Blackjack: Worlds Apart (1980)
This apocalyptic-looking critter was the second and final ‘hand’ dealt to short-lived AOR contenders Blackjack, who notably served as a proving ground for future Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick and singer Michael Bolotin, later to find poodle-mullet fame as Michael Bolton.
So, unless you see Bolton as the antichrist (not true, but he probably interned with him), this ill-chosen cover art is your first clue that Blackjack’s still nascent career was already in jeopardy -- not least when you compare it to the expensive custom package (mimicking a deck of cards) designed for their debut.
That first album was produced by the legendary Tom Dowd and spawned a No. 62 single in “Love Me Tonight,” leading to some tour dates with Peter Frampton and confirming Polydor’s faith in Blackjack’s bright future, as this Spinal Tap-like promo clip hilariously illustrates.
But a sudden management shake-up at the label turned Blackjack from priority to afterthought overnight, and so the aptly named Worlds Apart (produced by former Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer knob-twiddler Eddy Offord) never stood a chance, even though it gave radio stations of the day exactly what they were asking for.
And that was plenty of polished, anthemic, romantic hard rockers like “My World is Empty Without You,” “Love is Hard to Find,” and “Breakaway,” all of which were fired up by Kulick’s sizzling licks and Bolton’s soon-to-be inescapable, soulful (for a white suburban Connecticut boy) histrionics.
These helped Michael achieve a preposterously drawn-out crescendo on the ür-ballad “Stay,” which foreshadows his chart-topping crossover later on in the decade, and was surprisingly sampled by Jay Z for the song “A Dream,” on 2002’s The Blueprint 2. (*)
There’s even a new wave vibe to synth-tickled cuts like “Airwaves,” “Really Wanna Know,” and “She Wants You Back,” but there was no chance in hell that these hirsute gentlemen (Michael and Bruce were joined in Blackjack by equally hairy bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer Sandy Gennaro) were ever gonna don those skinny ties.
But I’ll say this about Blackjack’s twin stabs at ‘80s corporate rock: I’ve heard better, but I’ve also heard a lot worse ... and the band’s story is too good NOT to tell!
So, even as they went their separate ways, there were silver linings for all involved, as Bolton’s solo reinvention was pretty much cleared for takeoff, Kulick was already picking up session work with Billy Squier and the Good Rats, Haslip was finding new opportunities in the jazz fusion scene, and Gennaro quickly found work with Pat Travers, Cyndi Lauper, and Joan Jett, among others.
In other words, even if Blackjack wound up drawing a losing hand, all four players obviously parlayed these early musical bets into bigger jackpots, further down the line.
* Even crazier, in 2004, Kanye West re-recorded the hook of the somewhat gutsier “Maybe it’s the Power of Love” for his track “Never Let Me Down,” from triple-platinum debut album The College Dropout -- all of it fully approved by the suddenly richer members of Blackjack.
More Blackjack: Blackjack.
