovi was walking through a dilapidated section of North Philadelphia with housing crusader Sister Mary Scullion, who suggested he fix up one of the houses.

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The album sold 94, 000 copies this week, according to the Official Chart Company, outselling the number two album from Bon Jovi two to one.

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One of those phone calls came from Mercury Records, which signed Bon Jovi to his first record deal that same year, prompting the singer to shorten his name from John Francis Bongiovi, Jr.

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One day this winter, you will be in your car, driving to the gym for your Bon Jovi jump-rope class.

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"Performing to so many people on the most exciting day in sport for Great Britain will be one of the highlights of the last decade for us, " said Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon.

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If you are a politician and are any kind of a wit at all - even half of one - you can expect to be lionised in the press by bored political correspondents who will guffaw at your bon mots because the rest of what passes for gaggery generally strikes a bum note.

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