Rock Candy
Rock 'n' Roll Doctor
Born Michael Bolotin on the 26 February, 1953, Michael Bolton was once something of a legend in melodic hard rock circles before turning into the adult contemporary monster that we all know today.
Originally putting out two albums of Joe Cocker-esque material under his real name in 1975 and 1976 (Michael Bolotin & Everyday of My Life), Bolotin really got himself going by being recruited into the hard rock band Blackjack in 1978. In addition to Bolotin, the band featured a young Bruce Kulick, later to replace Mark St. John in KISS and a rhythm section consisting of drummer Sandy Gennaro, who would replace Tommy Aldridge in Pat Travers' band and session bassist Jimmy Haslip, who would form jazz-rock outfit The Yellowcoats. Blackjack produced two albums of solid Bad Company-ish hard rock (Neither of which really went anywhere) before disbanding in 1980. Both of their studio albums (Blackjack and Worlds Apart) were re-released in a double wammy package by Lemon Records a few years ago, so if you ever get the chance, do give them a listen!
After the disbandment of Blackjack, Bolotin resumed his solo career (and auditioned for Black Sabbath, no less!), albeit after changing his surname to "Bolton". His first album under his new name was a quality S/T AOR release. The track "Fools Game" which is regarded as something of a classic in AOR circles was released as the album's lead single but didn't exactly tear up the charts. The same can be said of the album (Kerrang named it as the 11th greatest AOR album of all time in 1989), which hardly made a splash. It would however be certified Gold in the US in 1992, after Bolton's rise to fame as an adult contemporary crooner. Guests on the album included Mark Clarke of Uriah Heep/Rainbow/Tempest/Colosseum fame, Aldo "Fantasy" Nova and funk legend George Clinton.
Another high-caliber AOR album would follow Michael Bolton, 1985's Everybody's Crazy. This album was a commerical flop, but like it's predecessor, was received warmly in the melodic rock community, with Kerrang! magazine naming it the second greatest AOR album of time (After Journey's Escape) and bizarrely, the 78th greatest heavy metal album of all time. Everybody's Crazy is an excellent (albeit high on the OTT scale) melodic hard rock album from start to finish, with every song showcasing Bolton's ferocious Sammy Hagar meets Glenn Hughes on Joe Cocker avenue vocal delivery. The backing band was no slouch either, with all but one song featuring Bolton's former Blackjack bandmate Bruce Kulick on guitar, Heaven and MSG bassist Dennis Feldman, Rainbow's Chuck Burgi on drums, and former Touch keyboardist Mark Mangold (Who co-wrote a few of the songs) providing all of the necessary bleeps and bloops. The album remained out of print for many years, with Bolton sadly never really acknowledging the album, until Rock Candy Records gave it a much needed remaster/reissue in 2008.
The next album (Which was supposedly an all or nothing move for Bolton), and really the last album containing much of a "bite" was 1987's The Hunger. Again Bolton surrounded himself with the crème de le crème of the AOR community, with Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain, Joe Lynn Turner, David Glen Eisley and Bob Halligan Jr. (To name a few) all contributing performances and/or songwriting. While not nearly as heavy as Everybody's Crazy, The Hunger still contains some quality melodic rock tunes. Sadly though, the album is remembered for giving us Bolton's rather silly rendition of Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay", which was the album's lead single. Bolton's softer approach for this album clearly paid dividends, with the album going double platinum and shipping 4 million units.
Sadly, after this, Bolton continued with the more MOR approach, with The Hunger's successor, 1989's Soul Provider containing little (albeit You Wouldn't Know Love is an excellent piece that harkens back to Bolton's earlier work) of the excellent AOR flourishes that won Bolton the title of "Sir" from the AOR community and winning the animosity of many (Albeit selling over 50 million albums in the meantime, so I don't think he'll be losing much sleep anytime soon)
Now, anyone admit to being a fan of his early work?
Originally putting out two albums of Joe Cocker-esque material under his real name in 1975 and 1976 (Michael Bolotin & Everyday of My Life), Bolotin really got himself going by being recruited into the hard rock band Blackjack in 1978. In addition to Bolotin, the band featured a young Bruce Kulick, later to replace Mark St. John in KISS and a rhythm section consisting of drummer Sandy Gennaro, who would replace Tommy Aldridge in Pat Travers' band and session bassist Jimmy Haslip, who would form jazz-rock outfit The Yellowcoats. Blackjack produced two albums of solid Bad Company-ish hard rock (Neither of which really went anywhere) before disbanding in 1980. Both of their studio albums (Blackjack and Worlds Apart) were re-released in a double wammy package by Lemon Records a few years ago, so if you ever get the chance, do give them a listen!
After the disbandment of Blackjack, Bolotin resumed his solo career (and auditioned for Black Sabbath, no less!), albeit after changing his surname to "Bolton". His first album under his new name was a quality S/T AOR release. The track "Fools Game" which is regarded as something of a classic in AOR circles was released as the album's lead single but didn't exactly tear up the charts. The same can be said of the album (Kerrang named it as the 11th greatest AOR album of all time in 1989), which hardly made a splash. It would however be certified Gold in the US in 1992, after Bolton's rise to fame as an adult contemporary crooner. Guests on the album included Mark Clarke of Uriah Heep/Rainbow/Tempest/Colosseum fame, Aldo "Fantasy" Nova and funk legend George Clinton.
Another high-caliber AOR album would follow Michael Bolton, 1985's Everybody's Crazy. This album was a commerical flop, but like it's predecessor, was received warmly in the melodic rock community, with Kerrang! magazine naming it the second greatest AOR album of time (After Journey's Escape) and bizarrely, the 78th greatest heavy metal album of all time. Everybody's Crazy is an excellent (albeit high on the OTT scale) melodic hard rock album from start to finish, with every song showcasing Bolton's ferocious Sammy Hagar meets Glenn Hughes on Joe Cocker avenue vocal delivery. The backing band was no slouch either, with all but one song featuring Bolton's former Blackjack bandmate Bruce Kulick on guitar, Heaven and MSG bassist Dennis Feldman, Rainbow's Chuck Burgi on drums, and former Touch keyboardist Mark Mangold (Who co-wrote a few of the songs) providing all of the necessary bleeps and bloops. The album remained out of print for many years, with Bolton sadly never really acknowledging the album, until Rock Candy Records gave it a much needed remaster/reissue in 2008.
The next album (Which was supposedly an all or nothing move for Bolton), and really the last album containing much of a "bite" was 1987's The Hunger. Again Bolton surrounded himself with the crème de le crème of the AOR community, with Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain, Joe Lynn Turner, David Glen Eisley and Bob Halligan Jr. (To name a few) all contributing performances and/or songwriting. While not nearly as heavy as Everybody's Crazy, The Hunger still contains some quality melodic rock tunes. Sadly though, the album is remembered for giving us Bolton's rather silly rendition of Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay", which was the album's lead single. Bolton's softer approach for this album clearly paid dividends, with the album going double platinum and shipping 4 million units.
Sadly, after this, Bolton continued with the more MOR approach, with The Hunger's successor, 1989's Soul Provider containing little (albeit You Wouldn't Know Love is an excellent piece that harkens back to Bolton's earlier work) of the excellent AOR flourishes that won Bolton the title of "Sir" from the AOR community and winning the animosity of many (Albeit selling over 50 million albums in the meantime, so I don't think he'll be losing much sleep anytime soon)
Now, anyone admit to being a fan of his early work?
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MB was hatched on February 26, 1953. No biggie, just correcting something that stuck out to me right away. 
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