Rock Beat: Mitchell Froom .c The Associated Press By DAVID BAUDER NEW YORK (AP) - Mitchell Froom stood on a downtown Manhattan sidewalk, wearing black and looking goofy. A photographer circled him, snapping dozens of pictures. From Froom's grimace you could tell it was something he isn't used to and doesn't enjoy. His wife, singer Suzanne Vega, is used to the star-making machinery. So are artists like Bonnie Raitt, Richard Thompson, Los Lobos, Crowded House and Elvis Costello, who have all asked this man to help shape their music over the past decade. Froom, however, likes working in the background. He can't even stand the sound of his own voice on tape. But he's adept at knowing what else sounds good, and this ability has helped him build a reputation as one of the most successful and distinctive record producers in the business. Records produced by Froom often sound quirky, rather than smooth. He emphasizes an artist's unique qualities and doesn't hesitate to use unusual instrumentation. But it never comes at the expense of the songs: His wife's ``99.9 F'' album and Los Lobos' ``Kiko'' are good examples. Note the difference, too, between Raitt's new ``Fundamental Things'' album that Froom produced, and her previous work with Don Was. The new album is more brittle, bluesy and edgy compared with Was' more polished discs. ``I've heard of people saying that anyone who works with me is about to have their career ruined,'' Froom said. ``I know a manager who said that. Then you find out what his tastes are and you're glad he said that. ``I hope that the work is strong enough that some people really like it and some people really hate it,'' he said. ``What more could you ask for?'' It's not a bad collection, considering he got his first production job because a rock band liked the way he scored the music for a porn film. Froom was a keyboard player scrambling for jobs when he did the music for ``Cafe Flesh.'' Members of the Del Fuegos heard it and contacted him, wanting Froom to work on their album. As ``young guys who couldn't play very well,'' the Del Fuegos weren't a high priority for their record company at the time. So the executives consented to hiring a first-time producer. The album caused barely a ripple of notice, but Froom's second job certainly did. He produced the crystalline pop of Crowded House's first album, which unexpectedly yielded some Top 10 singles, making both Froom and the band hot commodities. Froom works with a partner, Tchad Blake, on most production jobs. ``Whoever we work with, it's a collaboration,'' he said. ``Our goal ... is to highlight the person's eccentricities, whoever you're working with, whether it's a band or a singer-songwriter. You want to take whatever it is about them that's unique and push it forward. ``The other elements involved with the recording, you try to make them as vibrant as possible,'' he said. ``Sometimes it means finding an unusual approach to it, but hopefully one that feels absolutely right.'' One sublime example comes on Vega's ``When Heroes Go Down.'' A swirling rush of music abruptly stops for the single ring of a bicycle bell - a perfect tension release. Froom asks to hear a demo tape of the songs in progress when he's deciding whether to work with an artist. ``When I listen to the tape, if I find myself getting a lot of ideas, then it's likely that I'll want to work on it,'' he said. If it's someone he hasn't worked with before, he talks to them about records that have been influential in their lives or asks them to make a tape of their favorite music. Sometimes that's the best place to look for ideas. When Ron Sexsmith said that he admired the Beach Boys' music, Froom took an idea from one of the band's records to use the tambourine to keep the beat on one of Sexsmith's song. This gave the Canadian singer's delicate voice a chance to be heard. Froom had a simple question when Raitt approached him. ``I asked her if she was crazy for wanting to work with us, because she obviously had a very successful formula,'' he said. But most artists need change to keep fresh. Froom advises his clients to try someone else when they've been with him too long. At the same time, Froom recognizes a danger in establishing an identifiable Mitchell Froom Sound. ``Sometimes people compliment Tchad and me by saying that we have a very distinctive style,'' he said. ``But I would hope that Bonnie Raitt's record and Los Lobos' record sound very different from Suzanne Vega's record. I think that if you listen to those records, they sound completely different.'' Froom has other outlets for his musical ideas. He, Blake and Louis Perez and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos are members of the Latin Playboys, who occasionally release some experimental music. And last month an album was released with Froom's name on the front, instead of simply on the production credits. His first solo album, ``Dopamine,'' has vocal contributions from Sexsmith, Hidalgo, Vega, Sheryl Crow and Lisa Germano. Froom worked on the album for Atlantic Records for three years, stealing moments here and there between production jobs. ``It's something I wanted to do for a long time, and somebody said yes,'' he said. ``Atlantic said we could give you a large budget and you have to have something that sounds like a hit song on it, or we could give you a small budget and you can do anything you want. I said give me a small budget.'' Still, he wasn't interested in an album that fits comfortably in the music underground, and he takes a novel approach to trying to attract attention. He puts a cover on the album with garish colors and pictures of naked women.