Michael Bolton rose to international fame on the strength of a string of solo albums spanning the late 80’s and early 90’s. However, even before 1987’s The Hunger-his commercial breakthrough-Bolton had been involved in the music industry for over a decade. It is perhaps this wealth of experience that is most striking during this interview with Bill Neal in New York City. The two talk about every aspect of Bolton’s career up until that point including his songwriting, performance, and producing efforts.

As such, this is a must-listen for three types of people. Bolton fans will love this interview as an encapsulation of his career up until that point, beginning with his earliest musical influences and some stories from his childhood. There are also a number of points that would be of interest to anyone trying to break into the music industry. By this point in his career, Michael knew how to play the game from every angle and he is candid about his experience. The third group of people that should listen to this interview are those that like to play musical connect-the-dots. The list of names mentioned in this interview as inspirations or collaborators is expansive and impressive.

00:00 – Intro 00:32 – Getting his start in the music industry 01:20 – Writing with Patrick Henderson / writing for other performers 02:27 – Earliest musical influences: Motown, R&B 03:03 – The writing of Marvin Gaye and Holland-Dozier-Holland 03:50 – Formula for a hit song 04:44 – Perfecting the craft of writing is not a compromise 05:23 – Writing what you like vs. being successful 06:39 – “(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay” / beating James Taylor to the punch 08:31 – How “(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay” was supposed to be cut 09:13 – Resistance to the single / important endorsements 10:12 – Musical training (and lack thereof) 10:53 – The wild adolescent years 11:47 – Post-adolescent songwriting inspiration 12:33 – Singing in Blackjack / preferring working solo 13:18 – “Idea files” 13:59 – Choosing which songs to give away 15:34 – The song chooses the performer 16:21 – Laura Branigan beating Air Supply to the punch 17:59 – Michael’s opinion of Branigan’s recording 19:31 – “That’s What Love is All About” / Eric “Love Has No Pride” Kaz 21:11 – Lyrical content vs. rhyming 22:24 – A “copyright” song 23:12 – The problem with producers 25:26 – Working with Cher 27:21 – Cher’s favorite and least favorite songs on the album 28:13 – Approach towards albums vs. singles / relationship with the record company 29:31 – Strategies for choosing which songs to use for whom 31:35 – Special guests on the album / started with Keith Diamond, led to Journey 34:09 – “Walk Away” (the new single) / Diane Warren / Susan Hamilton 37:30 – Preparing and maintaining the voice 38:48 – The strongest substance he’ll ingest 39:59 – Rodney Dangerfield impersonation 40:31 – Outro