Miscellany but exceptionally relevant information about, or from Michael on, MB.
Thought I would start this thread for there does appear, at times, to be different relevant articles, tweets, retweets, pictures etc relating to Michael but not really fitting into an already recognized thread nor, each of them individually, being able to be grouped together where a relevant thread could be started and so decided on this "Miscellany" thread.
I hope you agree with its relevance and that you enjoy everything that is put in as well as hoping that many will find interesting tidbits about Michael that can be included and help to make this, whilst a serious sharing of information, a FUN page to be able to visit too and, as is my intention, somewhere that everything which does not have a particular "home" can be placed, so that is all grouped together and can be easily found and located if someone wants to look at.
Here now, so that we can all focus on the main reason for this thread, is a beautiful picture of the "Theme" of the thread.......wonder if MB has ever been called that before ???? LOL.
Believe this one definitely belongs in here for I would say sharing with us that coconut sorbet is his favourite dessert is both miscellaneous and more than extremely relevant to the "THEME" of this website and in particular, to this thread !! LOL.
Hope everyone enjoys content and feels free to add their very own miscellany !!! :)
SPECIAL POSTS
MICHAEL DID A QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION ON FACEBOOK ON 3RD FEBRUARY, 2015 AND THOSE QUESTIONS TO WHICH MICHAEL REPLIED CAN BE FOUND ON THIS THREAD FROM PAGE 259 TO 266.
A separate thread has been created for the Q&A Session and it can be found at http://www.michaelbolton.com/forum/topics/michael-s-question-and-an...
Sylvia. Your wee Scottish friend.
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Views: 118149
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Joy Arban on
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Michael Bolton's tub-thumping soft rock divides opinion down the middle. Either you regard Bolton as one of the outstanding vocalists of his era – a crooner and showman of the type they don't make any more.
Or he is popular music's ultimate figure of fun: preening, overcooked, forever mistaking impassioned grunting for soulfulness. Add to the equation the ridiculous perm he sported during his initial flush of mega-success – a terrifying mullet/pony tail hybrid – and it is clear there is no space for compromise.
What can't be disputed is the sheer horsepower of his voice, a rafter-raiser that feels far too grandiose for even a mid-size venue such as the Olympia. As a singer, he really only has a single setting – hairdryer earnestness – but, with the pedal to the floor, the scale of the performance is something to behold.
Of course, it helps his cause no end that gigantomullet is a distant memory, cropped in 1996 by Brad Pitt's barber (generating global headlines). Plus, Bolton is around long enough to recognise the value of deprecation – between tunes the 61-year-old is jokey and winking. If you think his music absurd . . . well, at moments Bolton hints that maybe he does also.
Twenty years after the event, it is easy to forget how ubiquitous Bolton was in the 90s. Looking back, the tendency is to pigeonhole the decade as the epoch of credible gatecrashers: Nirvana, REM et al. Actually, it was the time human air-raid sirens ruled the world – Mariah Carey and Bolton unchallenged as the biggest names in pop. You flicked the radio on and there they were, ululating their million-dollar lungs out.
It's been a while since Bolton has troubled the charts, a fact which seems not to bother him in the least. On the first of two nights in Dublin, he looks again and again to his hits, unfurling 'To Love Somebody' and Otis Redding's '(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay', with an engaging diversion into the Robert Johnson blues standard 'Sweet Home Chicago'.
Flashes of humour are discernible throughout. Recently Bolton has carved a parallel career as an online prankster, his Johnny Depp YouTube spoofs notching up hundreds of thousands of views.
Responding to a request, he delivers a chorus of 'Jack Sparrow', a collaboration with joke hip-hop crew The Lonely Island.
For a novelty smash it is almost inappropriately catchy – a reminder Bolton was never as straightforward as stereotype suggested. He may be a sultan of schmaltz but his rock star charisma can't be doubted.
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Permalink Reply by sylvie boisvert on
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Hey Joy, some parts of this article were actually nice, thanks for posting! Take care sweetie. Hugs, sincerely, Sylvie QC Canada :D
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Permalink Reply by Petra on
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http://www.unionleader.com/article/20140529/NEWHAMPSHIRE01/140528944
Again a very nice interview! AND SO A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE!! Please enjoy!
Soulful singer Michael Bolton chats about career highlights, comedic moments, global tour and Portsmouth stop
By JULIA ANN WEEKES
NH Weekend Editor
Two handy traits have accompanied Michael Bolton through a decorated, multi-decade career — that signature soulful sound, of course, but equally important has been that self-effacing sense of humor.The raspy, emotive singer known for power ballads like “That’s What Love is All About,” “When a Man Loves a Woman,” “Time, Love And Tenderness” and “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You,” recently chatted with NH Weekend about balancing a serious work ethic with an easygoing outlook.
Bolton, 61, who brings his international tour to The Music Hall on Sunday, shares stories about collaborating with everyone from Lady Gaga to Luciano Pavarotti, poking fun at his crooner image in TV commercials and “Saturday Night Live” gags and living a “vagabond vampire” lifestyle on the road.NH Weekend: What can fans expect in your U.S. tour show? What’s on the set list?Bolton: Fans can always expect to hear my greatest hits at the concerts, and then I also introduce a few new songs from a recent album. Since releasing “Gems,” I have been performing a few duets from that album, which the audiences seem to love, and now with my recent “Hitsville” album we’ll pull a few songs — which are already in our DNA — into the set list, which hopefully will get everyone out of their seats singing and dancing.
I have brought with me out on tour two amazing singers, Kelly Levesque and Amanda Brown, and they each bring an awesome dynamic and energy to the stage.NH Weekend: You seem to have such a good-natured response to being both celebrated and critiqued for your style of music, from the “Saturday Night Live” sendup “Captain Jack Sparrow,” in which you play a crooning pirate who earns some grudging street cred from a trio of rappers, to the holiday Honda commercial that has you passionately paying tribute to “Winter Wonderland” from beneath a flurry of fake snow. Is having a sense of humor important in this business? How do you deal with a rollercoaster of public response? Bolton: I had a record contract when I was 16 but didn’t have a hit record until I was 34, so I’ve learned to remain grateful throughout everything that comes at you with success. These days, I’m enjoying several generations who are enjoying my projects from the greatest hits through Pavarotti and classical visits, to the “Jack Sparrow” event — I hope to get to 135 million views soon!
I’ve been a joker and a prankster my whole life and tend to find something funny about almost everything, so it’s been crazy fun partnering up with all these incredibly creative teams to express my humor. I get it and want to max out on the fun of it. It’s important to have a sense of humor in life in general but at the same time to know when to take things seriously.
I’m very disciplined about my career, and very focused on delivering the best of me to audiences everywhere. You can’t control how the public or the media is going to respond to anything you do. What you can do is be the best you can be and give it your all. Set your standards high and to “thine own self .... be true.” That’s my own perspective in the big picture. NH Weekend: You also belong to an impressive lineup of guys to have been included in People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” editions. That’s not an honor a lot of musicians get. Do you get any ribbing from family and friends? Ever run into another past winner and share a chuckle?Bolton: I’ve been pleasantly surprised to have that accolade, and have plenty of chuckles about it with friends, family and other creative cohorts. But the truth is, I do work to stay in shape and love being athletic because it makes me feel great and fuels my energy on stage. NH Weekend: Obviously known for your soulful voice and signature classics like “That’s What Love is All About,” “When a Man Loves a Woman,” “Time, Love And Tenderness” and “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You,” you share details of your life and career in your biography, “The Soul of It All.” Can you explain what you describe as your “vagabond vampire” lifestyle?Bolton: A lot of people may think that a life in the entertainment industry is glamorous and social, but there’s a large part of a career in entertainment that is solitary, (with) demands that you put work before all else. When I’m on tour, I have a very rigorous schedule of traveling from one city to the next, performing, then moving onto the next city, and so on, for weeks and sometimes months at a time. If we’re on stage at 9 p.m., wrapping around 11 p.m., then doing meet and greets, I get back to the hotel after midnight, (then) check on all my emails and address business, and by the time I wind down it’s nearly 4 a.m. That’s the vampire aspect.
During a lengthy tour on a show day, as well as on the days in between shows, I’m usually on voice rest, which doesn’t lend for socializing. Otherwise, I’m doing ... promotion for the tour or new album or other projects I’m working on. When I’m not on tour, I’m usually writing and/or recording a new album, which means about 16 hours a day in the recording studio. Or we’re shooting a commercial or TV show, or taking tons of meetings for the next series of projects. I’m seldom in one place for very long. That’s why I also wrote in the book that the only real pet I could ever keep would be a stuffed animal. When I can carve out a window of time and space for personal life, I connect with my daughters and grandchildren. NH Weekend: You’ve sold more than 53 million albums and singles worldwide, earned Grammy and American Music awards, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and worked with a diverse roster of musicians that includes pop stars and opera icons. So, I wonder, with all these highlights, what are a couple of moments that you count as favorites over the years? Bolton: Perhaps most surprising, and ultimately life altering, was the opportunity to perform with Luciano Pavarotti. Preparing for that profoundly impacted the way I sing, train and preserve my voice. I was invited by Luciano to sing with him in Modena. It was thrilling, and equally daunting. I immediately started studying, not only Italian but opera, and quite specifically the Puccini masterpiece “Nessun Dorma” from Turandot. Vocally, it is one of the most challenging and inspiring pieces of music I have ever sung.
The classical discipline changed the way I was using my voice. Now, no matter where in the world I am performing, I try to always include “Nessun Dorma” in my set and give homage to the greatest tenor ever.
My high points also have to include singing with Ray Charles, recording with Placido Domingo and Jose Carerras, writing with Bob Dylan and Lady Gaga, playing blues with BB King, having Kanye West and Jay Z sample one of my songs. All of these and many more events I think of with great gratitude. NH Weekend: These collaborations seem to leave lasting impressions.Bolton: The Grammys are personal, as they are voted on by your industry peers; the AMAs are the all-important people’s vote. But events that mean more than most people ... understand are (those) deeply personal moments, like meeting Zelma Redding the night she was receiving a “most airplay” award for her late husband Otis Redding’s song “Dock of the Bay.” A friend brought me to her, and she put her arms around me and cried. I just wanted to meet her and tell her how much I loved her husband as an artist and songwriter. I will never forget that moment.
Or meeting Coretta Scott King at a VH1 event and becoming friends with the King family, who endured some of the hardest and most meaningful years in our history. Reverend King was a hero to my family in my youth. The people, events and places that music has allowed me to visit are impossible to describe in words. But considering the beginnings, when my rent checks were bouncing while I had a family to provide for, there are many, many treasured moments I could never dream would come later. NH Weekend: Your current tour has been a global journey, with dates set in Germany, Azerbaijan and Ireland before crossing the United States this spring and summer. Have you found that audience response or concert dynamics are different in other countries? What are some highlights of interactions with fans across the world this year thus far?Bolton: Absolutely, every country is unique and fresh to me — different in a good way that both reaffirms the ongoing relationship and still keeps me on my toes.
In some countries, the cultures are a bit more reserved, other audiences are very loud and expressive, even raucous. But what’s still amazing is being in a country far, far from home where English is not the spoken language, and yet the fans are singing along to my songs. They know the words to at least every chorus. It’s an incredible feeling. At this point of the tour throughout all of Germany and the UK, we have had very animated, vocal crowds, dancing and singing and giving us lots of energy, which just feeds all of us on stage to reciprocate. We joke around a lot together during the show and make the night more personal than a performer/audience experience.
We have a lot of fun interacting while being serious about the music living up to the records, which were produced by some of the most high-end, sonically-focused producers in music. Being playful and as much of myself as I can is key to the show and strengthening what’s already acknowledged between us. Some of the fans have told me they’ve been coming to concerts since 1987.
Petra (Germany)
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Petra, this is probably the best article I've read this year, thank you! Take care sweetie and have a great day. Hugs, sincerely, Sylvie QC Canada :D
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Glad Sylvie! This time I read the article twice, until I was sure that it is spelled fair!
Petra (Germany)
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Permalink Reply by Robin on
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Thanks Petra, love this article. One of the better ones I've read recently. THANKS for posting it!
Robin in MD :)
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Liked to do, Robin!
I wish you tomorrow a unique Bolton-night!
Petra (Germany)
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Permalink Reply by sylvia doughty on
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Thanks Joy for your two articles and thanks a million Petra for above one for it is darn good and sounds as though the interviewer really interviewed Michael...danke Petra !!!! :)
Sylvia. Your wee Scottish friend.
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Permalink Reply by Kathy Tulsa on
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Thanks Petra and one of my favorite photos of MB here too :). Hugs,
Kathy T. :)
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Thanks for posting, Joy, and I adore these 2 photos :). Hugs,
Kathy T. :)
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