Waddy Wachtel album were titled Ronin. Released on the Mercury label, the record never charted. In 1984 he played on Steve Perry's (Journey) solo album Street Talk. He has appeared on hundreds of albums with many different artists and bands. Production credits include albums by Stevie Nicks, Keith Richards, Jackson Browne, Bryan Ferry, The Church, Sand Rubies, George Thorogood and the Destroyers and Warren Zevon. Wachtel co-wrote several songs with Zevon including "Werewolves of London". He also co-wrote the Warren Zevon song "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead" from the album "Mr. Bad Example". He performed and co-produced the first
Warren Zevon finally overcame severe alcohol and drug addictions. During this interim period, Zevon collaborated with Bill Berry, Peter Buck and Mike Mills (of R.E.M.), along with backup vocalist Bryan Cook to form a minor project called Hindu Love Gods. The group released the noncharting single "Narrator" for IRS Records in 1984, then went into abeyance for several years. Berry, Buck and Mills served as the core of Zevon's next studio band when he re-emerged in 1987 by signing with Virgin Records and recording the album "Sentimental Hygiene". The release, hailed as his best since "Excitable Boy", featured a thicker rock sound