Retro Spins: Michael Bolton - Soul Provider

 

For better or worse, Michael Bolton would ditch his hard rock persona from previous records, instead adopting the more softer crooner side which had started to show itself during his 1987 released The Hunger. Between 1987 and 1988, the artist was in a dire financial situation and facing a potential career end with label Columbia. Facing foreclosure on his home, during nights you could find him loading trucks until 4:00 AM in Bridgeport Connecticut, then driving straight to the studio to cut tracks.

Though Columbia considered shelving the album, and dropping him, they ultimately decided to release, How Am I Supposed To Live Without You, as a single in January 1989. The track would shoot up the charts to number one, with royalties providing the financial relief Bolton needed to get his home back. This was followed by the full album in June.

Soul Provider produced five top forty hits and spent almost four years on the Billboard 200. Selling over six million copies, it would become his biggest seller to date, being certified 6X platinum in the USA alone. It would also go multiplatinum in Canada, Australia, and the UK, while reaching Gold in New Zealand. By 1990, his peak annual income reached between ten and twelve million dollars, definitely putting to rest his financial difficulties...for the time being.

The album certainly has its hits, and I appreciate it for that. Though most of them aren't my cup of tea. It does, however, also contains my all-time favorite from him; How Can We Be Lovers If We Can't Be Friends.

While I know a lot of the "hit" tracks, mainly the songs, Georgia On My Mind, How Am I Supposed To Live Without You, and When I'm Back On My Feet Again, I was hoping that there would be other hidden gems among them. I found this in, You Wouldn't Know Love, a tune noted as one of the singles, but which I don't recall ever hearing before.

Michael Bolton entered the 1990's with his even bigger success, Time, Love & Tenderness (1991), which sold even more copies than Soul Provider. Unfortunately, this would begin a long legal battle, when the Isley Brothers filed suit in 1992 over copyright infringement and plagiarism of their 1966 song, Love Is A Wonderful Thing. The suit wouldn't be settled until April of 1994. Not only was it in favor of the Isley's, granting them a 5.4-million-dollar judgement, but the longevity racked up massive legal fees for both parties, which Bolton and his label were ultimately responsible for.

Rather than accept the verdict, Bolton continued to pursue appeals, racking up even more legal fees through 2000, when all of this was ultimately denied in federal appeals, and the verdict upheld. Though his label would pay all cost associated with the suit, they would then sue Bolton and co-writer Andrew Goldmark to recoup those damages, as they argued the infringement was their fault.

While all of this didn't serve to impact his overall wealth, what did happen was that his album sales started to drop, and his popularity waned. The once 8 and 6X platinum seller dropped to 4x in 1992, 3X by 1993, and just platinum in 1996. Things only got worse from there with his 1997 album that only went gold and would serve to be his last for Columbia Records. All future albums to date (2023) would see him label hopping and not selling enough units to reach any sales certifications.

Bolton took another blow when in 1999 he was the brunt of the joke in MTV's film, Office Space. The once respected adult contemporary artist was now the punchline across America.

Regardless, the story does have a happy ending. In 2011, Bolton would lean into the joke himself, joining The Lonely Island (Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone) on their album Turtleneck & Chain for the track, Jack Sparrow. It's debut on SNL would take the internet by storm, making it one of the hottest trending searches and songs for weeks. As of 2025, it has over 247 million views, and that number just keeps growing, sustaining long term popularity. I dare say it's what he'll be remembered for most when it's all said and done.

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Retro Spins: Michael Bolton - The Hunger

By 1986, Michael Bolton was on the cusp of a breakthrough. Returning to the studio, he would shape his third album differently. Though it would incorporate hard rock elements from his prior releases, some tracks would shift in tone, taking on softer notes, hints of the adult contemporary tracks which would skyrocket him to chart success.

The Hunger would produce Bolton's first two top forty singles, That's What Love Is All About (peaking on the Billboard Hot 100 at 19), and the Ottis Reading cover, Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay (peaking at number 11). With their aid, the album would reach gold status over the course of two years, but eventually reach double platinum when his career took off in the 90's.

While the first track of the album starts out on a hard rock note, it's with track two, Wait On Love, that you can start to hear the Michael Bolton that became a household name. It's admittedly enjoyable.

The full transformation definitely comes with his rendering of Dock Of The Bay. The track is neither for me, and if I were being honest, which I will, it kind of derails things. It doesn't fit with the previous two songs.

Things continue to flip flop, first with the rocker, Gina, but then back to the crooner styled That's What Love Is All About. It kind of makes you wish he'd pick a lane and stick with it. The songs aren't bad by any means, they just fight with each other for artistic style, and mess with the flow of it all.

The song which probably amalgamates both styles together best is actually the title track, The Hunger. It gives you a bit of that rock, but also the sultry smoother side. It works well.

Despite this initial success, Michael Bolton still wasn't necessarily a superstar. In fact, when he finally began work on what would become 1989's Soul Provider, the artist was not only facing considerable financial difficulties, but exhausted. Though there were talks in the background of dropping him from Columbia Records, the label would ultimately support him and see the album through to completion and release. Smart move considering the numbers it would go on to sell. We'll pick up there tomorrow.

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Retro Spins: Michael Bolton - Everybody's Crazy

Yesterday's Retro Spin of Michael Bolton's 1983 debut was a fantastic hidden gem, and one that really psyched me up for his follow-up, 1985's Everybody's Crazy.

Tracking this one down wasn't easy. The CD version has never been released in the USA, and this is partly because when Bolton's popularity took off, he pleaded with Columbia Records to not reissue his debut and sophomore album. He feared doing so may confuse his soft rock / adult contemporary audience he'd built with his latter albums. When I finally tracked on down at a decent price, it was still a roll of the dice with the seller - a mass retailer on ebay, who utilized stock photos, and claimed to have multiple copies. Fortunately, things worked out, the CD arrived, it was the right one, and well, here we are today.

Everybody's Crazy features the returning collaboration of Bolton and Bruce Kulick, among several other musicians. For Kulick, while he would return to work with the singer in the future, he would formally join the makeup clad classic rockers, Kiss in 1984.

The album is a return to form of its predecessor, for me, it didn't pack as big a punch. Though it was decent overall, I'd also say it was mostly generic rock tracks. Not too memorable ones at that. Save Our Love was really the only standout for me.

Frankly, there's not much more to say about it. For the trouble it took to get the album, and for how great his debut was, I honestly expected better.

Again, it's not a bad album. It's just not as good as his prior. I can understand why his label started watching him with concern at this point and even considered dropping him. But for any of you who know his later hits, you already know that bigger and better (depending on tastes in music) were on the horizon, and soon, Michael Bolton would become a household name. Though things would also come to a head, making that name a household joke, but that's a story for later down the road.

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Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.