His achievements include selling 53 million albums, eight top ten albums, two number one singles on the Billboard charts, and awards from both the American Music Awards and Grammy Awards.
Michael Bolton had an extensive, though not very successful, career under his real name, Michael Bolotin, before emerging in the mid-'80s as a major soft rock balladeer. Bolton began recording in 1975. This first album was self-titled using his original surname, Bolotin. Early in his musical career, he focused on hard rock. His band, Blackjack, once toured with heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne. He turned up on RCA Records in the mid-'70s singing in a gruff, Joe Cocker-like voice both his own blue-eyed soul songs and cover tunes. Neither record buyers nor critics were much interested by the result. He then became the lead singer in Blackjack, a heavy metal band that made two albums for Polydor at the end of the '70s and the start of the '80s. In 1983, he changed his name to Michael Bolton, signed to Columbia Records as a solo act, and relaunched his career.
Michael Bolton was released in April 1983, and made the Top 100 bestsellers, as did its single, "Fools Game." At the same time, "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You," which Bolton had co-written, became a Top 40 hit for Laura Branigan. Nevertheless, Bolton's second Columbia album, Everybody's Crazy (1985), was a commercial flop. His breakthrough came with his third album, The Hunger, released in September 1987. On this album, Bolton abandoned the more hard rock aspects of his style to concentrate on blue-eyed soul singing: both on his own songs, such as "That's What Love Is All About," and on covers like Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay." Those two songs became Top 40 hits.
Soul Provider, released in July 1989, turned Bolton into a superstar, reaching the Top Ten, selling four million copies, and spawning five Top 40 singles, including Bolton's number one version of "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You," and the Top Ten hits "How Can We Be Lovers" and "When I'm Back on My Feet Again." "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" won Bolton a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Time, Love & Tenderness, released in April 1991, was even more successful, hitting number one, selling six million copies, and featuring four Top 40 hits, including the chart-topping cover of Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman," and the Top Ten hits "Love Is a Wonderful Thing" (later the subject of a successful plagiarism suit brought against Bolton by the Isley Brothers) and "Time, Love and Tenderness."
Bolton won another Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, for "When a Man Loves a Woman," but he had to put up with abuse from two camps of detractors at the February 1992 ceremony. Just after Bolton had performed, pre-rock songwriter Irving Gordon won the Song of the Year award for "Unforgettable" and pointedly attacked songs that "scream, yell, and have a nervous breakdown" and singers who "have a hernia" when they sing. Then, backstage, Bolton faced a hostile press corps of critics unhappy with his tendency to copy great soul singers like Redding, Ray Charles, and Sledge. Bolton suggested they apply their lips to a certain part of his anatomy. He further responded with Timeless: The Classics in September 1992, an album made up entirely of cover songs. It went to number one, sold three million copies, and featured a Top 40 hit in Bolton's version of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody." Bolton's next album of original material, The One Thing, came in November 1993. It hit the Top Ten, sold three million copies, and featured the Top Ten hit "Said I Loved You...But I Lied." Bolton released Greatest Hits 1985-1995 in the fall of 1995, which debuted in the Top Ten. The following year, This Is the Time: Christmas Album appeared.
Bolton returned with All That Matters, his first album of new material since 1993's The One Thing, in the fall of 1997. Instead of continuing his success, it was a surprise flop. Not only did it not generate a hit single, it barely cracked the Top 40 and fell out of the charts after 15 weeks. Its lack of success didn't stop Bolton from turning his attention to My Secret Passion, a collection of opera and arias that he released in January 1998. By classical standards, the album was a hit, and the record received a great deal of press and surprisingly good reviews. He supported the two albums with a summer tour which were co-headlined with Wynonna Judd. He voluntarily stepped back for almost four years, disappearing from the public eye until the spring of 2002 when he began promoting Only a Woman Like You, his first album on Jive Records. After a brief sabbatical, he returned with Til the End of Forever, a hybrid new album of seven new recordings and a live greatest-hits concert. In 2006 he released Bolton Swings Sinatra, a 12-song tribute to Ol' Blue Eyes that included a duet with fiancée/actress Nicolette Sheridan.
It would be worth mentioning "Can I Touch You There" proved to be one of the all-time hit love songs from Micheal Bolton from the album Greatest Hits.
www.michaelbolton.com/
The Dock of the Bay
Michael Bolton Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'll be sittin' when the evenin' comes
Watchin' the ships roll in
Then I watch 'em roll away again
I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay
Watchin' the tide, roll away
Sittin' on the dock of the bay
Left my home in Georgia
Headed for the Frisco Bay
I had nothin' to live for
Looks like nothin's gonna come my way
I'm just sittin' on the dock of the bay
Gonna watch that tide roll away
I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay
Wastin' time
Looks like nothin's gonna change, no
Everything, everything remains the same
I can't do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I'll just remain the same, yeah
Looks like nothin's ever gonna change
Lord everything, remains the same
I can't do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I'll remain the same
I'm sittin' here restin' my bones
And this lonliness just won't leave me alone
Two thousand miles, I roam
Just to make this dock my home
I'm just gonna sit, on the dock of the bay
Gonna watch the tide, oh
Gonna watch the tide, roll away
[Incomprehensible]
Gonna waste, waste
[Incomprehensible]
Sittin' on the dock of the bay
Sittin'
Sittin' on the dock of the bay
Sittin'
Sittin' on the dock of the bay
"The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding is a soulful ballad about a man who is sitting on the dock of the bay, watching the tide roll away, and wasting time. The song opens up with "Sittin' in the mornin' sun, I'll be sittin' when the evenin' comes," which suggests that the singer is idle and content in his state. The repetition of the phrase, "watchin' the ships roll in, then I watch 'em roll away again," indicates a sense of longing and dissatisfaction that comes from staying still on the dock while others come and go. However, the final verse of the song suggests a sense of resignation as the singer acknowledges that there may not be any change or better opportunities for him, and he may just have to remain the same.
Line by Line Meaning
Sittin' in the mornin' sun
I am sitting on the dock of the bay in the morning sunshine
I'll be sittin' when the evenin' comes
I will continue sitting here until the evening comes
Watchin' the ships roll in
I am observing the arrival of the ships at the dock
Then I watch 'em roll away again
After a while, I watch them depart from the dock again
Sittin' on the dock of the bay
I am spending my time sitting on the dock of the bay
Watchin' the tide, roll away
I am watching the tide recede slowly from the dock's surroundings
Sittin' on the dock of the bay
I am still just sitting on the dock of the bay
Wastin' time
I do not have anything particular that needs to be accomplished, so I am simply killing time
Left my home in Georgia
I left my home in Georgia behind
Headed for the Frisco Bay
I was headed towards the Frisco Bay
I had nothin' to live for
I did not feel like I had any purpose in life
Looks like nothin's gonna come my way
It seems like nothing good will happen to me
Looks like nothin's gonna change, no
It appears that my life is stuck in a rut and will not change
Everything, everything remains the same
All the aspects of my life remain the same
I can't do what ten people tell me to do
I cannot fulfill the expectations of a group of ten people asking me to do something
So I guess I'll just remain the same, yeah
I suppose I will keep living the way I have been
I'm sittin' here restin' my bones
I am sitting here taking a much-deserved rest
And this loneliness just won't leave me alone
Despite the company of ships, the feeling of loneliness is still prevalent
Two thousand miles, I roam
I have traveled for two thousand miles
Just to make this dock my home
All in hopes of calling this dock my home
Gonna watch the tide, oh
I am going to keep watching the tide
Gonna watch the tide, roll away
I am going to watch the tide gradually move away from the dock
Gonna waste, waste
I am going to spend my time lazily and aimlessly
Sittin' on the dock of the bay
Continuing to sit on the dock of the bay
Sittin'
Just sitting, nothing more
Sittin' on the dock of the bay
I am still just sitting on the dock of the bay
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Steve Cropper, Otis Redding
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@SethH1982
Zelma Redding, Otis's widow, said she was so moved by Bolton's performance "that it brought tears to my eyes. It reminded me so much of my husband that I know if he heard it, he would feel the same." In a framed letter that hangs on the wall of Bolton's office, she referred to the record as "my all-time favorite version of my husband's classic."
@lexyswope
Otis had that soft style.
@marciebulsaraorcutt
WOWWW
@Country_boy-sz3bn
Very cool
@ronaldjohnson6304
Mike's the man.
@Super_Chief
I had heard the exact same thing about Zelma Redding back when this version first came out. Although I still like Otis Redding’s version better, Michael Bolton certainly sounded like he was sitting on that dock too. 😉
@homeslicington9413
My mom brought me here lol she used to bump this cover in the mid 90s and early 2000s while I was growing up.
@logo7525
This is what singing is all about. I swear this is first time hearing Michael Bolton. He has a lot of soul in him I can feel it. Take notes young artist. Music is suppose to come from the soul
@tommyhutchison2641
pi kilo poop⁰⁰00000⁰0
@uncledaddy6299
Your first time hearing mikey B? You best check that greatest hits album
Bc this is nothing