Phil Collins, Elton John, and Gloria Estefan dominated Adult Contemporary radio back in the 1980s and '90s, yet have disappeared from modern radio. Seemingly, the only time you ever hear them is at the grocery store or your local CVS. This blog remembers the music, the stories and the quirky characters from my days working in Adult Contemporary radio.
Sunday, December 10, 2017
Michael Bolton "Ain't Got Nothing if You Ain't Got Love"
History shows the year 1994 as the turning point in Michael Bolton's career. Actually, the year started off quite well for Bolton as "Said I Loved You...But I Lied" topped the Adult Contemporary Chart for 14 straight weeks. It was all downhill from there for Bolton. During the summer of '94, he lost a plagiarism lawsuit to The Isley Brothers for his 1991 hit "Love Is A Wonderful Thing". A jury sided with The Isley Brothers citing that Bolton's song was too similar to the group's 1964 tune of the same name. Bolton paid an estimated $5 million in restitution (a record amount for copyright infringement). While this dragged on, sales of his album The One Thing chugged along, but still lagged well behind the success of his previous albums. Other than "Said I Loved You...But I Lied", the album's next two singles--the ballad "Completely" and the uptempo "Ain't Got Nothing if You Ain't Got Love"--failed to become major hits for Bolton. From that point on, Bolton's successes hinged on soundtrack songs: "Once in a Lifetime" (also in 1994) and "Go the Distance" (in 1997).