Bon Jovi "Never Say Goodbye"

How many New Jersey high schools featured Bon Jovi's "Never Say Goodbye" as their prom theme? The answer: many.

Bon Jovi "Always"

While most high school students spent their free time breaking into their parent's liquor cabinet my friend John and I hopped trains. Yep. We would climb aboard boxcars of the local freight train on the rickety old tracks near our houses and ride it nearly three-miles to the next town. The train didn't move fast (10 MPH at most) and didn't do much other than drop off a string of cars at a Ford plant and then return with the previous day's cars that were now empty. The short line railroad proved to be a big part of my youth as I spent many nights on those tracks during some trying times.

One particular winter night in 1994, John and I climbed aboard the train and traveled the three-mile stretch before jumping off the train just before it entered the Ford warehouse. The warehouse sat among a busy street, but with little else except industrial buildings nearby. The list of places for John and I to go while waiting for the train to make its return trip was short. This night, we decided to walk to the nearby gas station and came across a girl standing in the phone booth talking to her friend (remember, it was 1994). She seemed nervous as we approached, opened the door and asked if we needed to use the phone. John and I politely declined. Then the girl struck up a conversation. Somehow we got on the topic that we were train hopping and killing time until the train headed back to our town. Then she immediately passed the phone over to us. Her friend on the phone begged us not to train hop, but we assured her that we were pros at this and there was nothing to worry about. "Fine," she said, "But promise me that you'll call me when you guys get home." John and I looked at each other, agreed to check-in and got her phone number. About an hour later, we placed the phone call and relayed that we safely made it home. From there, the three of us formed a friendship via the telephone and spent many nights on three-way phone calls with them.

Neither John nor I ever knew what she looked like and the same held true for her -- we only knew each other from our voices. She was a couple years younger and went to a different school. Despite this, we used to talk late into the night to her on the phone--sometimes her friend whose nickname was "Birdy" also joined the conversation. I don't know what ever happened to her or Birdy as John and I eventually moved out of our parent's respective houses and went to college. Despite both John and I having a steel trap for a memory, we both can't remember her name. However, I do recall that she was a big fan of the song "Always" from Bon Jovi. Everything else is a blur.

REO Speedwagon "Can't Fight This Feeling"

The dentist gave me the bad news at my bi-annual cleaning: I had a cavity and would need another appointment for a filling. The days leading up to that fateful next appointment dragged allowing my imagination to run wild at how exactly a dentist drills into a cavity. That has to hurt, I thought. A few days prior to my dentist appointment, I heard the song "Can't Fight This Feeling" on the radio, but I thought REO Speedwagon was singing "Can't Fight This Filling"--clearly this was a love song about going to the dentist, right? Indeed I was a very naive seven year old...

Celine Dion "It's All Coming Back to Me Now"

If Celine Dion's "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" sounds like a song from Meat Loaf, that's because it is/was. Meat Loaf wanted to record the song for years, but the composer felt it would better be done by a woman. Enter Celine Dion. Her explosive rendition of the power ballad on her 1996 album Falling Into You topped the charts across the globe. A decade later, Meat Loaf finally saw his wish come true -- he recorded his own version of the song that, unlike Dion, turned the song into a duet with Marion Raven.

Bon Jovi - "This Ain't A Love Song"

Q: What ain't a love song?
A: This.

Chicago - "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love"

After Peter Cetera left the band, Chicago chugged along in the late-1980s with more of their signature power ballads.  The group hit #1 in 1988 with Bill Champlin singing lead vocals on "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love" -- not to be confused with the song Foreigner tune "I Don't Want to Live Without You".

Mr. Big - "To Be With You"

Girl constantly tells a boy about her failed relationships.  This boy develops a crush on said girl.  Boy convinces himself that girl would never date him.  Boy decides to stay quiet and writes a song about his feelings.  Ladies and gentlemen, the story behind Mr. Big's "To Be With You".

Kenny Loggins - "Forever"

Super-producer David Foster played keyboards with Steve Winwood on Kenny Loggins' mega-ballad "Forever".

Cheap Trick - "The Flame"

"The Flame" from Cheap Trick was the first and would be the last entry from the rock band on the Adult Contemporary Chart.  It happened in 1988 and the power ballad was a song the band reportedly hated.  The song shot to #1 on the Hot 100, but only peaked in the top 30 on the AC Chart.

Firehouse - "Love of a Lifetime"

Not to be confused with Saigon Kick, Firehouse added another power ballad to the Time-Life Music "Monster Power Ballads" CD with "Love of a Lifetime".  The song proved to be the biggest hit for Firehouse and became a late-night radio request for years to come.

Bon Jovi - "Superman Tonight"

Sure he can get a crowd all pumped with "Livin' On A Prayer", but he can also belt out a ballad like the best of 'em.  "Superman Tonight" was Bon Jovi's 2010 power ballad that gave the band something else to perform when it didn't want to sing "Bed of Roses".