And We Danced

Dan Hartman didn’t set out initially to record Dance music, but by the tragic early end of his life in 1994, he was one of the most accomplished producer/songwriter/performers in the Dance music community. Beginning as a teenage prodigy with the group The Legends, songwriting, singing, and production skills brought the spotlight to Hartman. Late in his career, keyboard experiments with ‘Space’ music only expanded awareness of his broad repertoire. From the heavy rock of Edgar Winter’s Free Ride to the slick Disco of Instant Replay, Dan Hartman knew how to please a crowd.

Invited by his older brother David, Dan Hartman joined the group The Legends as keyboardist at the age of 13 in 1964. The band recorded a number of singles and in 1971 the group’s music brought Dan to the attention of Blues/Rock star Edgar Winter. He joined the Edgar Winter Group who topped record charts in 1973 with the instrumental single Frankenstein and Rock classic Free Ride, written, and later re-recorded in a Disco version, by Dan Hartman.

After leaving the Edgar Winter Band in the mid 70’s, Dan Hartman released the mainstream pop album Images. It included contributions from his former bandmates Edgar Winter and Rick Derringer. Commercial success eluded him, however, until the release of the Disco smash Instant Replay in 1978. The subsequent release of the Instant Replay album in early 1979 returned Dan Hartman to the Disco chart.

Dan Hartman’s combination of Vertigo and Relight My Fire became his biggest Dance chart hit in early 1990. Relight My Fire featured vocals by Loleatta Holloway. Later that year Dan Hartman produced Loleatta Holloway’s own chart-topping hit Love Sensation. The Relight My Fire album by Dan Hartman also featured his Disco remake of Free Ride.

Sensing the mainstream music audience moving away from Disco and Dance music, Dan Hartman’s next album It Hurts To Be In Love was filled with mellow pop melodies and Ska experiments. This shift alienated Hartman’s core audience and failed to sell. Commercial success returned in 1984 when he collaborated with producer Jimmy Iovine on the album I Can Dream About You. The single I Can Dream About You, featured on the soundtrack to the movie Streets Of Fire, and its followup We Are the Young were Dance chart smashes. These were Dan Hartman’s last significant hit singles.

Following the success of the I Can Dream About You album, Dan Hartman turned to production work for other artists. He produced James Brown’s 1986 comeback hit Living In America, Tina Turner’s 1989 Pop hit Steamy Windows, and Nona Hendryx’s 1987 album Female Trouble. A final Dan Hartman solo album appeared in 1989. It was a complete departure from previous releases. New Green Clear Blue was an instrumental album of ‘Space’ music filled with keyboard washes and chords. Dan Hartman’s career came to a tragic permanent end in 1994 as a victim of the HIV virus at the age of 43. Keep the Fire Burnin, a posthumous greatest hits collection, gathered his hit singles.