10 Pressing Questions: Michael Bolton, you charmer, you!

By GINA VIVINETTO, Times Pop Music Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 18, 2002

[Publicity photo] Why are people more interested in talking about his hair than his music?

I admit it: Michael Bolton won me over. After playing phone tag with "his people" for nearly two weeks and receiving several gracious voice-mail messages from the man himself, I finally got Bolton, 49, on the phone. He was in Virginia, at a tour stop.

Bolton arrives at Ruth Eckerd Hall Saturday to sing all his hits and also tunes from his new album, Only A Woman Like You, now out on Jive -- yes, the label of teen pop stars 'N Sync, Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears.

I explained to Bolton that this would not be like most interviews. We'd tackle 10 Pressing Questions, tough queries about the history of R&B, the ladies and why the critics are so darn mean to him.

Bolton was gung-ho. Within minutes, I adored him. By phone call's end I was thinking: How Am I Supposed To Live Without You?

(1) Describe the perfect sandwich. This will be really boring to most people. I've been a vegetarian for 30 years. When most people look at my food they think, 'This is all the stuff that goes on the side.' There was a time being a vegetarian, I couldn't even get a sandwich without meat on it. Chefs would get p--- off if you asked for it. But, probably a swiss cheese, lettuce and mayonnaise -- I do eat dairy. It would be on rye, not toasted. Room temperature, let it all kind of melt and get the juices going. That's it. Very simple. I've come a way from a pastrami special, which used to be my favorite.

(2) What do you sing in the shower? I don't sing in the shower, but I do vocal warm-ups, which is scales. The natural echo of stone -- because I have stone on the walls -- it's a singer's dream come true. It's like playing a huge hall.

(3) You're now on Jive, the hippest record label in the world, home to 'N Sync, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears. (Bolton laughs) I'm certainly the oldest, I am the veteran artist of that label. Me and Buddy Guy. (Guy's label, Silvertone, is a subsidiary of Jive.)

So, settle it: 'N Sync or Backstreet Boys? Oh, come on, I can't. I know them all.

Do you give them advice on girls or anything, being the elder statesman? Those guys are not at the stage where they need or want advice on girls. They're young. They're kids. I will say this, the 'N Sync work ethic -- according to everyone I've spoken to, including Richard Marx, who wrote one of their biggest hits -- said these guys are always on time, they take their work very seriously. I have a lot of respect for that.

The Backstreet Boys -- I don't know people who work with them, so I can't say.

Should we now expect choreography from you, being a Jive artist? Could you do all that, the singing and the dancing? Nope. Never. Never. I can't do the dancing alone. Let alone dancing and singing.

Describe your dancing. (Laughs) I like to think whatever I do, whatever movement I do onstage -- or offstage -- has to be at least soulful, or I don't want to do it. I can't stand to do anything even remotely mediocre, so if I think I'm not all that at it, you probably won't see me do it.

(4) Are you sick of people talking about your hair? You cut the mullet years ago. Nah, because it's so funny. I just did an interview with a radio station and of course, they go, "Okay, we have to ask you about your hair, we have no choice." I do interviews with people and we're deep into discussing the political landscape of the world and then -- BANG! -- they'll start with, "Okay, we gotta ask you about your hair."

I had long hair for 35 years. I got in a lot of trouble in New Haven, Conn., almost got kicked out of school, could barely walk down the street. People picked fights. I got very attached to my hair symbolically. It was my rebellion, my right to claim who I was as a person.

It was a big change for me when I cut it. This guy who does all these Hollywood people's hair -- Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise and Jennifer Aniston -- he flew in to do it and he just kept going and going and cutting more and more. After the haircut, I went to the studio and all these girls I work with in Los Angeles starting putting their hands through it, whatever quarter-inch of hair I had left. They were kind of ogling and I thought, "Okay, this will be all right. I can still get a date."

What do you think about seeing so much of your face now, when you look in the mirror? That's the only downside to it. (Laughs)

(5) Speaking of getting a date . . . I knew we'd get into this.

You're linked with everyone in the world. Not everyone. Nobody has that much time.

I should just ask you to name two women you're not linked to and we'll save time. That's very sick of you, thank you. (Laughs)

Is there someone in your life now? Nope. I knew before this tour I'd be going all over the world. Why would I possibly do that to a woman?

So, this business about you and (supermodel and rock star aficionada) Naomi Campbell is not true? (Laughs. Pauses.)

She's a man eater, Michael! Be careful. I'm at the point where I'm not the one who has to be careful anymore. Usually when I start to see someone I give them my friendly, honest warning: My track record is not great. I spend all my time working, focusing on my next project. It's really tough to get me to focus on a relationship. Dating? No problem. A relationship? Big problem. I was married for 18 years. I raised three daughters. That's like having three wives.

(6) The album is Only A Woman Like You. And then there are all the tabloid reports about your whirlwind love life. Women, obviously, are a big part of your life. What has raising three daughters taught you about the other sex? (Laughs) Oh, God. That you can't win. Just surrender. Daughters own their dads, and they know that. I have more tolerance, more patience with them then I do in my relationships. They are still first and foremost with me.

I am surrounded by women, my daughters. All of the people in my office are women. I learn so much from them, about how to communicate.

What do you do when you need a testosterone break? I go to a Yankees game. I live an hour from Yankee Stadium.

(6) You seem to have a really good sense of humor. I'm a wise-ass. I got kicked out of school a lot. Ever do anything really bad in high school? High school was a place I would have gone if I hadn't signed my first record deal at 16. My mother co-signed the record deal. I was 16 and just 18 years later I had my first hit. (Laughs) I did perform at a lot of high schools at mixers and stuff. I had a band and most of the guys were about five years older than me. High schools were great because you could go in the bathroom and get high and have sex.

And did you? (Pause) That's all I know.

(7) You have so much respect for the history of rock 'n' roll. You're constantly referring to the pioneers, the artists before you such as Ray Charles and Otis Redding, Percy Sledge. Yet the critics are so nasty to you. They're pretty brutal. It doesn't seem fair, does it? Thank you for recognizing that. No, I'm serious, I never know what to expect with these interviews.

Well, the upside of all this is I got to sing with Ray Charles, who is the master, as far as I'm concerned, and with Percy, and I got to meet Otis' family. (Redding's widow told Bolton his rendition of (Sittin' on the) Dock of the Bay was the best she had ever heard.)

A lot of critics have a chip on their shoulder because they're not doing it (music). They can't even say, like, "This guy's not doing it for me, but he has a great voice." They can't even give that up to you.

But I got to induct Ray Charles into the Jazz Hall of Fame -- that was big for me. Singing with Pavarotti -- that's big. Hanging out with the people who were my heroes, having Otis Redding's widow talk to me, you know?

Some day they'll realize they shot the wrong guy and maybe they'll come back and say, "Man, you sang your ass off."

You got to write with Bob Dylan. (Bolton and Dylan co-wrote Steel Bars.) That was huge. Writing with Bob was one of the easiest writing experiences. But, of course, the first day my heart was pounding because you can't look at him without thinking, "Oh my God, this is Bob Dylan." That was another high point, but you know, it's also something people don't know and don't care about. I don't know. It's . . . (Frustrated) Ah, you have to just keep on going.

Here's a little secret: Critics are deathly afraid of each other. We know better than anyone how mean we can be. It's like you had just better toe the line and say what the other critics say -- and do it in an even more funny, scathing, bitchy manner, or they'll come after you. That's so interesting. I appreciate that confirmation. I have a friend who is a very scathing critic in New York -- I won't tell you who -- but he called me when he heard Time, Love & Tenderness and he said, "I gotta tell you, it's the best album you've ever made and they are going to crucify you." I said, "Why?' I was so naive. He said, "Because this is going to be the biggest album you've ever had. You're going to become everything they hate, a big mainstream artist." He was so right.

(8) On to more important things: Is there a Sesame Street character you most identify with? (Laughs) Nope.

Bert, Ernie? Oscar the Grouch? That is the first time anyone's ever asked me that. That's hilarious.

(9) Lots of folks don't know you once sang in a heavy metal band. Do you still like the hard rock?

I love Aerosmith. To me, the greatest rock record of all time is (AC/DC's) Back In Black. I still love the early Stones records.

(10) All those guys are still touring. You, too. What's a Michael Bolton concert like circa 2002? The show is very up-tempo with all the hits and some new songs. The energy is very up.

But no 'N Sync or Backstreet choreography? Bolton is not choreographed. That's for damn sure.

No dangling from wires on the ceiling, flying over the audience? (Laughs) Not on purpose.

At a glance

Michael Bolton appears at 8 p.m. Saturday at Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 McMullen-Booth Road, Clearwater. $49.75-$80. (727) 791-7400.

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