Walden--A Pop Hit Machine

Narada Michael Walden, probably the hottest producer in the business, was doubled up on the couch in his West Hollywood hotel suite, laughing hysterically--as he had done quite often that afternoon.

The subject was Whitney Houston’s legs. Not an amusing subject, though he seemed to think so.

“She’s tall with long, beautiful legs,” he said. “If she was 5-feet-2, with average legs, she wouldn’t be as popular. Oh yes, she does have talent too.”

More convulsive laughter.

His explanation for his behavior--laughing fits at the slightest provocation--was the understatement of the afternoon: “I’m in such a good mood.”

To him, Houston seemed to be synonymous with joy. No wonder. It’s primarily his work on her smash “Whitney” album that earned him the best-producer Grammy earlier this month. Two of the seven songs he produced for the album, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” and “So Emotional,” were No. 1 pop singles.

But he wasn’t only being rewarded for producing Houston’s dance singles. His string of 1987 No. 1 singles included the Aretha Franklin-George Michael duet “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me),” and the Starship’s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.”

Now Walden is the hot hired gun: When major artists are hunting for producers, his name tops many lists. He’s now producing tracks for Lionel Richie’s next album. But he doesn’t only work with megastars.

“I take jobs with people I admire, people with incredible talent who aren’t necessarily big sellers,” he said, which explains why he just finished producing a few songs for the Four Tops.

Though Walden obviously savors his most-sought-after producer status, he’s hoping the recognition will be the boost he needs in his other career: solo singer.

Most fans probably don’t even know Walden is a singer. But he’s recorded seven solo albums for Atlantic--the last one two years ago. This top-of-the-chart producer has been a bottom-of-the-chart singer.

“Oh, I’m a beloved solo artist,” said Walden, cracking up at his sarcastic quip. Regaining his composure, he added, “But there’s hope for me.”

Recording for a new label, he speculated, may be a slump-breaker. After the interview, Walden, a San Francisco Bay Area resident in town briefly on business, was headed to Burbank for a meeting with Mo Ostin, chairman of the board of Warner Bros. Records, to discuss his new solo album, “Divine Emotion,” due out at the end of April.

Why is it that superstar producers, like Walden, Nile Rodgers and David Foster, also want to be artists?

“I don’t know about those guys, but I wasn’t always stuck in the studio,” he said. “I’ve known the glory of the stage and the glory of the spotlight. I still crave it. I want to be on ‘American Bandstand’ and ‘Soul Train’ as a solo artist. As a producer, songwriter and arranger, I help other artists say what they want to say. But on my records, I say what I want to say.”

Walden, who’s from Kalamazoo, Mich., started out as a whiz-kid, jazz-rock fusion drummer. In the mid-’70s, when he was in his early 20s, Walden, now 35, was working with John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra and Weather Report. Along with Billy Cobham and Lenny White, he was considered one of the best drummers in the genre. But in the late ‘70s, when fusion was no longer a force, Walden began to concentrate on singing (his vocals are expressive, melodious and very pop ) and producing.

Early in his career, he was simply known as Michael Walden. Narada was added by his guru, Sri Chinmoy, who, Walden has said, is a constant source of inspiration. Walden has been a disciple for over 14 years.

But Walden, who has also said that he tries to meditate and pray daily, is far from the stereotypic somber, humorless spiritualist. “Man, I am crazy, sometimes, craaaazzzyyyy !”

More hysterical laughter.

A moderately successful producer since the late ‘70s with artists like Stacy Lattisaw, Sister Sledge, Angela Bofill and Patti Austin, Walden has worked on parts of 50 albums as a producer, most before he hit the big time a few years ago with Houston and Aretha Franklin, both Arista Records artists. Of the seven songs he produced on the two Franklin albums--”Aretha” and “Who’s Zoomin’ Who”--it was her smash hit “Freeway of Love” that helped put Walden in the fast lane.

“I wrote that song for myself and didn’t use it,” he said. “When I got the chance to work with Aretha, I gave it to her. She needed good material. I’ve seen her win Grammys with lackluster songs.”

While producing Franklin, he accepted a challenge to work with a newcomer named Whitney Houston. Walden-watchers still consider her smolderingly funky “How Will I Know”--a No. 1 single from her record-setting debut album--to be his finest record.

Walden, who generously credits his band and his engineer with much of his success, may work with either his own compositions or the artists’ selections. Sometimes, his songs are rejected. For instance, Arista Records head man Clive Davis, who picks Houston’s songs, didn’t like the material Walden had written for her current Houston album.

“I was trying to take her to another place, but Clive wouldn’t let me,” he said. “He already knew the songs he wanted. He was so attached to them. He wasn’t happy with the songs I had written. Sometimes I hate the songs he picks, but I have to work with them if I want to work with her. So I strip them down to their core and arrange the hell out of them and make them sound good.

“With Whitney, I want her to appeal to her black fans. The demo (demonstration record) of ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ was straight pop. It sounded ridiculous, like Olivia Newton-John at the rodeo. I added that ‘grease’ to it and turned it into a dance jam that blacks could dig, too.”

What’s his plan for Lionel Richie?

“To do something fresh with him,” Walden said. “We’re writing songs together. He needs some good, funky songs too. His last album sold millions, but it wasn’t that good. He can do better. That’s where I come in.”

Walden, who’s constantly turning down producing assignments, mentioned some he wouldn’t refuse. “I’d love to work with Cher,” he gushed. “That girl is baaaad . I’d like to produce an album or a duet with her and Lionel.

“And Luther (Vandross). I’d love to work with him. You’d have to be a producer to appreciate just how great a singer he is. Then there’s Stevie (Wonder). I’d love to produce him. He needs a fresh approach. Only a few producers have the breadth and versatility to produce an artist who is as talented as he is. I’m one of them.”

Again, Walden started to laugh. “I sound like I’m bragging, don’t I?” he asked between bursts of convulsive laughter. “But I’m not. I’m just telling it like it is. I am gooooooodddd !”