AND this is why the Internet was invented, folks. For precisely this reason.

The video was uploaded to Funny or Die yesterday, and I could kick myself for not having posted this one sooner. But here it is. In all its glory.

You know what, there is nothing wrong with Michael Bolton anymore. After this video, he just scored a lot of cool points in my book.

 
h/t Kevin K

Look at all that beautiful hair
 
Yes, before he was the king of terrible waiting room music, Michael Bolton (then performing under his real name, Michael Bolotin), was in a butt-rock band called Blackjack. While they only really existed for about two years, the drunken karaoke material they produced is immeasurable in value. Blackjack’s promotional film from 1979 borders on being an unintentional Spinal Tap-type parody of the most insincere (or possibly just coked out) elements of the music industry.

I know they were paid to say it, but the assurance with which the producer (that’s Grammy award-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Tom Dowd, who worked with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Derek and the Dominos, Rod Stewart, Cream, Lulu, Chicago, The Allman Brothers Band, Joe Bonamassa, The J. Geils Band, Meat Loaf, Sonny & Cher, The Rascals, Willie Nelson, Diana Ross, The Eagles, Kenny Loggins, The James Gang, Dusty Springfield, Charles Mingus, Herbie Mann, Booker T. and the MGs, Otis Redding, and Aretha Franklin, among others) and industry dude (“Doctor” so and so) tout them as The Next Big Thing is kind of awesome—definitely the product of a bygone era in the music business.

Fun fact: Blackjack once toured with Ozzy.

Below, a promotional film containing two gloriously dated videos of Michael Bolton fronting a rock band, with all the hallmarks of the era.