A HITMAKER AND A GENTLEMAN

By CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY

Whitney Houston didn't want to sing on the sound track of Waiting to Exhale. But that was before singer-songwriter-producer Kenneth ("Babyface") Edmonds got to her. The way Houston recalls it, Edmonds told her, "I just want you to hear this one song. If you like it, you'll do it." It turned out he hadn't written any lyrics; all he had was a melody. "He started laughing," says Houston. And then he started playing the song on the piano. Houston joined in, improvising: "Count on me through thick and thin/ A friendship that will never end..." They recorded that song, Count on Me, and, later on, two more. Edmonds' melody had won her over--and the pair had a hit.

It's hard to resist Babyface's melodies. They are gently persuasive, a shoulder massage after a long day at work, a kiss on the cheek after a first date. He has worked with the best in the business, from Michael Jackson (the song On the Line from Spike Lee's new film, Get on the Bus) to Eric Clapton (the single Change the World); all told, he has produced 16 No. 1 hits. On last week's Billboard singles charts, three of the Top 10 songs--the Clapton single, Toni Braxton's Un-Break My Heart and Edmonds' own This Is for the Lover in You--either were written by him or were on his record label, LaFace. "On any given week 40% to 60% of the Top 10 records are R.-and-B. records," says Tommy Mottola, head of Sony Records (and husband of singer Mariah Carey, yet another superstar who has worked with Edmonds). "That's a huge slice of the market, and Kenny exerts a great influence over it." Producer Quincy Jones--with whom Edmonds has often been compared--sums up Edmonds' influence by saying, "Producers come and go, but he will not be going, nowhere."

Edmonds, a soft-spoken man, downplays such praise: "A genius is Steve Wonder. A genius is Prince. Those kind of artists, they have no choice. They have to write. I'm just a song man." He is that: his easygoing new CD, The Day, contains the most restrained, respectable work he's done as a solo performer.

But Edmonds, 37, is at his best working with others--he is a musical catalyst. Says Arista Records chief Clive Davis: "He brings something special out of the artists who interpret his material. He writes different ways for different people." His work is sometimes slight and sentimental, but over the years, his songcraft has grown stronger. The Day's lyrics have a solid moral core: the family unit is revered, love comes with respect, and men do a lot of crying. "Done 'bout run out of tears," he coos on Talk to Me, a pop-soul-blues number featuring Clapton on guitar. "The thing that makes Babyface special is the way he talks about love," says Andre Harrell, president of Motown Records. "He says everything a woman wants to hear. He's the best male interpreter of romance there is."

Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, the musically self-taught Edmonds met the man who would become his longtime business associate and songwriting partner, Antonio ("L.A.") Reid while both were members of the late pop band the Deele in 1982. It was a match made in pop-music heaven (or B-school fantasies). Reid cites Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the producers who helped put Janet Jackson on the pop map, as an early influence. Says Reid: "They were the first present-day producing duo to become stars. Before them, producing was a very behind-the-scenes function. Jimmy and Terry made it chic." Because of a falling-out over money, Edmonds and Reid no longer write songs together, though they still jointly operate LaFace.

A born romantic, Edmonds used to conduct imaginary relationships in grade school with pretty girls who wouldn't talk to him. Today he's married and the father of a 10-week-old son, and he is starting to focus on topics beyond infatuation. He addresses domestic abuse on the new album's How Come, How Long, a duet with Stevie Wonder. Says Edmonds: "I never thought I had a voice that could command respect on other issues." Could it be? The man they call Babyface is outgrowing his nickname.

--Reported by Pat Cole/Los Angeles and David Thigpen/New York