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Michael Bolton's music

N

new_friends_gr

Growing up, I was always a big fan of Michael Bolton's music (primarily from the late '80s through his most recent album - with the exception of the standards albums he's released over the years). He had a lot of hits from the late '80s through late '90s that received a lot of airplay, and we don't really hear them anymore - with the exception of "When A Man Loves A Woman" and, occasionally, "Said I Loved You ... But I Lied".

Are there any stations that are still playing any of his music besides those two tracks mentioned above?

There's one song in particular that he released in '94 called "Once in a Lifetime". It is an absolutely beautiful song that was on the soundtrack to the movie Only You. I remember it getting a little bit of airplay on one of the AC stations in Detroit back then, but then it quickly disappeared. Does anyone remember that song?

Are there any other big Michael Bolton fans around who miss hearing him on the radio?
 
new_friends_gr said:
Are there any stations that are still playing any of his music besides those two tracks mentioned above?
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I'm happy to say I haven't heard him.

During the first chimpanzee period on the adult standards station I was listening to, I knew something was wrong when I heard "Time, Love and Tenderness". It wasn't so much the song as the high-tech sound effects that absolutely ruined a good station. Sure, there were still lots of good songs, but there were plenty of bad ones too. That mess only lasted a month.

They tried again a few years later, keeping more of the good stuff as they added back some stuff that was bad, but not as bad. Including Mr. Bolton.
 
I can't see Michael Bolton getting airplay on a standards format, if that's your question, A.J., although I wouldn't be surprised if he gets played on super-soft ACs like WDUV or WQEZ in northern Michigan, and that they might go deeper than typical mainstream ACs do with his catalog. (I think you should probably post this topic in the Mainstream AC board, if you haven't already, and see what kind of responses you get there.) I think most standards listeners would consider him too "loud." Certain songs of his I like ("When a Man Loves a Woman" isn't one of them), but if they came on a station like America's Best Music, I'd probably change the station.

Here's an interesting story I heard about Bolton - at the 1992 Grammys (covering 1991), "When a Man Loves a Woman" (which I don't care to hear ever again) won the trophy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, and the Natalie/Nat "King" Cole "duet" of "Unforgettable" won Record and Song of the Year. Songwriter of "Unforgettable," Irving Gordon, made a comment in his acceptance speech to the effect of: "It's nice to have a song that doesn't scream and have a hernia when it talks about love and tenderness." His remarks were said to be aimed at Michael Bolton, although Gordon denied this subsequently. Given the way Bolton mangled that song, I think Gordon's remarks were spot on.
 
ChrisInMI said:
I can't see Michael Bolton getting airplay on a standards format, if that's your question, A.J., although I wouldn't be surprised if he gets played on super-soft ACs like WDUV or WQEZ in northern Michigan, and that they might go deeper than typical mainstream ACs do with his catalog. (I think you should probably post this topic in the Mainstream AC board, if you haven't already, and see what kind of responses you get there.) I think most standards listeners would consider him too "loud."
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Thanks for your input, Chris. :) However, I posted this topic in this room because I cannot imagine that any of his music besides "When A Man Loves A Woman" and maybe "Said I Loved You ... But I Lied" would be played on mainstream AC stations. If anything, it seems like Bolton's music would be played on Soft AC or Standards more than anywhere else. But according to your response, it sounds like most of those types of stations are ignoring him too! I might post the question on the Mainstream AC board just to see what people say. I just figured that people reading the Soft AC board would be more receptive to talking about Michael Bolton than folks on the Mainstream AC board. LOL

ChrisInMI said:
Here's an interesting story I heard about Bolton - at the 1992 Grammys (covering 1991), "When a Man Loves a Woman" (which I don't care to hear ever again) won the trophy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, and the Natalie/Nat "King" Cole "duet" of "Unforgettable" won Record and Song of the Year. Songwriter of "Unforgettable," Irving Gordon, made a comment in his acceptance speech to the effect of: "It's nice to have a song that doesn't scream and have a hernia when it talks about love and tenderness." His remarks were said to be aimed at Michael Bolton, although Gordon denied this subsequently. Given the way Bolton mangled that song, I think Gordon's remarks were spot on.
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That's a funny story. I love it. ;D
 
Many years ago, Michael Bolton could be easily heard on both mainstream and soft AC stations. As far as AC stations today playing any of his music, it ain't happening. I don't even believe that the current soft AC stations will play him, anymore, either. The traditional, or "super soft ACs" should still play his music, although I can't recall WDUV or WFEZ airing any of his material lately. I do know some of the online "super soft ACs" such as IHeartradio's "Sunny" and Soft 'N Easy Net radio do still play Michael Bolton's music, as I listen to those two stations quite frequently.

And yes...I do remember "Once in a Lifetime". :)
 
Bolton's "How Can We Be Lovers" is a good example of a song suited to his voice, and I actually like it.


Bolton getting anywhere near a Percy Sledge song shows the wisdom in the old adage "Never send a boy to do a man's job", and there really should be some UN human rights treaty somewhere that prohibits exposing people to desecration like that.
 
I once bought a motorcycle from a Bolton fan a 3-days ride from my home.

The GOOD: The seller included his MP3 player with the bike.

The BAD: It was loaded with the complete works of Michael Bolton.

It was pure torture for 3 days. I actually preferred listening to the tire whine of the 18-wheelers I passed.
 
landtuna said:
I once bought a motorcycle from a Bolton fan a 3-days ride from my home.

The GOOD: The seller included his MP3 player with the bike.

The BAD: It was loaded with the complete works of Michael Bolton.

It was pure torture for 3 days. I actually preferred listening to the tire whine of the 18-wheelers I passed.
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And you could tell the difference how, exactly? ::)
 
unitron said:
landtuna said:
I once bought a motorcycle from a Bolton fan a 3-days ride from my home.

The GOOD: The seller included his MP3 player with the bike.

The BAD: It was loaded with the complete works of Michael Bolton.

It was pure torture for 3 days. I actually preferred listening to the tire whine of the 18-wheelers I passed.
Click to expand...

And you could tell the difference how, exactly? ::)
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No instrumental backing. ;D
 
vchimpanzee said:
I heard Michael Bolton on my Dial Global affiliate. However, it was during a syndicated beach music show.
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Michael Bolton on a beach music show?

Now that's just wrong in so many ways.
 
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