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/
You Wouldn't Know Love
Michael Bolton Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
So you had your fun
And now you're comin' 'round again
Sure, baby, I should let you in
So you can let me down again
Well, it doesn't really matter
What you say or do
But I know it ain't true
'Cause you wouldn't know love
If it knocked down your door
You wouldn't know it now
You never knew it before
If it fell in your hands
From the Heavens above
You wouldn't know love
(You wouldn't know love)
No, you wouldn't know love
Said you changed
Said you done me wrong
But you won't do it anymore
No, darling, I don't have to tell you
Where I heard that line before
Baby, you'd say anything
To get back into my heart
When it comes to loving
You don't even know where to start
'Cause you wouldn't know love
If it knocked down your door
You wouldn't know it now
You never knew it before
If it fell in your hands
From the Heavens above
You wouldn't know love
(You wouldn't know love)
No, you wouldn't know love
Did you think I'd believe
Anything that you said?
Let you come back to me?
Baby, there's just no way
Baby, I've had enough
You wouldn't know love
(You wouldn't know love)
You wouldn't know love
If it knocked down your door
You wouldn't know it now
You never knew it before
If it fell in your hands
From the Heavens above
You wouldn't know love
(You wouldn't know love)
No, you wouldn't know love
(You wouldn't know love)
You wouldn't know love
You wouldn't know love
If it knocked down your door
You wouldn't know it now
You never knew it before
If it fell in your hands
From the Heavens above
You wouldn't know love
(You wouldn't know love)
You wouldn't know love
You wouldn't know love
No, you wouldn't know love
I said, you wouldn't know love
Wouldn't know love
The song "You Wouldn't Know Love" by Michael Bolton, tells the story of a person who has ended a relationship due to being let down multiple times. The character, who is the singer, is skeptical of the returning lover, as they have already caused emotional harm before. The singer believes that regardless of what the lover says or does, they wouldn't know what love means if it slapped them in the face. The lover may say they have changed or will never let the singer down again, but the singer knows that cannot be true.
The chorus has a strong and repetitive message that emphasizes how clueless the lover is about what love is. The returning lover states that they've done the singer wrong before but won't anymore, but the singer recognizes this as a trite line that has been used before. The lover will say anything and everything to get back into the singer's life, but the singer believes the lover doesn't even know how to start loving correctly.
The lyrics convey the singer's feelings of disappointment and heartbreak, which can be relatable to anyone who has encountered a problematic relationship. The song tells the story of someone who has learned from their mistakes, found strength and healing, and moved on from an unhealthy romantic situation.
Line by Line Meaning
So now you're back; so you've had your fun
You left because you wanted to have some fun, and now you're back again.
And now you're comin' 'round again
You're back in my world again.
Sure, baby, I should let you in
I'm not sure if I should allow you back in my life again.
So you can let me down again
Because I know you'll disappoint me again.
Well, it doesn't really matter
It doesn't matter what you say or do.
What you say or do
Because your words and actions hold no weight with me.
You can tell me that you love me
Even if you say you love me.
But I know it ain't true
I know it's not sincere.
'Cause you wouldn't know love
Your actions show that you don't understand love.
If it knocked down your door
If love presented itself to you.
You wouldn't know it now
You wouldn't recognize it now.
You never knew it before
Because you've never known true love before.
If it fell in your hands
If love was placed in your hands.
From the heavens above
Sent from above.
You wouldn't know love
You still wouldn't be capable of identifying love.
No, you wouldn't know love
You're incapable of recognizing true love.
You say you've changed, say you've done me wrong
You claim to have made changes and apologized for your past behavior.
But you won't do it anymore
But I have my doubts about whether you'll follow through with that promise.
No, darlin', I don't have to tell you
I don't need to remind you.
Where I heard that line before
About where I've heard that before.
Baby, you'd say anything
I know you'll say anything.
To get back into my heart
To earn my affection again.
But when it comes to lovin'
But you don't know how to truly love.
You don't even know where to start
You're clueless as to how to begin a real relationship.
Did you think I'd believe
Did you actually think I'd trust you?
Anything that you'd say
After everything you've done and said.
Let you come back to me?
You think I'll just let you back in my life again?
Baby, there's just no way
It's not happening.
Baby, I've had enough
I'm tired of your games.
You wouldn't know love
You've never experienced true love before.
[Chorus]
The above concepts summed up.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Realsongs
Written by: Michael Bolton, Diane Warren
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind