Narada Michael Walden
S4 / Episode 12
About this episode
If you made a Venn diagram and one circle included only musicians skilled and talented enough to jam and record with some of the greatest players of all time: Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock, Jeff Beck, Allen Holdsworth, Pat Metheny, Billy Cobham. The other circle included only hit record producers who have produced at least 9 Billboard Hot 100 #1 singles, there would only be one name overlapping both circles and that’s our guest this week: Narada Michael Walden. As a drummer, Narada has played with all of the above and more. As a lead performer, he’s released 13 solo albums. As a producer, he’s created all-time smashes like “I Wanna Dance With Somebody Who Loves Me” and “How Will I Know” for Whitney Houston; “Vision Of Love” for Mariah Carey, and “Freeway of Love” and “I Knew You Were Waiting For Me” for Aretha Franklin: A fascinating career and a fantastic episode of our Rock & Roll High School podcast.