106. Desmond Child: Hit Songwriter of Livin' on a Prayer, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, KISS, Ricky Martin, Cher

Episode 106: Desmond Child is one of the greatest songwriters and producers of all time. With more than 80 Top 40 hits to his name, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

We recorded this episode of Go With Elmo Lovano in Athens, Greece, sitting in front of the Acropolis at our dear friends home.

Desmond takes us inside the stories behind some of the biggest songs in rock and pop history. From Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer" and "You Give Love a Bad Name," to Aerosmith's "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" and "Angel," KISS's "I Was Made for Lovin' You," Ricky Martin's "Livin' la Vida Loca," "La Copa de la Vida" (the 1998 FIFA World Cup anthem), and "She Bangs," Cher's "Just Like Jesse James," and so many more.

Desmond opens up about growing up in the Miami projects as the son of Cuban bolero songwriter Elena Casals, shares a wild and unforgettable story with Michael Jackson, breaks down his songwriting philosophy and the craft behind decades of hits, and talks about his deep love for Greece.

We also discuss his brand-new documentary, Desmond Child Rocks the Parthenon, which recently had its world premiere at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.

This is the story of the man behind the soundtrack of a generation.

Let's go!

Big thank you's to Lars Rasmussen, Elomida Visviki, Curtis Shaw, George Stampolis and the great producer/songwriter Phoebus for bringing us all together.

Huge thanks to our friends at DistroKid! DistroKid is the easiest and fastest way to get your music on over 150 platforms worldwide! Go to https://distrokid.com/vip/elmo to get 20% off your first year!

Many thanks to the folks at Ace Studio for supporting the show! Check them out https://acestudio.ai/

Become a Patreon Member to stay in the loop as we post Patreon-only exclusive content, ad free episodes, and discussions about music and music careers. https://www.patreon.com/gowithelmo

Please SUBSCRIBE / FOLLOW this podcast to catch new episodes as soon as they drop! Your likes, comments and shares are much appreciated!

Listen to the audio form of this podcast wherever you get your podcasts: https://elmolovano.komi.io/

Follow Desmond:

https://www.instagram.com/desmond.child/

Follow Go With Elmo:

https://www.instagram.com/gowithelmo/

https://www.tiktok.com/@gowithelmo

https://x.com/gowithelmopod

Follow Elmo Lovano:

https://Instagram.com/elmolovano

https://x.com/elmolovano

Follow Jammcard:

https://www.youtube.com/@jammcard

https://www.instagram.com/jammcard/

jammcard.com

#desmondchild #bonjovi #kiss

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices