''If That's What It Takes'' is the debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American musician Michael McDonald, released on August 3, 1982 by

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

. The album peaked at #6 on ''Billboard'' 200, while singles "

I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near) "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)" (also known as "I Keep Forgettin") is a 1982 song by American musician Michael McDonald, from his debut studio album '' If That's What It Takes'' (1982). It was written by McDonald and Ed Sanford. Rel ...

" and "I Gotta Try" went to #4 and #44 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, respectively.

Track listing

Personnel

* Michael McDonald – lead vocals; backing vocals (1, 3, 4, 6–8, 10);

Rhodes piano The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, th ...

(1–3, 7, 9, 10); synthesizers (1–4, 6–8, 10); acoustic piano (4–6, 8) *

Greg Phillinganes Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, vocalist, and arranger. A session musician, Phillinganes has contributed to numerous albums over a broad array of artists and genres. He has toured with artists includin ...

– acoustic piano (1, 3, 7, 10);

clavinet The Clavinet is an electric clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds with rubber pads, each matching one of the keys and respond ...

(2); Rhodes piano (4);

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

(9) * Michael Boddicker – additional synthesizers (4) *

Michael Omartian Michael S. Omartian (born November 26, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, keyboardist, and music producer. He produced number-one records in three consecutive decades. He has earned 11 Grammy Awards nominations and won three. H ...

– Rhodes piano (6, 8) *

Dean Parks Weldon Dean Parks (born December 6, 1946) is an American session guitarist and record producer from Fort Worth, Texas. Parks has one Grammy nomination. Albums Parks was member of the North Texas State One O'clock Lab Band before moving to Los A ...

– guitar (1, 3, 7, 9); guitar overdubs (8) *

Steve Lukather Steven Lee "Luke" Lukather (born October 21, 1957) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto. His reputation as a skilled guitarist led to ...

– guitar (2, 4, 6, 8, 10) *

Robben Ford Robben Lee Ford (born December 16, 1951) is an American blues, jazz, and rock music, rock guitarist. He was a member of the L.A. Express and Yellowjackets (band), Yellowjackets and has collaborated with Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, George Harriso ...

– guitar solo (6, 7) *

Willie Weeks Willie Weeks (born August 5, 1947) is an American bass guitarist. He has gained fame performing with famous musicians in a wide variety of genres. He has been one of the most in-demand session musicians throughout his career. Weeks has also ga ...

– bass (1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10) * Louis Johnson – bass (2) *

Mike Porcaro Michael Joseph Porcaro (May 29, 1955 – March 15, 2015) was an American bass player known for his work with the rock band Toto. He retired from touring in 2007 as a result of being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He was t ...

– bass (6, 8) *

Steve Gadd Stephen Kendall Gadd (born April 9, 1945) is an American jazz fusion drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and most highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction i ...

– drums (1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10) *

Jeff Porcaro Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro (April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an American drummer. He is best known for being the co-founder and drummer of the rock band Toto, but is also one of the most recorded session musicians in history, working on hundr ...

– drums (2, 6, 8) *

Lenny Castro Lenny Castro (born September 19, 1956) is an American percussionist from the Los Angeles area. He is one of the most prolific percussionists of all time, appearing on hundreds of albums, including those by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Adele, Maroon ...

– percussion (1, 3, 6-8, 10) *

Bobby LaKind Robert Jay LaKind (November 3, 1945 – December 24, 1992) was an American conga player, vocalist, songwriter and occasional backup drummer with The Doobie Brothers. Originally a lighting roadie for the band, he was invited to join as a sideman ...

– percussion (1) *

Paulinho da Costa Paulinho da Costa (, born Paulo Roberto da Costa on May 31, 1948) is a Brazilian percussionist. Beginning his career as a samba musician in Brazil, he moved to the United States in the early 1970s and worked with Brazilian bandleader Sérgio Me ...

– percussion (3, 4) *

Ted Templeman Edward John "Ted" Templeman (born October 24, 1942) is an American musician and record producer. Among the acts with whom he has had a long relationship are the rock bands Van Halen and Doobie Brothers and the singer Van Morrison; he produced ...

– percussion (4) *

Edgar Winter Edgar Holland Winter (born December 28, 1946) is an American multi-instrumentalist, working as a vocalist along with playing keyboards, saxophone, and percussion. His success peaked in the 1970s with his band the Edgar Winter Group and their pop ...

– saxophone solo (1, 10); alto saxophone (8) * Tom Scott – saxophone solo (6); Lyricon solo (9) * Ed Sanford – backing vocals (1) * Maureen McDonald – backing vocals (2, 6) *

Kenny Loggins Kenneth Clark "Kenny" Loggins (born January 7, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, which led to seven albums recorded with Jim Messina (musician), Jim Mess ...

– backing vocals (4) *

Christopher Cross Christopher Cross (born Christopher Charles Geppert; May 3, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He won five Grammy Awards for his eponymous debut album released in 1979. The singles "Sailing" (1979), and " Arthur's Theme (Best ...

– backing vocals (6) *

Brenda Russell Brenda Russell (née Gordon; born April 8, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and keyboardist. Russell has a diverse musical range which encompasses Rhythm and blues, R&B, pop music, pop, soul music, soul, dance music, dance, and ...

– backing vocals (6) * Kathy Walker – backing vocals (6) *

Amy Holland Amy Celeste Boersma (born August 15, 1953), known professionally as Amy Holland, is an American pop and rock singer. Her career spans more than 40 years. She received a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist in 1981, following her Amy Holla ...

– backing vocals (6)

Production

* Produced by

and Lenny Waronker * Engineers – Lee Herschberg (1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10), Jim Isaacson (5, 6, 8), Donn Landee (2) * Overdub engineers – Jim Isaacson, Donn Landee, Mark Linett, Lee Herschberg * Second engineers – Ken Deane, Steve McManus * Mixing – Lee Herschberg * Mastered by Bobby Hata at Warner Bros. Recording Studio. * Horn arrangements –

Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's '' Thriller'', '' Rock with Y ...

* String arrangements – Marty Paich * Keyboard technician – Paul Mederios * Production coordinators – Joan Parker, Vicki Fortson, Kathy Walker * Direction –

Irving Azoff Irving Azoff (; born December 12, 1947) is an American businessman, who is chairman of Full Stop Management, a company that represents recording artists. During the course of his career, he has worked as an agent, personal manager, concert pr ...

* Photography – Jim Shea * Art Direction and design – Jeff Adamoff

Charts

References

External links

* 1982 debut albums Albums arranged by Marty Paich Albums produced by Lenny Waronker Albums produced by Ted Templeman Michael McDonald (musician) albums Warner Records albums {{1980s-pop-album-stub