Dan Hartman

Dan Hartman was born on 8th December 1950, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA and died 22nd March 1994, Westport, Connecticut, USA. In 1978 Dan released his "Instant Replay" album and achieved great success. "Instant Replay", the single from the album of the same name, got to number 8 in the UK charts in October 1978 and was followed by "This Is It" which got to number 17 in January 1979.

"Relight My Fire" was an attempt by Dan to produce "more of the same" kind of music as the "Instant Replay" album. Despite using the same formula, and having Stevie Wonder guesting as a harmonica player on "Hands Down", the record was not a success. The Disco sensation was beginning to die in the UK as the punk era took off. Dan released "Relight My Fire" and this single was a success in the clubs (and also re-recorded by Take That in October 1993 - taking the record to the number one slot, with Lulu!).

In 1981 Dan released "It Hurts To Be In Love" - an album which had moved away from the disco scene with melodic and almost Country Music tones.

Success returned in 1984 with Dan's collaboration with Charlie Midnight and the release of "I Can Dream About You". The single of the same name appeared in the film "Streets of Fire". Ironically, of all the singles released by Hartman, this is probably the most well known. "We are the Young" and "Second Nature" were subsequently released from the album but did not make a big impression on the UK charts.

In 1985 "Get Outa Town" was released as a single and was included on the soundtrack to the movie "Fletch". 12" pressings of the single included M&M mixes of "I Can Dream About You" but failed to entice the same following.

After being diagnosed HIV Positive, Dan's last major production projects included tracks for Holly Johnson and Tina Turner. He died, in 1994, just as his music was being increasingly sampled by dance groups, notably Black Box on their huge hit 'Ride On Time', and Take That, who took 'Relight My Fire' to UK number 1.