Dan Seals
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Danny Wayland Seals (February 8, 1948 – March 25, 2009) was an American musician. In the 1970s, he was the "England Dan" half of the soft rock duo England Dan and John Ford Coley, who are best known for their hit single "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight". He was also the younger brother of Jim Seals (from the duo Seals & Crofts).
After departing the duo, Seals began a solo career in country music. In his solo career, he released sixteen studio albums and charted more than twenty singles on the country charts. Eleven of his singles reached Number One: "Meet Me in Montana" (with Marie Osmond), "Bop" (also a #42 pop hit), "Everything That Glitters (Is Not Gold)", "You Still Move Me", "I Will Be There", "Three Time Loser", "One Friend", "Addicted", "Big Wheels in the Moonlight", "Love on Arrival", and a cover of Sam Cooke's "Good Times". Five more of Seals' singles also reached Top Ten on the country charts.
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Biography
Background
Seals was born in McCamey, Texas to a music-oriented family. He was taught by his father to play the upright bass, and his brothers, Eddie Seals and Jim Seals, are recording artists in their own right. Eddie sang with a 1950s musical group called The Champs who had a 1958 hit single with the song "Tequila". Dan's brother, Jim Seals, teamed up with Dash Crofts in the mid-1960s to perform as Seals and Crofts. The Seals brothers (Jim and Dan), as well as Crofts, are members of the Bahá'í Faith.
Seals' cousins include Johnny Duncan, Troy Seals, Chuck Seals, and Brady Seals (of Hot Apple Pie, formerly of Little Texas).
Collaboration with John Ford Coley
Dan joined with fellow W.W. Samuell High School classmate and longtime friend John Ford Coley to perform first as part of Dallas pop/psych group Southwest F.O.B. (Freight on Board), whose material has been re-released on CD by the Sundazed label. As England Dan & John Ford Coley – Seals using a childhood nickname he'd gained from his affected English accent and love of The Beatles – the two men would have several pop hits in the second half of the 1970s. "I'd Really Love To See You Tonight" was the pair's biggest hit, reaching #2 in the second half of 1976 and becoming their only gold single; other hits include "Nights Are Forever Without You" (#10 in 1976-77); "It's Sad to Belong" (#21) and "Gone Too Far" (#23), both in 1977; "We'll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again" (#9 in 1978); and their last top-40 hit, "Love Is the Answer" (#10 in May 1979). After 7 LPs, they disbanded in 1980 and Seals reinvented himself as a solo country-pop artist, signing with Atlantic in 1980.
Stones and Harbinger
He kept the name England Dan for his debut album, Stones. Alhough no single charted on the country charts, his first single ever as a solo artist "Late at Night" did peak at #57 on the US Hot 100. Other than that, it was unsuccessful. In 1981, he lost nearly everything that he had in a battle with the IRS. His next album, Harbinger, stiffed. None of its singles charted, and he turned his attention to country music, adapted his style to fit country radio's demands while still keeping his signature soft sound. He signed to Liberty/Capitol in 1983, and released his first album for the label, Rebel Heart.
Rebel Heart
1983's Rebel Heart, his first album for Liberty/Capitol was much more successful than his first two albums. The first single "Everybody's Dream Girl" reached the top 20, peaking at #18. The next single "After You", however, charted lower, reaching the top 30, peaking at #28. "You Really Go For the Heart", was even less successful, but still managed to crack the top 40, reaching #37. The album's last single, "God Must Be a Cowboy" was much more successful than the album's first three singles, becoming his first top 10 hit in early-1984, reaching #10. The album peaked at #40 on the country albums chart, his first album to chart.
San Antone
His 1984 album San Antone was even more successful. "(You Bring Out) The Wild Side of Me", the album's first single, reached #9. The next single "My Baby's Got Good Timing" barely missed the top spot, peaking at #2. In early-1985, the album's third and final single "My Old Yellow Car" peaked at #9. This album peaked at #24 on the country album's chart.
Won't Be Blue Anymore
His 1985 album Won't Be Blue Anymore became his most successful studio album, reaching #1 on the country albums chart and the certification of 'Gold'. "Meet Me in Montana", a duet with Marie Osmond, became his first number-one hit in 1985 and the first of nine straight number-ones. Written by Paul Davis, the single won the artists the Vocal Duo of the Year Award at the CMA awards in 1986. The album's next single "Bop", became his first solo number-one and was named Single of the Year at 1986's CMA awards. The next single, "Everything That Glitters (Is Not Gold)", was about a rodeo cowboy having to cope with single parenthood and was written by Seals and fellow Texan Bob McDill.
On the Front Line
On the Front Line reached #12 on the country albums chart. The three singles from this album all reached number-one in 1987: "You Still Move Me", "I Will Be There" and "Three Time Loser".
The Best
Dan Seals released his first compilation album The Best in 1987. All of the songs included on this album were all top ten hits. The lone new track "One Friend", which was originally included on 1984's San Antone, was re-recorded for this collection and continued his number-one streak. This album peaked at #7, but was certified 'Platinum', thus this album is the highest certified of Dan Seals' albums.
Rage On
1988 saw the release of Dan Seals' Rage On album. The first single, "Addicted", got its writer, Cheryl Wheeler, a contract with Capitol Records in 1989. The next single "Big Wheels in the Moonlight" was released in late-1988, and reached number-one in early-1989, becoming his ninth number-one single in a row. This streak was broken when the album's third and final single "They Rage On" peaked at #5. This album peaked at #6 on the Country albums chart, and is the second highest peaking of his albums.
On Arrival
Dan Seals' began the 1990s with his eighth album On Arrival. The first single "Love on Arrival" reached number-one in 1990, and stayed there for three weeks. The next single "Good Times", which was a cover of the Sam Cooke song reached number-one and stayed there for two weeks, and was not only his last number-one hit, but his last top 40 hit as well. The album's next two tracks "Bordertown" and "Water Under the Bridge" failed to reach the top 40, although they reached the top 40 in Canada. After this album, neither of his later singles in the United States or Canada reached the top 40.
Greatest Hits
Dan Seals' second compilation album, titled Greatest Hits was released in 1991. It contained his hits from the albums Won't Be Blue Anymore, Rage On, and On Arrival, along with a new track, "Ball and Chain", which was not released as a single.
Walking the Wire
By this time, artists such as Garth Brooks had changed the country music landscape abruptly, and Dan Seals found his style out of favor. He moved to Warner Brothers in 1991, and released Walking the Wire, which, while critically acclaimed, was not a commercial success. Only three of the five singles released from this album, "Sweet Little Shoe", "Mason Dixon Line", and "When Love Comes Around the Bend" actually charted, but neither of them reached top 40. Two other singles, "Good Goodbye", and "We Are One," failed to chart. Additionally, the album failed to crack the top country albums chart.
Later albums, career and death
Although Dan Seals was a touring artist for the rest of the 1990s, he did release a few more albums on smaller labels throughout the decade, such as Fired Up in 1994, his final album for Warner Brothers. He signed to Intersound and released In a Quiet Room, comprising of acoustic versions of his earlier hits in 1995. He then switched to TDC and released In a Quiet Room II in 1998. He then switched to Lightyear and released his last studio album, Make It Home, in 2002.
In 2008, Seals completed radiation treatments for lymphoma at Vanderbilt in Nashville and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and received a stem cell transplant in late 2008 at NIH in Maryland. Seals died on March 25, 2009 at his daughter's home, following treatment for mantle cell lymphoma.
Discography
Studio albums
- Stones (1980)
- Harbinger (1982)
- Rebel Heart (1983)
- San Antone (1984)
- Won't Be Blue Anymore (1985)
- On the Front Line (1986)
- Rage On (1988)
- On Arrival (1990)
- Walking the Wire (1992)
- Fired Up (1994)
- In a Quiet Room (1995)
- In a Quiet Room II (1998)
- Make It Home (2002)
Compilation albums
- The Best (1987)
- Greatest Hits (1991)
- The Best of Dan Seals (1994)
- Certified Hits (2001)
- The Best of Dan Seals (2005)
