Michael Bolton "When I'm Back on My Feet Again"

In early-2002, Michael Bolton stopped by the radio station where I worked to promote his latest album. At the time, Bolton's career was in a slump after a healthy decade of sporting long hair, Nicollette Sheridan and heavy exposure on Adult Contemporary radio stations. His days of putting his name on an old Motown song and watching it make the climb to #1 were over. That day I escorted Michael Bolton and his entourage into the radio station, he wore leather pants. Somehow the conversation shifted to basketball as his hotel had a basketball court and how he wanted to play that afternoon. He asked me if I played. I informed him that I last played for the St. Joseph Warriors in the 5th grade and averaged 0.0 points during my first and last season. Despite my impressive resume, he still welcomed me to shoot some hoops with him later that day. I imagined myself speaking to the hotel concierge: "Hi, I'm Todd. I'm here to play basketball with Mr. Bolton." Needless to say, I didn't play. Fast forward another decade, and Bolton has survived another Nicollette Sheridan breakup and continues to live off the royalties of "How Can We Be Lovers If We Can't Be Friends?" while turning up in roles that no one would expect. First, he appeared in an SNL Digital Short as Captain Jack Sparrow, Two & A Half Men and even had his own Netflix Valentine's Day special. Here's a guy who has found his next niche--one where he doesn't take himself too seriously. Just like leather pants, Michael Bolton is back. 

Aaron Neville "Everybody Plays the Fool"

It's a tried-and-true formula from Adult Contemporary artists: remake a classic R&B/Motown tune and then sit back and watch the money roll in. In Aaron Neville's case, he did not call on his old buddy Linda Ronstadt, but instead dusted off the sheet music to The Main Ingredient's "Everybody Plays the Fool" and watched it go to #8 on the Hot 100 (#1 on the Adult Contemporary Chart).  

Michael McDonald - "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"

Michael McDonald did a series of television commercial for MCI's "The Neighborhood" phone calling promotion that featured him singing the Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell hit "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".  Within a matter of years, MCI was gone.  Michael McDonald continues touring and recently toured with acts such as Boz Scaggs and Toto.

Phil Collins - "Take Me Home"

Phil Collins' last album of new material (Testify) was released in 2002.  Since then, Phil's only forays into the limelight was a Genesis reunion tour in 2007 and an album of Motown covers (!) in 2010.  Since then, he's been in retirement mode living in Switzerland and raising his children.  Years of drumming and performing took a toll on Phil's health--he was nearly deaf in one ear and nerve damage in one of his elbows required surgery.  But his health wasn't the only thing that had deteriorated; Phil's marriage was also in trouble.  After his wife took their two children and moved to Miami in 2008, Phil was alone and devastated.  He told Rolling Stone that he spent lots of nights in front of the TV drinking himself to the point that it nearly killed him.  In an effort to clean himself up, Phil moved to Miami (in Jennifer Lopez's old home) to be closer to his children in 2015.  He gave up the booze and now claims to be three years sober.  Phil even announced his intention to come out of retirement.  Earlier this year, he released a collection of album reissues of unreleased and alternate versions of songs from his long and illustrious solo career.  Based on how the public perceives these songs, Phil said he could envision himself doing a short comeback tour.  He said he wants to show his children what their dad did for a good portion of his life.  At a time when we're losing musical icons left and right, we need to hold onto and cherish those that we have left and Phil is certainly one of them.

Rod Stewart - "This"

Rod Stewart: musical icon who created dozens of hit songs beginning in 1971......buuuuuut started to phone it in around 1990.  For the better part of the past 25 years, Rod has recycled old Motown hits, dusted off Christmas songs, and rehashed American standards all the while Adult Contemporary radio stations have gobbled them up faster than you can say "It's The Same Old Song".  That's my problem with Rod Stewart and for people paying good money to hear him sing "What A Wonderful World".  While Rod tends to be on the receiving end of quite a few punches on this blog, I do recognize his strengths and applaud his talent.  All this to say that Rod's "phone it in" period between 1990 and 2016 is not void of any decent original material.  In fact, there are quite a few really good songs during that span.  Even though Rod's Spanner in the Works album was a commercial disappointment, it produced such a simple yet beautiful song called "This" in 1995.  It only charted as high as #119, yet should have been promoted much more than duds such as "Leave Virginia Alone".  "This" is nearly extinct on YouTube, but I did unearth one of two copies.  Enjoy.  

Teddy Geiger - "For You I Will (Confidence)"

If you've learned anything from Growing Up Adult Contemporary it's that:

• The saxophone played heavily in 1980s Adult Contemporary music
• Adult Contemporary music is heavily retreads of old Motown music
• Peter Cetera is the shit

One other thing to know is that artists who had minor hits usually went on to produce and/or write for other artists.  Richard Marx and Jude Cole are two such artists who followed this trajectory.  Teddy Geiger had a minor hit with "For You I Will" in 2006 (#29 on AC Chart), but went on to write the multi-format friendly "Stitches" by Shawn Mendes in 2015.

Mr. Big - "Wild World"

There's a reason that cover bands are so darn popular--we like to sing along to songs that we're familiar with.  Similarly, most bands know that the key to getting played on the radio is to re-release a popular song.  The Adult Contemporary format is littered with remakes of Motown hits, but occasionally other genres get tapped.  One such example is Mr. Big's 1993 version of "Wild World".

Stevie Wonder - "Part Time Lover"

It's a shame that I used to judge Stevie Wonder's career simply by the two songs I was exposed to as a kid: "I Just Called to Say I Love You" and "Part Time Lover".  Those songs represented his 1980s pop/adult contemporary phase whereas his earlier work represented combined funk, soul, and Motown influences that artists have been sampling ever since.

Paul Young - "Oh Girl"

In short, the recipe for every Adult Contemporary hit song includes one or more of the following:

• A remake of an old song (preferably from the Motown era)
• A British singer (preferably Rod Stewart)
• Use of the saxophone (this rule was mandatory during the 1980s)
• A song that radio station Program Directors deem as "safe" for soccer moms 
• The song should be a ballad

In this instance, Paul Young takes a cue from Rod Stewart, Michael McDonald, and Hall & Oates for his take of the Chi-Lite's classic "Oh Girl".  The song went to (you guessed it!) #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1990.