Alex Henderson

Wanda Walden
Searchin' for Love [Expanded Edition]

When Narada Michael Walden produced and arranged Wanda Walden’s Searchin’ for Love in 1981, he had an impressively diverse résumé. The Kalamazoo, Michigan-born producer, arranger, songwriter and drummer boasted strong jazz-fusion credentials, having played on 1970s albums by the likes of Chick Corea, Weather Report, Jaco Pastorius, Allan Holdsworth and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. And the R&B side of Narada’s résumé grew when his singles “I Shoulda Loved Ya” (a #4 R&B smash in Billboard) and “I Don’t Want Nobody Else (To Dance With You)” became major hits in 1979 and he worked with Aretha Franklin, Stacy Lattisaw and Sister Sledge as a producer in the early 1980s. Narada, in fact, produced Sister Sledge’s All American Girls (one of their best albums) in 1981. But if All American Girls was Narada’s greatest R&B accomplishment of 1981, Searchin’ for Love (originally released on LP by Elektra Records) arguably ran a close second. Narada helped bring out the best in Wanda, who was his sister-in-law at the time and soars as both a dance diva and a ballad singer on Searchin’ for Love.

The songs on this reissue fall into two main categories: sleek, Chic-influenced dance-funk grooves like “Don’t You Want My Lovin’” and “Holdin’ On” and romantic quiet storm ballads and slow jams such as “Take Your Heart,” “Lost and Found,” “Wanna Love You Tonight,” “Just to Love You,” “It’s Gone Now” and the title track (a male/female vocal duet with Narada). for Love appealed to two different audiences: dance clubs embraced “Don’t You Want My Lovin’” and “Holdin’ On,” while quiet storm stations jumped on the album’s ballads.

“Wanda, at the time, was married to my brother Kevin,” the 61-year-old Narada recalled during an October 2013 interview. “Wanda is a great vocalist, a great singer—and it was my delight and pleasure to sit down and work with her. It was a great time because dance music was really on the cutting edge, and funk-dance club music was really in the air. So you could really push the boundaries with a dance vibration. And you could have a pretty vibration too: kind of stank on the bottom, but pretty on top—an outhouse bottom with a pretty penthouse view. You had both worlds working with you: you could have a nasty groove on the bottom with a pretty melody on top. It was a nice combination.”

Although Wanda has lived in South Florida for 23 years, she is a native New Yorker and was living in Greenwich Village when Searchin’ for Love came out. The album, however, was recorded in San Francisco, and Narada remembers that he admired Wanda as both a person and an artist. Narada asserts: “Wanda is so beautiful—her eyes, her mouth, her teeth, her skin. She is the most beautiful woman, and that reflects in her music. You can hear how beautiful she is, just radiating. And her control—Wanda had great control as a vocalist. She could do anything I asked her to do, and it would be almost effortless for her. She could do a record in one take. Now, they can punch in all kinds of crap, but back in that time, you would just lay it out and do it. I really admire the singers of that time. They were on top of their craft, and Wanda was very much of that school.”

Interviewed separately in October 2013, Wanda remembered: “Recording Searchin’ for Love was fun, but it was always professional. I remember the studio where we recorded the album in San Francisco. Jefferson Starship would be walking in, going into one room—and Herbie Hancock would be going into another room. Everybody was friendly. There were no attitudes.”

Keyboardist Hancock, in fact, is among the guest musicians on Searchin’ for Love; others include saxophonist Marc Russo (best known for his work with the jazz-fusion band the Yellowjackets) and jazz trombonist Wayne Wallace. Appearing on electric bass is Randy Jackson, who subsequently became famous for his work as a judge on “American Idol” and should not be confused with the brother of the late King of Pop Michael Jackson.

Wanda explains: “When I tell people about Randy, they say, ‘Oh my God, you worked for Randy Jackson?’ And I say, ‘No, actually, Randy worked for me.’ Sometimes, when I would watch ‘American Idol’ and see Randy, I’d remember working with him in the early ‘80s. And he hasn’t changed one bit since then.”

In 1982, Wanda recorded a Randy Jackson-produced dance-funk single for Elektra titled “I Must Be Dreamin’,” which fared well in clubs and is offered as a bonus track on this reissue. Wanda recalls: “I went all over the dance club circuit with ‘Don’t You Want My Lovin’’ and ‘I Must Be Dreamin’.’ I even opened for Grace Jones at the Paradise Garage.”

The Paradise Garage was a famous dance club that was located in Lower Manhattan in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s, and “I Must Be Dreamin’” was exactly the type of dance-funk groove that the club favored. Unfortunately, Wanda’s association with Elektra ended after “I Must Be Dreamin’,” and she never recorded a second album for the label. But Wanda moved on. In 2013, she keeps busy teaching music and performing in clubs in South Florida.

“Right now, I have my own band—and we’ve been together for over 20 years,” Wanda notes. “We do regular club dates, from Miami to Palm Beach and everywhere in between. We sometimes work on cruise ships, although I don’t do the ships that often anymore. Mostly, it’s been teaching and club dates.”

No less than 32 years have passed since the release of Searchin’ for Love, and Narada was pleasantly surprised to learn that the album was finally being reissued on CD. “Wanda is from New York, and New Yorkers have a special edge,” Narada observes. “She grew up in a city where singers were surrounded by musicians who were on top of their game, which made them better singers. I love Wanda, and I’m really happy that her album is coming out again.”

—Alex Henderson, November 2013

Alex Henderson’s work has appeared in Billboard, Spin, Creem, The L.A. Weekly, JazzTimes, Jazziz, Salon.com, AlterNet, Cash Box, HITS, CD Review, Skin Two, Black Beat, The Pasadena Weekly, Black Radio Exclusive (BRE), Music Connection, Latin Style, The New York City Jazz Record, Jazz Inside Magazine and many other well-known publications. Henderson (alexvhenderson.com) also contributed several thousand CD reviews to The All Music Guide’s popular website and series of music reference books.