"Wait on Love" by Michael Bolton

Song#:  3529

Date:  05/28/1988

Debut:  96

Peak:  79

Weeks:  6

Genre:  Pop

Pop Bits:  After two albums with his hard rock band Blackjack and four solo efforts, Bolton finally broke through with his fifth album The Hunger. Its first two singles cracked the Pop Top 20, which included his version of the Otis Redding classic "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" (#11 Pop/#19 AC). The hits helped the album get to #46. Bolton tried to keep the momentum going with this third single, which was co-written and produced by Journey's Jonathan Cain, but it didn't catch on as well only spending a few weeks in the bottom quarter of the Pop chart. In the wake of the success of his fifth album, 1989's Soul Provider, The Hunger would finally reach gold status. As Bolton's star continued to rise, the album kept selling and eventually it would be certified double platinum.

ReduxReview:  This track had a slight rock edge, which was a change from Bolton's previous two hits. Thanks to those songs, he was on the road to becoming associated with big pop/AC ballads and this single might have been an attempt to make sure he didn't get pigeonholed as a crooner. It might have worked had the song been stronger. This song certainly wasn't bad. It was a good effort by Bolton and Cain. In fact, it could have easily fit on Journey's Raised on Radio album. However, it just wasn't all that memorable. I listened to it three times in a row and fifteen minutes later I couldn't remember a lick of it. The song was a good track for an album, but it just didn't have the right goods to make it sell at pop radio. Still, it was far better than the awful "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" and I do prefer when Bolton sings rock-oriented tunes.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  A fourth single from the album would be released. "Walk Away" would not make the Pop chart, but it did get to #14 at AC. After that Top 20, Bolton would start a major streak of AC Top 10s beginning with 1989's "Soul Provider," which topped out at #3. Between '89 and '94, Bolton would have a run of fourteen AC Top 10s. Eight of those would reach #1. In the late 90s, he would add another Top 10 along with a ninth #1. The streak made him one of the most successful artists on the AC chart in the 90s. "Walk Away" was co-written by Bolton along with Diane Warren, who was on a streak herself of writing hits. Unfortunately, this is one that didn't add to her total.

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