Songoftheday 12/11/16 - They said you were leavin' someone's swept your heart away, from the look upon your face I see it's true...

"How Am I Supposed To Live Without You" - Michael Bolton
from the album Soul Provider (1989)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (three weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 16

Today's song of the day comes from pop singer/songwriter Michael Bolton, who had settled into a soft-rock groove to gain success in the late 80s, and started out his Soul Provider album promotion with the title track, which earned him his third top-20 pop hit in the States. The second single from the set would be a heartbreak ballad he already had success with as a songwriter behind powerhouse vocalist Laura Branigan. Her version of "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You", written by Bolton with Doug James, climbed to #12 on the American pop chart in the fall of 1983. Six years later, Michael did much better on the radio, though some may not favor his whining wail over Laura's clear-as-day voice, but the production defintely fit the turn of the decade...

Bolton's version of "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" became his first #1 pop hit in the U.S. in January of 1990, also becoming the first single to rise to #1 in the new decade. The song also spent two weeks atop Billboard's Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio chart. Internationally, the song stayed two weeks at #1 in Belgium, reached #2 in Australia and Ireland, peaked at #3 in the UK and the Netherlands, and made the top ten in Canada (#8), Sweden (#9), and New Zealand (#10).

Michael would win a Grammy for Best Pop Male Vocal performance in 1990 (not long after the record peaked).

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Here's Michael performing the song on the Grammy Awards with saxophonist Kenny G...

...and again in concert in 2008...

The vocal gymnastics associated with the song make it a prime target for contestants on The Voice, including Christian Cuevas from this season's American version, which he had his "Blind Audition" with...

...and finally, back to Bolton in Sweden this year...

Up tomorrow: Boston boys dedicate a holiday tune.