How Am I Supposed to Live Without You
{{Short description|1982 song written by Doug James and Michael Bolton}}
{{Infobox song
| name = How Am I Supposed to Live Without You
| cover = LauraBranigan HowAmISupposed.jpg
| alt =
| border = yes
| type = single
| artist = Laura Branigan
| album = Branigan 2
| B-side = "Mama"
| released = July 1, 1983
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Pop
| length = 4:29
| label = Atlantic
| writer =
- Michael Bolton
- Doug James
| producer = Jack White
| prev_title = Solitaire
| prev_year = 1983
| next_title = Self Control
| next_year = 1984
| misc = {{External music video|header=Audio|{{YouTube|sYpjz1kFkWk|"How Am I Supposed to Live Without You"}}}}
}}
"How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" is a song co-written in 1982 by Doug James and Michael Bolton. The track was originally recorded by Laura Branigan in 1983, charting at number one in both the US and Canadian Adult Contemporary charts. Bolton later recorded his own version of the song that topped the US Billboard Hot 100 and became a worldwide hit.
"How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" was supposed to be recorded by Australian duo Air Supply, but when Arista President Clive Davis asked for permission to change the lyrics of the chorus, Bolton refused, and Davis let go of the song.Hyatt, Wesley. The Billboard Book of Number One Adult Contemporary Hits, Billboard Books, 1999, p. 277, 354. Subsequently Laura Branigan recorded it as written, and it became the first major hit for the two songwriters. Bolton's own rendition became a worldwide hit in early 1990.
Laura Branigan version
As the second single from Branigan's second album Branigan 2, "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and peaked at number twelve on the Hot 100 in early October 1983. Branigan's single also hit the number one spot on the Adult Contemporary chart in Canada. This success came without benefit of a music video. Branigan performed the song on the syndicated music countdown show Solid Gold in late 1983 and on the popular holiday special Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. Branigan 2 went out of print in 2004, but Branigan's original version can still be heard on the compilation albums The Best of Branigan (1995), The Essentials (2002) and The Platinum Collection (2006).
The single's B-side was a newly written song over the music to the Italian song "Mama", by Giancarlo Bigazzi and Umberto Tozzi. Branigan's first major hit had been with "Gloria", another English song written to an Italian hit by the duo.
=Track listings=
| style="width:35em;"|
{{Track listing | headline = 7-inch single | title1 = How Am I Supposed to Live Without You | length1 = 4:29 | title2 = Mama | length2 = 3:56 }} {{Track listing | headline = 7-inch single {{nobold|– Promo}} | title1 = How Am I Supposed to Live Without You | note1 = Short version | length1 = 3:57 | title2 = How Am I Supposed to Live Without You | length2 = 4:29 }} {{Track listing | headline = 7-inch single {{nobold|(Canada)}} | title1 = How Am I Supposed to Live Without You | length1 = 4:29 | title2 = Don't Show Your Love | length2 = 3:30 }} |
=Charts=
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==Weekly charts==
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==Year-end charts==
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1986 lawsuit
Laura Branigan demoed songwriter Gary William Friedman's "Promise Me I'll Feel This Way Tomorrow", several years before she recorded "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You". Branigan did not meet the songwriters Michael Bolton and Doug James before the recording. In 1986, songwriter Friedman filed lawsuit against Branigan, the songwriters, and other parties involved in the recording, alleging that "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" copied his song "Promise Me I'll Feel This Way Tomorrow".{{cite magazine |editor-first=Irv |editor-last=Lichtman |date=August 16, 1986 |title=Inside Track |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4SQEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Promise+Me+I%27ll+Feel+This+Way+Tomorrow%22+gary+friedman+-wikipedia&pg=PT103 |magazine=Billboard |page=82}} In her testimony of the August 5, 1986, trial, Branigan performed Bolton and James's song and two other songs recorded by various artists, "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" (recorded by Branigan for her 1984 album Self Control) and "MacArthur Park".{{cite news |title=Names in the News |url=https://apnews.com/article/f47d6b485234d447b109d7a6dffff0da |work=Associated Press |date=August 6, 1986 }} Toward the end of August 1986, juries of a New York federal court cleared the case defendants from the charges.{{cite magazine |editor-first=Irv |editor-last=Lichtman |date=August 30, 1986 |title=Inside Track |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GSQEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Promise+Me+I%27ll+Feel+This+Way+Tomorrow%22+gary+friedman+-wikipedia&pg=PT96 |page=92 |magazine=Billboard}}
Michael Bolton version
{{Infobox song
| name = How Am I Supposed to Live Without You
| cover = How Am I Supposed to Live without You by Michael Bolton US cassette single.jpg
| alt =
| caption = US retail cassette single; the US CD format was promo-only
| type = single
| artist = Michael Bolton
| album = Soul Provider
| B-side = Forever Eyes
| released = October 1989
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Soft rock{{cite web|url=http://www.stereogum.com/5507/40_most_softsational_softrock_songs/franchises/list/|title=VH1's 40 Most Softsational Soft-Rock Songs|date=May 31, 2007|website=Stereogum|publisher=SpinMedia|access-date=July 31, 2016}}
| length =
- 4:48 (album version)
- 4:15 (radio edit)
| label =
| writer =
- Michael Bolton
- Doug James
| producer = Michael Omartian
| prev_title = Soul Provider
| prev_year = 1989
| next_title = How Can We Be Lovers
| next_year = 1990
| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|YFood_bTOX4|"How Am I Supposed to Live Without You"}}}}
}}
Michael Bolton recorded a version of the song for his sixth studio album, Soul Provider (1989). The single reached number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts and also won Bolton a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. The release marked a turning point in Bolton's career. After years of being primarily known as a songwriter, the single got him recognition as a performer and made him a certified superstar.{{cite web|title=Michael Bolton biography|website=MTV |url=http://www.mtv.com/artists/michael-bolton/biography/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120827164342/http://www.mtv.com/artists/michael-bolton/biography/|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 27, 2012|access-date=16 January 2016}}
=Chart performance=
The single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1989.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1989-10-28|title=Billboard Hot 100 the week of October 28, 1989|magazine=Billboard |access-date=15 January 2016}} It slowly climbed the chart and by mid-January became the first new number one single of the 1990s.
=Music video=
Philip Rose and Greg Gold directed the song's music video.{{cite magazine|title=Video Track|magazine=Billboard|volume=101|issue=41|page=66|date=October 14, 1989}} The beginning of the video shows Bolton performing the selection whilst he is sitting in his living room, and small bits of story about his and his girlfriend's relationship are told through fade-outs. As he is about to leave the apartment, already having packed his suitcases, he thinks of her and the time they spent together and seemingly decides against the decision; he then cuddles with his girlfriend. It is revealed, the next night, that he plans to give her a bracelet, which he quickly hides as he reads a newspaper before she enters the room. She surprises him with breakfast and they cuddle again. Later on, the two have a fight about something and she storms out of the apartment, and Bolton visibly feels guilty.{{cite web|url=http://www.myvideo.de/watch/5252643/Michael_Bolton_How_Am_I_Supposed_To_Live_Without_You|title=Michael Bolton|work=MyVideo}}
=Track listings=
| style="width:35em;"|
{{Track listing | headline = 7-inch single | title1 = How Am I Supposed to Live Without You | note1 = Edit | length1 = 4:14 | title2 = Forever Eyes | length2 = 4:23 }} {{Track listing | headline = CD single | title1 = How Am I Supposed to Live Without You | length1 = 4:18 | title2 = Forever Eyes | length2 = 4:23 | title3 = (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay | note3 = 7-inch version | length3 = 4:56 | title4 = That's What Love Is All About | note4 = Live | length4 = 4:23 }} |
=Personnel=
- Michael Bolton – lead vocals
- Michael Omartian – keyboards
- Michael Landau – guitar
- Neil Stubenhaus – bass
- John Keane – drums
=Charts=
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==Weekly charts==
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ Weekly chart performance for "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" ! scope="col"| Chart (1989–1990) ! scope="col"| Peak |
| {{single chart|Australia|2|artist=Michael Bolton|song=How Am I Supposed to Live Without You|rowheader=true|access-date=October 28, 2018}} |
| {{single chart|Austria|17|artist=Michael Bolton|song=How Am I Supposed to Live Without You|rowheader=true|access-date=October 28, 2018}} |
| {{single chart|Flanders|1|artist=Michael Bolton|song=How Am I Supposed to Live Without You|rowheader=true|access-date=October 28, 2018}} |
| {{single chart|Canadatopsingles|8|chartid=6644|rowheader=true|access-date=April 9, 2019}} |
| {{single chart|Canadaadultcontemporary|1|chartid=6674|rowheader=true|access-date=April 9, 2019|refname="canacbolton"}} |
| scope="row"| Europe (Eurochart Hot 100 Singles){{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-UK/Music/Archive-Music-Media-IDX/IDX/90s/90/MM-1990-03-10-OCR-Page-0013.pdf|title=Eurochart Hot 100 Singles|magazine=Music & Media|volume=7|issue=10|date=March 10, 1990|page=IV|oclc=29800226|via=World Radio History}}
| 5 |
|---|
| {{single chart|Ireland2|2|song=How Am I Supposed to Live Without You|rowheader=true|access-date=July 18, 2019}} |
| {{single chart|Dutch40|3|year=1990|week=12|rowheader=true|access-date=April 9, 2019}} |
| {{single chart|Dutch100|3|artist=Michael Bolton|song=How Am I Supposed to Live Without You|rowheader=true|access-date=October 28, 2018}} |
| {{single chart|New Zealand|10|artist=Michael Bolton|song=How Am I Supposed to Live Without You|rowheader=true|access-date=October 28, 2018}} |
| {{single chart|Sweden|9|artist=Michael Bolton|song=How Am I Supposed to Live Without You|rowheader=true|access-date=October 28, 2018}} |
| {{single chart|UKsinglesbyname|3|artist=Michael Bolton|artistid=28981|rowheader=true|access-date=June 4, 2022}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardhot100|1|rowheader=true|artist=Michael Bolton}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardadultcontemporary|1|artist=Michael Bolton|rowheader=true|access-date=October 28, 2018}} |
| scope="row"| US Cash Box Top 100{{cite web|url=https://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/90s_files/19900127.html|title=Cash Box Top 100 Pop Singles – Week ending January 27, 1990|work=Cash Box|access-date=June 4, 2022|archive-date=June 4, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220604182148/https://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/90s_files/19900127.html|url-status=dead}}
| 2 |
| {{single chart|West Germany|15|artist=Michael Bolton|song=How Am I Supposed to Live Without You|songid=12176|rowheader=true|access-date=October 28, 2018}} |
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==Year-end charts==
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=Certifications=
{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You"}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=single|award=Platinum|relyear=1989|certyear=1990|certref=|access-date=April 9, 2019}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Michael Bolton|title=How Am I Supposed to Live Without You|award=Silver|relyear=2004|certyear=2021|id=17684-230-1|access-date=November 30, 2021}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|streaming=true}}
=Release history=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+ Release dates and formats for "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" ! scope="col"| Region ! scope="col"| Date ! scope="col"| Format(s) ! scope="col"| Label(s) ! scope="col"| {{abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
| scope="row"| United States
| October 1989 | {{hlist|7-inch vinyl|cassette}} | Columbia | |
|---|
| scope="row" rowspan="2"| United Kingdom
| February 5, 1990 | {{hlist|7-inch vinyl|12-inch vinyl|limited-edition CD}} | rowspan="2"| CBS | {{cite magazine|title=New Singles|magazine=Music Week|date=February 3, 1990|page=38|issn=0265-1548}} |
| February 19, 1990
| CD |
See also
{{portal|1980s|pop music}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Laura Branigan singles}}
{{Michael Bolton}}
{{Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Atlantic Records singles
Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Category:Columbia Records singles
Category:Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
Category:Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles
Category:Songs about loneliness
Category:Songs written by Michael Bolton