D. Train

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For the baseball player nicknamed "D-Train", see Dontrelle Willis.

D. Train (sometimes written as D Train, D-Train or "D" Train) was actually James Williams, a R&B/dance music record producer from Brooklyn, New York, often in conjunction with Hubert Eaves III as producer. D Train's most memorable hit was "You're the One For Me", which hit #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1981 and has been re-released successfully since. The song exists in remixes by Larry Levan and Shep Pettibone, and was covered at one point by Paul Hardcastle (who gave us the song "19"). Hardcastle didn't stray far from the arrangement of the original. The dance floor anthem "Music", is arguably the most-gospel infused of D-Trains floor fillers (with large measures funk and jazz apparent as well) was equally as popular. More dance chart entries followed throughout the 1980s, including "Keep On", which peaked at #2. D-Train also recorded a version of Bacharach's "Walk On By" that owed more to the Isaac Hayes version than Dionne Warwick's.

In 1984 D Train had his only Billboard Hot 100 entry: "Something's On Your Mind", which climbed to #79.

D Train's hard funky style featured fat bass synthesiser rhythms that influenced other artists. However, by the late 1980s, as jazz funk fell out of fashion, D Train's cheesy image became hard to shrug off - and yet, 'You're the One for Me' and 'Music' continued to stir dancefloors. Also, D. Train recently has reissued all his albums on CD's through Unidisc Music Inc.

D Train infamously contributed to the Pokémon anime's "Pokérap" on the official television soundtrack, 2BA Master.

James D Train Williams is currently a DJ for Heart & Soul Channel 51 on the Sirius Satellite Radio service based in New York City.