THE WHITNEY SOUL PODCAST

Story by: Gail Nobles
Keyboard player: Gail Nobles
Podcast vocals: Gail Nobles

Song: Tonight I'm Alright
Song by: Michael Walden
Photo Credit: By Craig ONeal,
Usage: CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=85864151

Tody’s Topic is Michael Walden.

It was 1979 when I heard Michael Walden’s song, “Tonight I’m Alright”. I didn’t know back then that Michael Walden was Michael Walden. He workded with Whitney Houston. Michael Walden has been a hit record producer, songwriter, artist, and drummer. He produced a great hit for Whitey Houston. Michael wrote, “How Will I Know”. He also worked and wrote for other artists. Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin, Tevin Campbell, and Stacy Lattisaw just to name a few.

When I heard Walden in 1979 singing, Toight I’m Alright, I was a child, and it was during the time when there was no lyrics written for you to understand words to songs. I was hearing some way off base words on the break. He would sing. “I know everything’s gonna be alright.”

Back then, I thought he was saying A instead of Everything because I couldn’t make out the rest of the words. I would say: A B C call me tonight. I filled in words where I didn’t understand. I was rewriting the song, and it was a song that I enjoyed hearing. I wanted to know the right words to the lyrics so bad. I always remembered the song, but as time went on, as I grew older, I didn’t hear the song anymore, and bits and pieces of the song was left in my mind.

So when I got grown and was able to go to work, I asked my co-workers about Michael Walden’s song. I didn’t even know that Michael Walden was the voice of that song. So I would sing the chorus part and the base. People would say who it sounded like but nobody knew. So I got online and wrote the part that I knew in the search dngine. The song was not easily found, but I found it, and I was glad to see it because I was starting to think it didn’t exist anymore or forgotten. When I found it, the words were so clear. Maybe the words weren’t clear to me in my childhood days because I was hearing it from radio or something, and it wasn’t as clear. I had a hard time finding the lyrics online because I didn’t know the author and the chorus wasn’t quite enough during that time.

Now lets talk about when Walden first started working with Whitney Houston. I enjoy Michael Walden’s story about Whitney Houston. He talked about how he first met Whitney in the studio. How thin she was with a big sound. Walden was amazed at how she could make that kind of sound. And you know how Whitney Sings. She really sings out and loud and it takes practice too.

“How Will I Know” was the song Walden worked on for Whitney. Michael Walden is a very talented guy. He knew Whitney’s sound and what sounded right. How Will I Know was Whitney’s second number one single. Michael Walden tickled me when he talked about how Whitney would stare at him and dare him to say anything and all that. Whitney knew she could sing becuase she was taught by the best. Her mom.

You’re listening to the Whitney Soul Podcast. Today’s Topic is Michael Walden.