"I Shoulda Loved Ya" by Narada Michael Walden

Song#:  0040
Date:  02/09/1980
Debut:  89
Peak:  66
Weeks:  6
Genre:  R&B



Pop Bits:  His name may not be familiar to a lot of folks, but most everyone has heard his work. Walden is one of those artists whose work behind the scenes far outweighs their own recording career. He only had two minor pop entries as a solo artist (he fared a bit better on the R&B chart), but as a producer he churned out a big batch of hits including Aretha's "Freeway of Love," several Whitney Houston songs like "How Will I Know," and chart toppers by Mariah Carey and even Starship. The Grammys handed him a Producer of the Year award in 1987 and he earned one again for Album of the Year with the soundtrack to "The Bodyguard." Pretty impressive.

ReduxReview:  Sorry - no single edit to post, which is too bad. At 6+ minutes, this is a tad long in the tooth. And for a bland R&B jam, it just seems to go on forever. Definitely not a bad song, but just not special. Luckily, whatever spark he couldn't ignite in his solo work took off like a wildfire when he got behind the boards.

ReduxRating:  4/10

Trivia:  Walden started in the business as a drummer, mainly in the fusion arena with the likes of Mahavishnu Orchestra. Later on in 1976, he found himself collaborating on Jeff Beck's second solo album "Wired." Walden played the drums and wrote four of the songs.

_________________________________________________________________________________