Dan Hartman  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

Revision as of 09:10, 8 December 2007

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Career

Born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Hartman joined his first band, The Legends, at the age of thirteen, 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; he wrote the band's second biggest pop hit "Free Ride" in 1972. He launched a solo career in 1976. A re-recorded version of "Free Ride" was used in the movie, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, in 1995.

In 1978 Hartman reached number-one on the Dance Charts with the single, "Instant Replay" (#29 on the Billboard Hot 100). Musicians Hartman worked with on the associated album included 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", which featured his friend Loleatta Holloway, singing as well, in 1979. Another song "Vertigo" later became theme for the NBC talk show Tomorrow. These 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; in the video, his vocals were convincingly lip-synched by Stoney Jackson, an African-American actor. Hartman then scored a third number-one 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.

Hartman died at the age of 43, in Westport, Connecticut from a brain tumor caused by AIDS. Only after Hartman's death did his homosexuality become public knowledge. At the time of his death, his 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 fifty million records worldwide.

Discography

Albums

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