# Grab your hat, sucka, 'cause I like Michael Bolton AND Kenny G AND Neil Diamond **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 8, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grab-your-hat-sucka-cause-i-like-michael-bolton-and-kenny-g-and-neil-diamond/320620 "2005-09-08T04:38:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grab-your-hat-sucka-cause-i-like-michael-bolton-and-kenny-g-and-neil-diamond/320620/1 "2005-09-08T04:38:39Z")
At this very minute, Michael Bolton is singing “Georgia on My Mind” on the Leno Show, provoking this admission from moi: I like Bolton. I may be the only guy in America who dares utter this, but it’s true. More than not hate him, I like him. Call Bolton the poor (white man’s) ripoff of Ray Charles, Percy Sledge, and Sam Cooke, if you will, but the guy can sing. Sure, he doesn’t belong in the pantheon of soul immortals, but he’s got decent chops. Heard enough? No? Let’s talk Kenny G. As a jazz lover (Bird, Miles, Trane, Esquivel 😉 )I’ll admit that the G Man is no jazz master, but what’s wrong with instrumental pop, even if 70 percent of it sounds like it was commissioned by the Otis Elevator Co.? I wouldn’t be embarrassed to play it at a party. This takes us to Neil Diamond. Yes, the man today warbles like a busted Victrolla, but back in the day he was pop’s answer to Ethel Merman. By that, I mean he was a showman first and singer second. Some of his classics really are classics. I’d go on, but I think that’s a big enough jolt for the Board in one evening. My apologies to **Ukelele Ike**. Dis or confess your own guilty pleasures. I’ll be right back–right after I cue … Gordon Lightfoot. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grab-your-hat-sucka-cause-i-like-michael-bolton-and-kenny-g-and-neil-diamond/320620/2 "2005-09-08T04:52:44Z")
Gosh, some people just have NO taste in music! :: scuddles off to listen to Britney Spears’ greatest hits CD :: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grab-your-hat-sucka-cause-i-like-michael-bolton-and-kenny-g-and-neil-diamond/320620/3 "2005-09-08T10:48:16Z")
I don’t know the music of Kenny G but I enjoy some of Bolten’s music and really enjoy Neil Diamond. He has many songs that I like. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grab-your-hat-sucka-cause-i-like-michael-bolton-and-kenny-g-and-neil-diamond/320620/4 "2005-09-08T12:30:55Z")
_sigh_ - there’s simply no place to go with this. I will admit to feeling the love for Neil. The other two? Not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grab-your-hat-sucka-cause-i-like-michael-bolton-and-kenny-g-and-neil-diamond/320620/5 "2005-09-08T12:47:40Z")
Ha! I just saw Neil in concert on August 31. Yep, he’s still got it. Good show. ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grab-your-hat-sucka-cause-i-like-michael-bolton-and-kenny-g-and-neil-diamond/320620/6 "2005-09-08T12:51:44Z")
Bolton and Kenny G are excusable. No one expects them to be anything but what they are. I will never understand the love for Neil Diamond though. The man is a crime against the world of music. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grab-your-hat-sucka-cause-i-like-michael-bolton-and-kenny-g-and-neil-diamond/320620/7 "2005-09-08T12:55:42Z")
At the moment on New Posts this thread is between **Does anyone pay for this crap?** and **Which murder is just?**. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grab-your-hat-sucka-cause-i-like-michael-bolton-and-kenny-g-and-neil-diamond/320620/8 "2005-09-08T13:16:03Z")
Calling all Fanilows, calling all Fanilows…at last, someone for _us_ to pick on! _Points and laughs at **Carnac** _ though to tell you the truth, Neil doesn’t suck ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grab-your-hat-sucka-cause-i-like-michael-bolton-and-kenny-g-and-neil-diamond/320620/9 "2005-09-08T13:58:29Z")
> [@Carnac the Magnificent!](#): > > I’ll be right back–right after I cue … Gordon Lightfoot. 😃 You better take care. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grab-your-hat-sucka-cause-i-like-michael-bolton-and-kenny-g-and-neil-diamond/320620/10 "2005-09-08T15:51:36Z")
What - alongside the Starland Vocal Band? ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grab-your-hat-sucka-cause-i-like-michael-bolton-and-kenny-g-and-neil-diamond/320620/11 "2005-09-08T15:51:42Z")
Okay, I admit it: I like Barry Manilow. There. I said it. I like disco, too (at least late '70s, early '80s “Saturday Night Fever”-era disco). To complete my humiliation, I also like “My Heart Must Go On” by Celine Dion (though I don’t like anything _else_ I’ve ever heard her do, so I guess maybe there might be hope for me). ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grab-your-hat-sucka-cause-i-like-michael-bolton-and-kenny-g-and-neil-diamond/320620/12 "2005-09-08T16:17:03Z")
:: Shudders :: ---
**Author:** ![ChaChaHeels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@ChaChaHeels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChaChaHeels)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grab-your-hat-sucka-cause-i-like-michael-bolton-and-kenny-g-and-neil-diamond/320620/13 "2005-09-08T16:59:36Z")
I LOVE Neil Diamond. Not just his music either, I lust after him. Comb over, glittered shirts, semi lazy eye-that man is walking sex. I’m young enough to be his granddaughter. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grab-your-hat-sucka-cause-i-like-michael-bolton-and-kenny-g-and-neil-diamond/320620/14 "2005-09-08T22:12:47Z")
I’ll be honest with you, I love his music, I do, I’m a Michael Bolton fan. For my money, it doesn’t get any better than when he sings “When a Man Loves a Woman”. ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grab-your-hat-sucka-cause-i-like-michael-bolton-and-kenny-g-and-neil-diamond/320620/15 "2005-09-09T01:38:48Z")
. . .looks around to see if anyone’s paying attention, scurries to the boombox and cues the cassette to play Michael Bolton’s song . . **Time, Love and Tenderness**. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grab-your-hat-sucka-cause-i-like-michael-bolton-and-kenny-g-and-neil-diamond/320620/16 "2005-09-09T01:39:35Z")
> [@Lisa-go-Blind](#): > > For my money, it doesn’t get any better than when he sings “When a Man Loves a Woman”. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grab-your-hat-sucka-cause-i-like-michael-bolton-and-kenny-g-and-neil-diamond/320620/17 "2005-09-09T01:49:09Z")
Neil Diamond is a distinctive-but-not-great singer, and a _brilliant_ songwriter. Granted, some of his later stuff is, uh, not of undiluted genius, but his earlier songs are like gems: “Solitary Man,” “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon,” “Cherry Cherry.” And I LOVE his cover of “Clouds”; I bought it on scratchy vinyl at an estate sale a while back. ( **Mr. Blue Sky** , not sure if that was a whoosh, but **Lisa-go-Blind** was quoting [Office Space](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151804/).) ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grab-your-hat-sucka-cause-i-like-michael-bolton-and-kenny-g-and-neil-diamond/320620/18 "2005-09-09T01:49:30Z")
I celebrate the guy’s entire catalogue. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grab-your-hat-sucka-cause-i-like-michael-bolton-and-kenny-g-and-neil-diamond/320620/19 "2005-09-09T01:50:31Z")
And - beaten. Thanks, **jackelope**. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grab-your-hat-sucka-cause-i-like-michael-bolton-and-kenny-g-and-neil-diamond/320620/20 "2005-09-09T01:52:11Z")
> [@jackelope](#): > > ( **Mr. Blue Sky** , not sure if that was a whoosh, but **Lisa-go-Blind** was quoting [Office Space](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151804/).) Please, tell me **ChaChaHeels** ’s post was also a quote. :eek: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grab-your-hat-sucka-cause-i-like-michael-bolton-and-kenny-g-and-neil-diamond/320620.md?page=2)