DAN HARTMAN, who died on this date, (b: 1950) was an American musician, singer, multiinstrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. 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 song, reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984 and No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart in 1985. The James Brown song “Living in America”, which Hartman co-wrote and produced, reached No. 4 on March 1, 1986.

Hartman co-wrote the 1980 disco song “Love Sensation” recorded by Loleatta Holloway, which has been sampled on numerous records, including the 1989 Black Box track “Ride on Time”.

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 began sending demo tapes of the Legends’ original material to gain national attention. He enlisted the help of Ronnie G. Shaeffer, a major radio personality in Central Pennsylvania who not only listened to the works and provided honest criticism to Hartman but also offered record label connections. In 1971, upon listening to the 13-song demo tape, Steve Paul, President of Blue Sky Records, introduced Hartman to Edgar Winter—who had recently disbanded White Trash and was seeking new members for his next musical venture. Hartman subsequently spent a period of time backing the Johnny Winter Band (Edgar Winter was Johnny Winter’s younger brother) and left the Legends to join Edgar Winter’s lineup. The Legends continued to record with Larry Swartzwelder on guitar and later Dean Lescallette and Gene Brenner on rhythm guitar. They released “Rock n Roll Woman” (written by Hartman) and “Problems” (written by Caloiero) on Hartman’s Heart label. The Legends disbanded by the mid-1970s.

By 1972, Hartman joined the Edgar Winter Group, where he played bass, wrote or co-wrote many of their songs, and sang on three of their albums: They Only Come Out at Night, Shock Treatment, and The Edgar Winter Group with Rick Derringer. He wrote and sang the band’s second biggest pop hit, “Free Ride”, in 1972. The ballad “Autumn” on Edgar’s LP They Only Come Out at Night was a regional radio hit in New England. Hartman also wrote the band’s charting singles “Easy Street” and “River’s Risin” from the Shock Treatment album. He became known for wearing the Guitar Suit, which he designed with Los Angeles couturier Bill Witten out of a rubbery fabric that allowed Hartman to insert an electric guitar in a pelvic pocket.

Hartman was never married and had no children. He died on March 22, 1994, at his Westport, Connecticut, home from an HIV/AIDS-related brain tumor. A closeted gay man, he was diagnosed with HIV in the late 1980s. He kept his HIV status a secret and supposedly 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 1991. His remains were cremated; he was survived by both parents, his brother Dave, and sister Kathy.

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.

Hartman has been renowned for his musical versatility. In his last will and testament, Hartman created the Dan Hartman Arts and Music Foundation (located in Los Angeles, California) with Charlie Midnight as his sole trustee. At the time of his death, Hartman was recording a solo album for CHAOS/Columbia. The record label had no immediate plans to release Hartman’s unfinished work. In 1996, it was announced that EMI Music Publishing purchased Hartman’s complete catalog. During the same year, Tom Robinson released the song “Connecticut” in memory of Hartman. The song appears on Robinson’s album Having It Both Ways. Years after Robinson’s tribute, Kathy Hartman—as frontwoman of the band Signal 30—released “A Song for Dan” in memory of her brother. She has also released the song “Bad Movies”, which she had co-wrote with her late brother.

At the time of his death, Hartman’s music was enjoying a revival of sorts: a cover version of “Relight My Fire” became a British number-one hit for Take That and Lulu in 1993. Sales of Hartman’s solo recordings, group efforts, production, songwriting and compilation inclusions had exceeded 50 million records worldwide. Around December 1994, the album Keep the Fire Burnin’ was posthumously released – a compilation featuring remixes of earlier hits and previously unreleased material. The album spawned two singles; “The Love in Your Eyes” and “Keep the Fire Burnin'”, the latter featuring Holloway. Hartman’s version of “Free Ride” was featured in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie the year after his death. T.M. Stevens released his album Out of Control in 1995, which featured the song “The Gift” (written by Hartman and Midnight). In 1996, Audio Adrenaline included a cover version of “Free Ride” on their album Bloom. In 2003, Ricky Martin covered “Relight My Fire” with two versions: one featuring Holloway’s original vocals and another with Anastacia singing Holloway’s portion.

In 2006, twelve years after Hartman’s death, “I Can Dream About You” was featured in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories; “Relight My Fire” was also featured in the video game Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony. In 2010, folk rockers Louis Barabbas & the Bedlam Six turned “Relight My Fire” into an ode to whiskey.