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/
Knock On Wood
Michael Bolton Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This good thing
That I got
If I do now
I would surely
Surely lose a lot
'Cause your love
Is better
[Chorus]
It's like thunder, lightning
The way you love me is frightening
I better knock on wood, baby
I'm not superstitious
About you
But I can't take no chance
Got me spinning, spinning, baby
Baby, I'm in a trance
'Cause your love
Is better
Than any love I know
[Chorus]
I better knock, baby
Ain't no secret
That woman
Fills my lovin' cup
She sees to it
That I get enough
Just one touch
Is better
You know it means so much
[Chorus]
Better knock back
I think I better knock, knock, knock, knock on wood
The lyrics to Michael Bolton's song, Knock on Wood, talk about the importance of maintaining a good relationship. The opening line, "I don't want to lose this good thing that I got," highlights the significance of a great relationship that the singer knows he values. The lines go on to emphasize the extent to which he values his partner's love, adding, "cause your love is better, than any love I know." The chorus uses thunder and lightning as a metaphor to define the overwhelming magnitude of his partner's love, stating, "It's like thunder, lightning, the way you love is frightening." Furthermore, he is not superstitious, but he feels the need to knock on wood to keep this relationship strong.
In the next verse, the lyrics emphasize the effect his partner has on him, stating, "Got me spinning, spinning, baby. Baby, I'm in a trance." These lines highlight how the partner's love has a significant impact on the singer's life. He proceeds to compare his partner's touch to "filling his loving cup," and "just one touch" means everything to him. The chorus repeats, highlighting his partner's love's magnitude, and again, the singer states that he needs to "knock, knock, knock on wood" to keep this relationship strong.
Line by Line Meaning
I don't want to lose
I fear losing this good thing I have
This good thing
This relationship that brings happiness and joy to my life
That I got
The one I am presently in
If I do now
If I lose it due to my actions now
I would surely
Certainly and without a doubt
Surely lose a lot
I will lose many valuable things that I cherish in this relationship
'Cause your love
Because your love is the reason for my happiness and satisfaction
Is better
More excellent
Than any love I know
Compared to all other love experiences I have had in the past
It's like thunder, lightning
Your love is powerful and intense like thunder and lightning
The way you love me is frightening
The intensity of your love scares me
I better knock on wood, baby
I hope to avoid a negative outcome by knocking on wood, a superstitious gesture
I'm not superstitious
I don't believe in superstitions
About you
Relating to this relationship with you
But I can't take no chance
But I can't take any chances with jeopardizing this relationship
Got me spinning, spinning, baby
You have swept me off my feet and made me feel dizzying emotions
Baby, I'm in a trance
I am completely captivated and mesmerized by your love
'Cause your love
Because your love is the reason for my happiness and satisfaction
Is better
More excellent
Than any love I know
Compared to all other love experiences I have had in the past
Ain't no secret
It's not a secret
That woman
You, the woman I love
Fills my lovin' cup
You complete me and make me feel full of love
She sees to it
You make sure
That I get enough
That I receive all the love I need
Just one touch
Even a single touch from you
Is better
More excellent
You know it means so much
It holds great value and importance to me
I think I better knock, knock, knock, knock on wood
I believe that knocking on wood will help me avoid bad luck or negative outcomes
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave, Anthem Entertainment, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Eddie Floyd, Steve Cropper
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind