New Green Clear Blue

New Green Clear Blue
Studio album by Dan Hartman
Released	April 4, 1989[1]
Genre	Pop, Ambient, New Age
Length	56:04
Label	Private Music
Producer	Dan Hartman
Dan Hartman chronology
White Boy (1986) New Green Clear Blue (1989) Keep the Fire Burnin' (1994)

New Green Clear Blue is the seventh and final studio album from American musician/singer/songwriter Dan Hartman. It was his first album since 1984's I Can Dream About You (discounting the unreleased 1986 album White Boy), and was his final album of all new material.^[2]

After the big hit of "I Can Dream About You", the same-titled album, and a similarly-styled unreleased 1986 album White Boy, Hartman abruptly changed his musical style again and released New Green Clear Blue, his penultimate solo album in 1989. The tracks, played and recorded live were largely instrumental, ambient songs with the concept of being a journey into the subconscious. Upon release, the album was critically well received, but it failed to gain any commercial success.^[3][4]

The album was written, performed, engineered and produced entirely by Hartman. Special thanks for the album went to Vangelis Papathanassiou, Harold Budd and Richard Harries, Jr. for musical and personal inspiration; New York City; all at Green Street Recording Studios; Amanda Stone and Andrew Derrick Design, London; Dana Millman and all at Gold Spaceship and at Private Music.^[5]

For the album notes, Hartman himself quoted "The subconscious mind is a powerful world possessing experiences and feelings we do not necessarily recognize in our daily movements; but nonetheless they influence our entire lives. The tones and shades in this collection were performed live and intuitively for the purpose of opening channels by which the listener may visit their own subconscious"^[5] He also stated "This music is meant to be something that helps people connect with their subconscious. It is intended to be played at very low levels in a tranquil environment. It's a platform for the imagination."^[6]

Background

In the Mohave Daily Miner interview, Hartman revealed his inspiration for doing the album, and that having listened to the music of Brian Eno and Vangelis, he realised it was time to create similar material of his own. He admitted "I knew there would be a time in my career when I would stop doing what I was doing and try to create some of this on my own. It seemed to be a natural period when I wanted to stop doing pop records; it came with a falling-out between my record company and me. One of the quotes I heard was that they expected me to crank out 10 songs like "I Can Dream About You." There was a hole in my career. Instead of a valley, it became a peak to me. I decided I was going to do something that I really hadn't had time to do. I started reading books about the subconscious mind and intuitiveness, and what makes people tick when they hear songs that excite them, make them feel romantic or melancholy. I was in and out of book stores and libraries. I read lots of texts, including on primitive man and the workings of the way we emotionally react to things. It wasn't scholarly or scientific. I read and skimmed, and when I though something was nonsense, I just moved on." Eight months after his research, Hartman started to write and record the material in his Connecticut studio. Hartman turned down producing other artists, as well as offers to cut pop records from three record labels in order to work on an album designed to allow listeners' subconscious memories to surface. He worked on the album from August 1987, to August 1988.^[7][8]

When recording the album's material, Hartman revealed "I tried to reflect on my own subconscious feelings that caused me to make the music that I do. It was like stirring up the bottom of a kettle." When explaining the album, he noted "The basis of this album was to use tones and shades in certain patterns so the door to a listener's subconscious would be opened. Everything moves too fast and people don't identify with their subconscious every day. Things happened to you when you were 10 or 20; they went into your subconscious." Ensuring the album is not New Age, he stated "I don't generally like new age. It's derivative of jazz. My music has more of a neoclassical leaning than new age. This isn't to be confused with subliminal messages. There's nothing placed in the music to tell you things. It's merely my trying to tap the subconscious feelings of people who listen to it. It may bring up bad memories. In a lot of ways it's very melancholy to me. It's not an upper. Life isn't either. In a lot of ways this music is very soothing. I think there's a place for music that is peaceful and soulful unto the spirit. After plane bombings, AIDS and everything that has come upon us in this decade, I think we can use a little solace and reflection."^[7]

During the recording of the album, Hartman felt himself unlocking his own subconscious after only writing a bit of material. "I became frightened, to the point I was going to stop doing it. I was unlocking my own subconscious. And the first two or three pieces I listened to I felt were planets away from fulfilling my concept. Little by little, it began to flow." Once he was half-way through writing the project, Hartman noted "I sat at the keyboard and created some sounds that seemed interesting. When I listened back I was amazed it came out completely as one piece. By that time I think I was on automatic pilot. I knew I had shifted gears to another level of the creative process. I ended up making 23 pieces for the collection. I narrowed it down to 11. I played it for neighbors. Some said it put them in a state where they felt very intimate with themselves. One girl said it was like the deepest massage she'd ever felt. I don't make any claims that I have that kind of power. I was pleased to see the reaction manifest itself that strongly. I look at this album as a flag to a different level of my creative life. I'm 38, but feel younger than eve. I feel freer, more able to make decisions for myself. Since I did this, I'm doing some pretty high-powered pop projects. My attitudes and approach are entirely different. I get a laugh out of record companies' artists and repertory departments rather than being frustrated with them. I don't think I'll return to my career being affected by what one record company says. I've been more outrageous and more enthusiastic about projects I've done since this album. The results are great. I just collaborated on a song with Holly Johnson from Frankie Goes to Hollywood for his first solo album." Hartman finally revealed he was sure he'd write more of the same kind of musics on New Green Clear Blue again. He stated "I've begun to record contemporary vocal songs again - dance, rhythmic things I like to sing about. I feel a sense of freedom, after delving into this whole other area. I realize all you need to do is do it. I think we all restrict ourselves in our lives from doing some things. We have choices and alternatives."^[7]

In the Spin magazine of November 1989, an article based on the album featured an interview with Hartman. The article stated "But today, with what he feels to be everything in the world moving at unfathomable speed, Hartman has put the breaks on and released an ambient album." Hartman was quoted "The music is meant to slow down the pace enough so that you begin to sense a little bit of who you are. The world is moving too fast today and getting so tangled up, what with Beijing, crack, AIDS... all of that. I think we need to be able to at least be in touch with ourselves to be able to handle it." The article also described the album as "abstract material". The article spoke of creating the album, stating "In creating "New Green Clear Blue," Hartman took a long, hard look at his own emotions to find what it was he wanted to express." Hartman stated "It was totally scary. I have to give a lot of credit to Peter Baumann because it was such new music to me. When I first started, I played him "Adrift in a Red Sky" and he said, "That really stops time. Just focus on what was happening to your energy there, get inside that and go through to the other side and you'll find the world of what you're looking for." I found out a lot about myself. I didn't do any meditating or chanting of mantras or any of that garbage."^[9]

In the article, Hartman also explained "Most pop music and straight-ahead rock 'n' roll communicates on a very conscious level, which is fine for the conscious world. But right now I think there's an important flux going on in music which is creating a climate of social and personal awareness. Introspective commentary is being accepted, with artists sensing and reflecting on the world around them and how it's affecting them personally. This is a time when we as creative people have a chance - if we're so inclined - to make music that gets people to think about what's happening within themselves... in addition to the rest of the world." Hartman, adding that with the advent of new technology and digital awareness, the face of music and changed, causing another manipulation of the time, he also stated "The reality of Andy Warhol's 15 minutes is here, only if he were around now, he'd say 'Now it's five.' We're going so fast, we don't know what's going on inside anymore. We're becoming very external, not feeling anything." It was also noted that Hartman had begun working on a new solo album too.^[9]

In an interview with Hartman's sister Kathy Hartman on memories of Hartman for his unofficial fan site, one question asked "Dan dedicated "New Green Clear Blue" to you - can you tell us more about this?" She replied "One reason is because of my eyes. The song is about finding ones inner-self and making the most of it. He felt I was still looking for my inner self. Dan used to give talks at colleges on this very subject."^[10] In a similar interview with Edgar Winter, whom Hartman was in the band The Edgar Winter Group with, Winter mentioned the album by stating "We last saw Dan shortly before he passed away. He came to L.A. for a visit. We had red wine with Moniques special pasta, which was Dan's favorite. He had brought us a copy of "New Green Clear Blue", along with several books for Monique (they had a unique, spiritual bond - and loved to share philosophy). There was music, dancing, and deep conversation. We will always treasure this memory of the last time we spent together. I felt that "New Green Clear Blue" marked a new evolutionary step in Dan's writing. It is pure music of the spirit with no commercial intentions - meditative, peaceful, and serene. For anyone who hasn't heard it, this CD reveals an entirely new and different side of Dan. I know it came straight from his heart and was a beautiful parting gift to us all. I can't help but wonder what he would have done next!"^[11]

Recording

Shortly before the album's recording, Hartman moved from the Schoolhouse, which he rented, and bought his own house, built on multi-levels, on the banks of the Saugatuck River in Westport. Dan used the small studio at the rear of the house to write and produce the New Green Clear Blue album and also lived there until his passing in 1994.^[3]

Release

The album was issued via Private Music in America and Europe on vinyl, CD and cassette. The independent label was a company of Peter Baumann who was also involved in the album's creation. His label Private Music was used to offer mainstream artists a private creative space for more intimate and experimental projects.^[12] The vinyl release was in Europe only. Today the album remains out-of-print and has not been issued digitally.^[13][14]

Likely to be due to the nature of the album, no singles were released from New Green Clear Blue. The title track however did later appear on the BMG various artists compilation Best Of New Age, released in the UK in 1994.^[15]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Dan Hartman. 

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Q Magazine	[5]
Bondegezou	mixed[5]
The Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music	[16]

Johnny Black of the UK Q Magazine reviewed the album upon release, and stated "Yes, it's Disco Dan, the Tina Turner production man, but he sounds uncannily like Brian Eno and Harold Budd. Indeed, the credits include thanks to Budd and, a tad more surprisingly, Vangelis, for "musical and personal inspirations". The Vangelis connection may lie in Hartman's basic approach - he recorded these pieces "live and intuitively" as does that inscrutable Greek maestro. There's certainly little in the way of Vangelis-like artifice or melodic development, but much that brings to mind Budd's sublimely drifting, charming constructions. Hartman builds layer upon layer of gauzy synthesizer wash, cavernous echoes intermingled with distant thunder and enlivened by simple Satie-like piano tinklings. Finally, he introduces what Eno calls "singularities", aural events which occur only once or twice in a piece, but which serve as lenses enabling the mind's eye to focus more sharply on his mist-hung musical landscapes. Beautiful."^[5]

On 31 March 1997, Henry Potts of Bondegezou reviewed the album and stated "Dan Hartman is better known as a dance producer, co-writing hits like Black Box's "Ride on Time" and working with Holly Johnson, but here is another side to Hartman. "New Green/Clear Blue" is ambient but not New Age, with a sense of unease to what should be relaxing. The result is melancholy, perhaps reminiscent of Vangelis' music for "Blade Runner", but with a more abstract use of sound. The choice of 'Cold War' titles like "Soviet Nights" and "Scaramanga" or the more general "Hope of No End" add to the foreboding. The result is worthy of attention in the opening piece, "Sigh of Relief". Sadly, the rest of the album does not work as well as its beginning: some comes across as superfluous to me, although I am not generally an aficionado of the more ambient scene. Unlike pieces like "Romance" or "The Swan", later pieces may lack a sense of completeness or resolution. There is some use of repeating themes throughout the album, but you must be in the right mood to pick up on them. Tangerine Dream's Peter Baumann guests, mixing "Scaramanga" and performing 'ambient treatment' on "The Swan". The results, however, are hard to distinguish from Hartman's own work. On the other hand, Hartman gives a distinct Tangerine Dream undercurrent to "Alpha Waves"."^[17]

In the liner notes of the booklet of the 1994 posthumous Keep the Fire Burnin' album, writer Larry Flick stated "The secret to Dan Hartman's longevity and success was always in his willingness to shine a light on every corner of his creative psyche. Instead of comfortably inhabiting a specialised musical niche that kept the hits and cash flowing freely, Hartman continually challenged himself. In doing so, the scope and breadth of his career was constantly expanding, and it was astonishingly exclusive. Whether you are a headbanger or disco disciple, there is little doubt that at least one Dan Hartman composition tickled your fancy. On a palette so rhythmically diverse, the common denominators were always purity of soul and a warm, inviting spirit. With such a diverse résumé, it hardly comes as a surprise that Hartman would once again completely shift musical gears at the height of his reign over the Hollywood movie-music scene. In 1989, he unveiled "New Green Clear Blue", which was easily one of his most adventurous efforts. Of the enchanting, ambient collection of plush instrumentals, he once said, "This music is meant to be something that helps people connect with their subconscious. It is intended to be played at very low levels in a tranquil environment. It's a platform for the imagination."^[6]

Personnel

• Dan Hartman - Producer, Performer, Engineer, Writer
• Danny Goldberg - Management
• Amanda Stone, Andrew Derrick - Design
• Rod Hui - Mixing (tracks 1, 11)
• Peter Baumann - Mixing (track 8), Noises (Ambient Treatment) (track 4)

References