DAN HARTMAN, born on this date, (d: 3/22/1994) was an American pop rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, producer, singer, and songwriter. Among songs he wrote and recorded were “Free Ride” as a member of the Edgar Winter Group, and the solo hits “Relight My Fire”, “Instant Replay”, “I Can Dream About You”, “We Are the Young” and “Second Nature”. “I Can Dream About You”, his most successful US hit, reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984. The James Brown song “Living in America”, which Hartman co-wrote and produced, reached No. 4 on March 1, 1986.
Hartman joined his first band the Legends at the age of thirteen in 1964 at the request of his older brother David (Dave) who asked him to play keyboards. Hartman was initially reluctant to join, as he gravitated towards Motown rather than the Beatles-esque sound that the band members favored. The original lineup consisted of Hartman (keyboards), Dave (guitar and vocals), Denny Woolridge (bass) and Ralph Swartz (drums). A later member was Dave Cope on bass. From its inception, the Legends played at various spots throughout Central Pennsylvania, including local churches, dances, rock shows and outdoor concerts. The Legends initially started out as a soul group, but transitioned from a psychedelic rock to hard rock band by the early 1970s.
By the early 1970s, Dave had left the Legends and Hartman became the band leader with Larry Sadler on drums and Joe Caloiero on bass. Hartman’s role further expanded in that he wrote much of the band’s music (as well as played electric piano, organ, and guitar), but despite the release of a number of recordings, none turned out to be widespread hits. Their first record release was a recording of Cat Stevens’ “Baby Get Your Head Screwed on Right” on the Up label. They next released a two-sider with the Bridge Society label consisting of the songs “Keep On Running” (a song popularized by the Spencer Davis Group) and “Cheating” (originally recorded by the Animals). Their third release was the Hartman-penned songs “High Towers”/”Fever Games” on Railroad House Records. The band also recorded “Sometimes I Can’t Help It” and “Jefferson Strongbox”. While part of the Legends, Hartman worked as a banker for a time and wore a fake mustache in the promos so that his employers would not recognize him.
Hartman produced and co-wrote “Living in America”, a No. 4 hit for James Brown which appeared on the soundtrack of the feature film Rocky IV (1985). The song was the last of Brown’s 44 hit recordings to appear on the Billboard top 40 charts. The track also appeared on the Hartman produced album Gravity. In 1987, Hartman and Charlie Midnight were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song. Brown won a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.
In 1988, Hartman co-wrote the song “Why Should I Worry?” with Charlie Midnight for the Walt Disney Animation Studios film Oliver & Company (performed by Billy Joel). The work “Behind Your Eyes” (which Hartman cowrote with Midnight) appeared on the soundtrack for 1988’s Casual Sex? Also, in 1988, Hartman dueted with Denise Lopez on Scrooged soundtrack song “The Love You Take”. In 1990, he co-wrote with longtime collaborator Charlie Midnight 9.95 (performed by Spunkadelic) for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie. In 1991, Hartman recorded “(That’s Your) Consciousness” for the soundtrack to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze.
He died on March 22, 1994, at his Westport, Connecticut, home from a brain tumor, at the age of 43. A gay man, he was diagnosed with HIV in the late 1980s. He kept his HIV status a secret and did not seek treatment, even after friend and intermittent collaborator Holly Johnson (formerly of the band Frankie Goes to Hollywood) announced his own HIV status in 1993.
In May 1994, the “Dan Hartman: A Celebration of His Life and Music” memorial concert was performed at New York’s Sound Factory Bar. Nona Hendryx, Loleatta Holloway, and producer Frankie Knuckles were among the participants.