She Don't Know Me

In the early 1980s, after a stint playing in the band Wild Cherry, Avsec wrote and produced the debut album for the disco band LaFlavour, who scored a pair of minor hits with "Mandolay" and "Only the Lonely (Have a Reason to be Sad)"[http://www.billboard.com/artist/276781/la-flavour/chart La Flavour – Chart history @Billboard.com] Retrieved 12-3-2016. upon the album's release in 1980. At the time, Bon Jovi and LaFlavour were both signed to labels owned by Polygram. By the time Avsec composed LaFlavour's follow-up album, however, the band's name was changed to Fair Warning, and its disco image was scrapped. "She Don't Know Me" is one of the songs Avsec penned for the upcoming record, and is the lead-off track on what was to be Fair Warning's self-titled album.

However, around this same time as LaFlavour's transformation, PolyGram was preparing to release Bon Jovi's debut album, and they were looking for a strong hit single. The decision was made for Bon Jovi to also record "She Don't Know Me" and feature it on the debut album. This prioritization of Bon Jovi, combined with the fact that Van Halen was releasing an album with the same title of Fair Warning that year, caused the stagnation of the Fair Warning project. Beyond a few promotional copies,[http://www.discogs.com/Fair-Warning-Fair-Warning/release/2741630 Fair Warning- self-titled album @Discogs.com] Retrieved 4-21-2011. Fair Warning's self-titled album was never officially released.[http://www.laflavour.com/history.htm LaFlavour History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810075927/http://www.laflavour.com/history.htm |date=2020-08-10 }} Retrieved 12-3-2016 The Bon Jovi album was released years later.

Meanwhile, in the ensuing interim period, two already well-established musical acts covered the tune. The well-known 1960s/70s band The Grass Roots included a version of the song on their 1982 reunion album, Powers of the Night.{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=song|id=t14804517|pure_url=yes}}|title=allmusic>She Don't Know Me>The Grassroots|access-date=30 January 2010}} The following year, former Outsiders and Climax frontman Sonny Geraci recorded his own version under the pseudonym "Peter Emmett" (backed by the Donnie Iris and the Cruisers band, including Avsec).

In 1984, Bon Jovi's self-titled debut album was finally released, and "She Don't Know Me" was released as a follow-up to the band's first hit, "Runaway".

A music video was released in the USA in May 1984 to promote the song. It was directed by Martin Kahan and produced by Lenny Grodin, and features the band – primarily Jon Bon Jovi{{cite web|url =https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7039056/fullcredits|title = Bon Jovi: She Don't Know Me (1984 Video) Full Cast & Crew at IMDB| website=IMDb }}Retrieved 18 March 2018 – in live action vignette scenes centered around a local bar, inter-cut with staged performance shots. Jon is troubled by thoughts of an unattainable woman, portrayed as a split character by Beth Toussaint; several classic vintage automobiles are used as set pieces. The current version's end scene has been edited to remove a part where the woman's alter ego levels a gun at two thugs that are about to assault her. The scenes were filmed at and around the Brewery Bar, in Benicia, California, with director Kahan making a cameo appearance.{{cite book|last1=van Heerden|first1=Bill|title=Film and Television In-Jokes|date=1 July 1998|publisher=McFarland|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|isbn=9781476612065|page=257|edition=2008 illustrated, reprint|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x4qACgAAQBAJ|access-date=18 March 2018}}

US vinyl single

• "She Don't Know Me" – 3:55
• "Burning for Love" – 3:52

UK vinyl, 7-inch single

• "She Don't Know Me"
• "Breakout"

{{reflist}}

• [{{AllMusic|class=song|id=mt0038657470|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic Entry]

{{BonJovi}}

{{The Grass Roots}}

Category:1984 singles

Category:Bon Jovi songs

Category:The Grass Roots songs

Category:Songs written by Mark Avsec

Category:Song recordings produced by Tony Bongiovi

Category:PolyGram singles

Category:1984 songs