David Foster has been called a master of schmaltz (or some derivation thereof) more than a few times. But you can’t argue with his commercial track record. He has notched mammoth hits producing and writing for the likes of Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, Whitney Houston, Chicago and literally dozens of others. In more recent years, he has discovered and shaped the careers of such artists as Josh Groban, Michael Buble and The Corrs.

 

The native of Victoria, Canada, who turns 60 on Nov. 1, has a crowded trophy room highlighted by 15 Grammy awards (out of 45 nominations). Foster got his start as a member of the one-hit-wonder band Skylark that in 1972 scored a Top 10 single with “Wildflower.” He went on to play the keyboard for a variety of singers and then in the late 1970s found his niche at the console and penning tunes.

 

After a lifetime in the studio, Foster has mounted a tour featuring vocalists Philip Bailey (Earth, Wind & Fire), Peter Cetera (Chicago), Michael Johns and Ruben Studdard (American Idol) and an Oprah Winfrey discovery, big-voiced 17-year-old Filipino singer named Charice. The concert, part of a 10-city tour, also features the Hitman Talent Search, which will showcase an emerging local artist in each city. (For information on how to enter, go to namedrop.com)

 

David Foster & Friends (Philip Bailey, Peter Cetera, Charice, Michael Johns, Deborah Cox, Ruben Studdard) will perform on Fri., Oct. 30, 8 p.m. at St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa. Tickets are $55, $75 and $125. sptimesforum.com.

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I would think many artists in your position would be content to stay around the house and studio. Why do you tour?

 

It’s really simple. This is not a bull---- answer: It’s that I made music for 35-plus years never knowing who I was reaching. I’ve gotten a taste of live performance doing charity works, and I honed my skills as a host, but I never really knew if I was good or not. I truly wish I could be a great singer, but it wasn’t meant to be. But this is the next best thing. I get to play [music] and host.

 

Do you sing at all during the show?

 

A little. There are actually a few singers who like my singing. Olivia Newton-John did a duet with me. Seal likes the way I sing. He thinks I have a good feel for the arc of a song.

 

You’ve written and produced a lot of hits. Do you see a distinction between making hits and making art?

 

(Pause) That’s a good question. I’ve never been asked that. (Pause) Of course there is a distinction, but I don’t distinguish the process in my mind. In my mind, if it’s a hit, it’s art. I’m, first of all, a little out of the loop in terms of making hits -- current Top 40 hits. I would say that when you’re really honest with yourself musically, that is art. I don’t think about trying to write a hit.

 

I love success and I f---ing hate failure with a passion. You gauge success by sales, so when I lay my hands on the piano, I am working within a format that will possibly yield a hit: Keep it to four minutes, verse-chorus-verse, etc.

 

As a producer of superstars and divas, I would think the job would have its certain delicate aspects. What is a personality trait you have that makes you able to work well with superstars in the studio?

 

In my head, when I go into the studio – this is probably egotistical – but I believe that I can get a better vocal out of them than anyone they ever worked with. That’s the mantra going in. We don’t always succeed. Every artist that’s worked with me doesn’t love it. But I know how to play every instrument, know how to write for orchestra, I stay current. You can’t really f--- with me in the studio. You can disagree, but you can’t dispute that I know what I’m doing. Some producers rely on samples and “this should be more blue, and this should be more pink,” and an artist has a good chance of running over them. I have a level of confidence that is both comforting and annoying. I roll up my sleeves and give as much input as the artist will allow.

 

It seems in more recent years that you’ve excelled at finding artists and molding them, like Josh Groban and Michael Buble. That’s a different dynamic than with a superstar, right?

 

Josh Groban is a good case in point. When I met him, he was 17 and he had this tremendous asset, which was his voice. He had been in musical theater, a place where he thought he was comfortable. I decided for him what direction to go. It was my vision, not his.

 

But he has worked with Rick Rubin [for his next album], which has brought out incredible other sides of him. Josh loves Radiohead and Coldplay and the darker side of music. He plays piano and he’s a great rock drummer. He’s now mature and experienced, so he can explore other musical directions.

 

So you were the good early mentor and then he graduated and is trying something else. Are you cool with that?

 

I didn’t say I didn’t go kicking and screaming. What I had to do was put my ego aside. I want him to succeed. He’s on my label. So I had to check myself. He was like “I gotta fly.” And I said, “OK, if you want to bounce anything off me, if you want my help, just ask. If you don’t, that’s great.” I’m pulling for him 100 percent.

 

You’ve surely had conflicts in the studio over the years. Can you give me a couple of examples of conflicts and how you resolved them?

 

Every single artist I ever worked with I had an argument with, for sure. But I think compromise breeds mediocrity. You make an album full of compromises and it ends up s---. There’s no compromise in my mind. I will win or I will succumb.

 

I’ll give you an example of on argument that I lost and thank God I did. I did Toni Braxton’s “Unbreak My Heart,” and her vocal starts out really, really low. I wanted to raise it by like five keys; I figured the chorus would end up too high. Babyface, who was also involved, insisted we had to leave it low and Toni did as well. I succumbed. They were right and I was wrong. If I had compromised – and we might have come to one – the song wouldn’t have turned out nearly as good.

 

On the other end of the spectrum, Chicago didn’t want to record “Hard Habit to Break,” and the song went to No. 1. I knew that song was a hit and I held my ground.

 

I once told Richard Marx he shouldn’t be a singer. Wrong there. I told Celine Dion she shouldn’t record the “Titanic” song. Could you be anymore wrong? I passed on doing the soundtrack work for Flashdance. I thought the concept of the movie didn’t make sense.

 

On the other hand, I was doing Bodyguard and they weren’t going to do “I Will Always Love You.” They thought they needed a better song. They wanted to do “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted,” but I drilled down on it and I just couldn’t find a way for Whitney [Houston] to do it. So “I Will Always Love You” stayed.

 

So a little bit about the tour: I understand you have a talent show portion, kind of a quasi-American Idol thing.

 

You don’t sound that enthusiastic.

 

You’re right. I’m a conscientious objector when it comes to American Idol.

 

Mine’s different. First, there’s no on-stage judging. I listen to the Top 20 entries before each city on the bus and pick the winner myself. Here’s the thing: I love to make people win. I know it’s exciting for local talent to get up and wow the hometown crowd.

 

Someone has an opportunity – a rocker, an R&B singer, a rapper – to get up in front of their hometown and win. I know that when I’m in the background playing piano, someone in Tampa can come out and perform one of the songs they wrote or one I wrote – and they win. And that’s like me winning.