Taped Noir : Singer-songwriter Mark Winkler calls his latest work an aural version of the films of the ‘40s and ‘50s, an era to which he is drawn.

Although he’s written such love tunes as “Can’t Stand the Pain,” which was a big hit for singer Randy Crawford in 1989, Mark Winkler believes lyrics should be about more than the ecstasies and woes of romantic entanglements. He likes his words to tell other stories too.

“I try to do lyrics that mean something to me,” he said. Winkler, a singer and songwriter who since the late ‘70s has written 300 songs, has had 60 of them recorded by such artists as Crawford, Liza Minnelli, Nancy Wilson and Diane Reeves.

He airs his wares Saturday at Le Cafe in Sherman Oaks.

“Tales of Hollywood,” the musician’s just-finished album, for which he’s in search of a label, exemplifies Winkler’s personal approach. “The whole album is like a taped noir, “ he said, an aural version of the film noir of the ‘40s and ‘50s. “That era really speaks to me,” said Winkler, 44. “I’ve always been drawn to it, always thought that’s who I am.”

For starters, there’s “The Big Nowhere,” the title track from a James Ellroy novel, which Winkler called a “Raymond Chandler novel in 4 1/2 minutes.”

“It’s about a detective who doubles as a jazz singer,” said L.A. native Winkler in a phone interview from Wayne, Pa., where he was visiting one of his co-writers, composer Jim Andron. “He meets this girl at a club, and she comes to a bad end, and he goes and finds her killer.”

Other Winkler songs are straight out of his family history.

“Everybody Cha-Cha” captures a late-’50s period when he and his family were living at the Garden of Allah, a Hollywood hotel at Sunset and Crescent Heights boulevards that catered to entertainment people. At the time, singer Bobby Darin was staying there, as were actor Joseph Cotton and the husband-and-wife team of trumpeter Louis Prima and singer Keely Smith.

“I’d see Bobby by the pool, Louis and Keely would fool around, singing in the hallway, and they were all nice to me, because I was a kid,” Winkler recalled. “And there was a cha-cha band led by Manny Lopez that played every night, and on weekends, I’d go dancing with my family.”

The music for “Everybody Cha-Cha” was supplied by Robert Kraft, the jazz-based pop songwriter who composed “Beautiful Maria of My Soul,” the ethereal theme from the film “The Mambo Kings.” “I’d wanted to write with him for years,” Winkler said.

Winkler was raised in the Fairfax district in a very musical household. His mother and aunt were professional singers; his father wanted to be an opera singer, and his grandmother got into the act, singing “My Funny Valentine” at family gatherings. Winkler said his early idols were Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald.

He paid tribute to Fitzgerald with “Takin’ Chances,” which can be found on his most recent album, 1989’s “Hottest Night of the Year,” on Chase Music Group records.

The opening verse: “In 1985, I saw Ella Fitzgerald take command of the stage.

“She could have coasted, riding on old glories, but the lady didn’t act her age. Though she used it, building on experience, she promptly took her cues from the wind. So innovative, so creative, the minute that the muses let the music kick in.”

Winkler was inspired by that performance to do some creative stretching of his own. “She sang high, she sang low, not because she had to. She was doing it for the love,” he remembered. “And I figured if she could do it, I could take more chances.”

Calling himself alternately a “songwriter who also sings” and a “pop singer with jazz influences,” Winkler has been performing for about 10 years, mostly in Los Angeles, though he has found quite a following in Australia. “I’ve been there three times,” he said.

In L.A., he mostly appears at Le Cafe, where owner Dale Jaffe has booked him on many occasions. “Mark’s soulful, a really good interpreter of songs,” Jaffe said.

Winkler said writing lyrics is hard--”I rewrite and rewrite and rewrite.” He sometimes makes a living from his songwriting royalties, sometimes not, and has found work as a T-shirt illustrator and a marketing consultant. He said he’s happy with his life, even though he’ll be the only singer to record many of his songs. “Nobody’s going to do the ones with too strong of a point of view,” he said. “You have to be a little more generic to get other people to record them, most of the time.”

WHERE AND WHEN

* Who: Mark Winkler.

* Location: The Room Upstairs at Le Cafe, 14633 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks.

* Hours: 9 and 11 p.m. Saturday.

* Price: $10 cover, two-drink minimum.

* Call: (818) 986-2662.