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w ~POLEMIC Vol 2, Issue 7, Janumy 27, 1993 He makes BY RICH SPICER STAFF WRITER I'll never forget the first time I heard "that voice". It was five years ago, and as soon as the song was finished I dialed up the radio station. "Who was that?" I asked excitedly. "Isn't that good?" she re- plied. "It's called, _ 'That's What Love Is All About.'" Wow. Whadda voice, I thought. Bet we'll hear a lot from this guy in the future. Little did I know. "That's What Love Is All About" was all over the radio airwaves during the holiday season of 1987, reaching number 19 on billboard's hot 100 and number three on the magazines' Adult Contempo- rary Chart. The single was the begin- ning of something big for the one time lead singer of a hard rock band almost no one ever lieard of (or, -for that matter, Within two years, Bolton had his first make of his own composition (Laura Branigan had a hit with it in '83), from his album S.oul Provider. One song from that album built on a trend started on his previous effort. First came his cover of Otis Redding's irreplaceable"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" and then the real kicker, "Georgia on my Mind", a song widely consid- ered the property of the Great Ray Charles, with no trespass- ing allowed. At this point, with Bolton's career resembling a snowball on a downhill grade, a fasci- nating split began to occur .. .As ~~ ~afre<T~ (undN new ownership) Owned and OpNated by - Jran Mayes q 2-W W. Erie Ro11:ers City 734-212-i FTD-AFS ~ er;; some drool, his fans became increasingly rabid, he found that critics started to bite. 1991 's Time, Love and Tenderness was slammed by critics, who, by and large, were turned off by his "overblown" and "soul-less" pedormances. Bolton's inclusion of a cover of Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman" further infu- riated music scribes. However, as the reviewers got worse, the sales got better. So, Bolton found himself in the unenviable position of hav- ing to follow up an album with an unusual tag: critical flop but commercial sensation. Then came the news that left his legions of fans drooling with anticipation and critics ready to spit. Bolton's next album would consist of all remakes. Now, if there's anything in this world that honks off crit .. ics, it's when they see an artist giving the public exactly what it :wants and taking no risks. Timeless IThe Classics) is per- ceived as the safest possible route to another multi-million seller for Bolton and his label, Columbia. A few weeks ago, on the • strength of the debut single from Iim~k~~. "To Love Somebody", (Bee Gees, 1967), I went out and bought the CD. Not just because I loved the song, but also out of sheer curiosity. I had to hear for myself why critics hated this al- bum so much. I think I've figured it out. I was astounded at how middle- of-the-road the arrangements were on most of these songs. If you like the orchestral mix on "To Love· Somebody", there's plenty more where that came from. Gone are the simple keyboard arrangements that showcased that great voice · on hits like "That's What Love • • •• ffl IIAD~ ~!p)fi Al!Jpxem9 l:MllI ~ (§11 'n 35~ = i some spit is all About". Now what you hear are syrupy strings and irritating guitars that clutter up what are supposed to be great songs. Another thing that seems slightly awry on Timeless £I:M Classics) is the length of the songs. Most of these tunes were originally recorded in an era where three minute songs were the rule, not the excep- tion. So, in an effort to boost the running time of some songs (Dobie Gray's "Drift Away", for instance), the choruses are repeated ad nauseum. (I heard "give me the beat boys and free my soul..." so many times I thought there was something wrong with the CD player.) As for the rest of the re- lease, it's no real surprise, ( considering his success with last year's Motown-ish single "Time, Love and Tenderness") that Bolton covers one of that record labels all-time greats, "Reach Out I'll Be There". Sam Cooke gets the do-over twice, with "Bring It On Home To Me", the latter so much slower than the original that it sounds like the air was let out of it. Also found here is the l,374th remake of "White Christmas". Most stunning of all is his version of the Beatles, "Yester- day". In Paul McCartney's hands it was delicate and sweet, but Bolton turns it into a lounge song for manic-depressives. Despite all this, I remain a Michael Bolton fan. I'll just wait patiently until he comes out with an album full of new material. That way, there · won't be anything to compare it to. After all, what's left to remake. . . "Winchester Cathe- dral"? 'fflhg t I • n • I ®llll IF<oxoxdl I ~ t Photo by Unda Simpson Pat Yantomasi shows one of her miniature quilt designs. A hobb~ smaller than life BY TINA L. JONES STAFF WRITER and rectangles, then right tri- angles. In less than a year, I have been able to make over After averaging one quilt 30 miniature quilts using 45 every week and a half,/ Pat and 60 degree diamonds, equi- Yantomasi finally managed to lateral triangles, isosceles tri- reach her goal - her own dis- angles, and even - hexagons ... play at Jesse Besser Museum. and now that I've tried just Until February 14, there about all the shapes, it's time will be 31 miniature quilts, to switch gears and explore ranging in size from 108 to 6""'9.._2_ """"o~,..,o....,. theori as · elates tc pieces, on display. Each quilt fabric and quilts," she said. is approximately 8 1/2 x 11 Yantomasi's color theory series inches in size and has been will be about poster size. matted and framed. After Even though she has en- leaving Alpena, the display will joyed working in miniature, be shown at the -Northwood Yantomasi plans to sew other Institute in Midland, and then full sized quilts in the future. in Petosky and Frankenmuth. She plans to use her miniatures Amy Yantomasi, who at- as sketches of what ·the full tends ACC, commented on her sized quilts will look like. mother's work. "She'd rather Although she does all this run home and work with her creative work, Y antomasi does quilts than do her work [in not feel she is an artist and public relations at Alpena Gen- plans on giving her works to eral Hospital] .... She makes her friends. "I'm a process· most of the patterns herself, person; I like the building. If and people who are creative they come out beautiful, I'm would enjoy [the display]." thrilled. I want them to look The time limit, a large nice." · number of pieces, and intricate Yantomasi has taught regu- designs became a challenge for lar quilting classes in the past, Y antomasi. but for those people who feel "Working in miniature they'd like to learn how to gives you a chance to try all make mini quilts she said, "I'll kinds of patterns, colors and probably do a class if there's ideas you never had time for enough interest, to show people before; _ I started with squares how I did it." ~ ~E~ ~ '61m ii. ~Iilbll ~~~ Now available: Word JP>erfect for Windows version 5.2 Call for information on student discounts for beginner level computer systems & special student pricing on Lotus 1,2,3 and Word Perfect software!