Dan Hartman

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Dan Hartman (December 8, 1950 - March 22, 1994) was an American singer, songwriter and record producer.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Born Dan Earl Hartman, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Hartman joined his first band, The Legends, at the age of 13, with his brother Dave. Hartman played keyboards and wrote much of the band's music. The band released several records but none were hits. He joined the Edgar Winter Group and played on three of their albums; Dan wrote the band's second biggest pop hit "Free Ride" in 1972. He launched a solo career in 1976. "Free Ride" was used on the Movie Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie in 1995

In 1978 Hartman reached number-one with the single "Instant Replay"; musicians Hartman worked with on the associated album include Vinnie Vincent (perhaps most famous for his controversial, short-lived membership - and subsequent sacking - from Kiss) and G.E. Smith. This was followed by his second chart topper "Relight My Fire" (1979). Both tracks are considered by many to be anthems of the disco era. There was also a cover version of Instant Replay which was a one-hit wonder for a boy duo called Yell! (Paul Varney and Daniel James) in January 1990.


He was back in the charts yet again with the top-10 single "I Can Dream About You" from the Streets of Fire soundtrack in 1984. Hartman was featured as a bartender in the video, which received heavy rotation on MTV; clips from the movie Streets of Fire are shown in the video where his vocals were convincingly lip-synched by Stoney Jackson,an African-American actor. Hartman then scored a third number 1 single, "We Are The Young." During the next decade he worked as a songwriter and producer, and collaborated with such artists as Tina Turner, Dusty Springfield, Joe Cocker, Bonnie Tyler, Paul Young, James Brown, Nona Hendryx and Steve Winwood.

He died at age 43 in Westport, Connecticut from a brain tumor caused by AIDS. (In his private life he was gay and it wasn't until his death that it became public knowledge.) At the time of his death, Hartman's music was enjoying a revival; a cover version of his song "Relight My Fire" became a British number-one hit for Take That and Lulu. Sales of Hartman's solo recordings, group efforts, production, songwriting and compilation inclusions exceed 50 million records worldwide.

[edit] Albums

  • Who Is Dan Hartman (1976)
  • Images (1976)
  • Instant Replay (1979) #80 US
  • Relight My Fire (1980) #189 US
  • April Music Recorded Music Library (1981)
  • It Hurts To Be In Love (1982)
  • I Can Dream About You (1984) #55 US
  • Whiteboy (1986) Never Released
  • New Green Clear Blue (1989)
  • Keep The Fire Burnin (1994)
  • Superhits (2004)

[edit] Singles

  • "Instant Replay" (1978) #29 US, #8 UK, #1 US Dance
  • "This Is It" (1979) #17 UK
  • "Hands Down" (1979) #26 US Dance
  • "Relight My Fire" (1980) #1 US Dance
  • "I Can Dream About You" (1984) #6 US, #78 UK, #8 US Dance
  • "We Are The Young" (1984) #25 US, #1 US Dance
  • "Second Nature" (1985) #40 US Dance, #66 UK
  • "I Can Dream About You (1985)" (1985) #12 UK
  • "Get Outta Town" (1985) #99 UK
  • "Keep The Fire Burnin'" (featuring Loleatta Holloway) (1995) #49 UK

[edit] Tribute Site

[edit] See also

In other languages