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Love Is a Wonderful Thing (Michael Bolton song)

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"Love Is a Wonderful Thing"
Single by Michael Bolton
from the album Time, Love & Tenderness
ReleasedApril 1, 1991 (1991-04-01)
GenreR&B[1]
Length
  • 4:42 (album version)
  • 4:21 (video edit)
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)
  • Michael Bolton
  • Andrew Goldmark
Producer(s)Walter Afanasieff
Michael Bolton singles chronology
"Georgia on My Mind"
(1990) 		"Love Is a Wonderful Thing"
(1991) 		"Time, Love and Tenderness"
(1991)
Music video
"Love Is a Wonderful Thing" on YouTube

"Love Is a Wonderful Thing" is a song by American pop music singer Michael Bolton, written by Bolton and Andrew Goldmark and produced by Walter Afanasieff. The song, which peaked at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100, was included on Bolton's seventh album, Time, Love & Tenderness (1991), and released in April 1991 by Columbia. It was also successful in Canada, becoming Bolton's third number-two hit, and in Norway, where it reached number seven. The accompanying music video for "Love Is a Wonderful Thing" was directed by Dominic Sena and shot in Phoenix, Arizona.[2]

Critical reception

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Pan-European magazine Music & Media wrote, "Yet more substantiation of his nickname the "soul provider". Hit material."[3]

Plagiarism lawsuit

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Further information: List of songs that have been the subject of plagiarism disputes

The American R&B group the Isley Brothers wrote a song titled "Love Is a Wonderful Thing" and recorded it for United Artists Records in January 1964. The song was released as a single on a 45 rpm vinyl record on United Artists' Veep label in June 1966, and it reached number 110 on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. The song was not included on an album until it appeared on The Isley Brothers - The Complete UA Sessions, which was released in 1991.

On February 24, 1992, the Isley Brothers filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement against Bolton, Goldmark and Sony Music Publishing. "When I first heard his version of the song on the radio, I was really pleased," said Ronald Isley. "Then I went out to pick up the record and looked for my credit. I was upset because the credits weren't on there. So we got in touch with his people and then he went into the 'Oh, I didn't know you all had a song like this.' That type of thing."[4]

Bolton claimed he had never heard the Isley Brothers' version. "The song is an original song," said Louis Levin, Bolton's manager. "We view the claim to be without merit and are vigorously defending the matter."[5]

On April 25, 1994, a Los Angeles jury ruled in favor of the Isley Brothers.[6] The jury determined there were five instances in which the Bolton/Goldmark song plagiarized the Isleys' tune. They ruled that 66 percent of the song's profits came from copyright-infringed material and 28 percent of the profits from the album Time, Love & Tenderness were derived from the track. Bolton, Goldmark and Sony Publishing were ordered to turn over more than $5 million in profits from the sales of Bolton's version of the song to the Isley Brothers. It was the largest award in history for plagiarism in the music industry.[7]

Opinions on the verdict were divided. Some, such as Rolling Stone contributor Havelock Nelson, agreed with the jury. "Bolton’s song does bear a slight similarity to the Isleys’—enough to call it a knockoff," Nelson said. "Both titles have a bright, gospelly feel and a similar, repeated hook line." Others, like Michael Walsh of Time, disagreed with the ruling. "The verdict’s an utter travesty rendered by unmusical jurors," Walsh stated. "Aside from the fact that they have the same title, and the melody begins on the third note of the scale, the two songs bear no resemblance in any significant musical way."[8]

Bolton, Goldmark and Sony appealed the verdict, and the court fight continued for nearly seven more years. The case came to a close on January 22, 2001, when the Supreme Court of the United States refused to hear the appeal of a May 2000 decision by the Ninth Circuit Court Of Appeals in San Francisco.

Bolton's attorneys, including Harvard University law professor Alan Dershowitz, had asked the Supreme Court to reject the findings, arguing a national standard should be created to help guide artists and the courts as to what classifies as copyright infringement. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) agreed, and filed a brief with the Supreme Court supporting Bolton in his appeal.[9]

Under the Ninth Circuit ruling, the Isleys were to be paid $4.2 million from Sony Music; $932,924 from Bolton; $220,785 from Goldmark; and the balance from Bolton and Goldmark's music publishing company.[10][11]

Personnel

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Charts

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Ruhlmann, William. Michael Bolton - Time, Love and Tenderness (1991): Review at AllMusic. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  2. ^ Director Videography
  3. ^ "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. April 27, 1991. p. 12. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  4. ^ "Isley Feels Vindicated In Bolton Case". Billboard. February 20, 2001. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  5. ^ Isley Sues Bolton Over Song C'Right
  6. ^ Jury rules Bolton ripped off parts of Isley tune
  7. ^ Famous Copyright Infringement Plagiarism Cases in Music
  8. ^ "Critics review Michael Bolton case". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on January 26, 2022.
  9. ^ "Frustrated Michael Bolton Ready To Move On". Billboard. January 30, 2001. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  10. ^ Three Boys Music v. Michael Bolton 212 F.3d 477 (9th Cir.2000)
  11. ^ Wile, Rob (March 11, 2015). "The 'Blurred Lines' verdict was big. But what Michael Bolton had to pay sent him on a decade-long legal rampage". Splinter News. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  12. ^ "Michael Bolton – Love Is a Wonderful Thing". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  13. ^ "Michael Bolton – Love Is a Wonderful Thing" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  14. ^ "Michael Bolton – Love Is a Wonderful Thing" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  15. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 1546." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  16. ^ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 1543." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  17. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 8, no. 22. June 1, 1991. p. 27. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  18. ^ "Michael Bolton – Love Is a Wonderful Thing" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  19. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Love Is a Wonderful Thing". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  20. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 23, 1991" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  21. ^ "Michael Bolton – Love Is a Wonderful Thing" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  22. ^ "Michael Bolton – Love Is a Wonderful Thing". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  23. ^ "Michael Bolton – Love Is a Wonderful Thing". VG-lista. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  24. ^ "Michael Bolton – Love Is a Wonderful Thing". Singles Top 100. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  25. ^ "Michael Bolton – Love Is a Wonderful Thing". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  26. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  27. ^ "Michael Bolton Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  28. ^ "Michael Bolton Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  29. ^ "RPM 100 Hit Tracks of 1991". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  30. ^ "RPM 100 Adult Contemporary Tracks of 1991". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  31. ^ "EHR Year-End Top 100" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 8, no. 51–52. December 21, 1991. p. 20. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  32. ^ "Billboard Top 100 – 1991". Billboardtop100of.com. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  33. ^ "1991 The Year in Music" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 103, no. 51. December 21, 1991. p. YE-36. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
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