Dan Earl Hartman was born on 8th December 1950, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA. Dan's interest in music can be traced back to his childhood classical piano playing at the age of 7 but changed his focus partly due the the influence of pop radio.

The classical piano playing was put on hold when he joined The Legends, a band set up Dave Hartman, Dan's brother, at the age of 13. The group was based in Harrisburg and Dan contributed to the band by writing songs and producing gospel at a local studio.

At this time, Dan's musical influences came from songs being released by Motown as well as Beatles songs. His father, Carl, was a member of a local brass band and would go on to be credited on Dan's first solo album as a 'whistler'.

In an interview on 'The Hot Ones' (29th October 1984) Dan said that ever since he was at school he wanted to be a songwriter. He quit his regular job (at a bank) to pursue his music career.

Photo: A young Dan Hartman pictured in his junior school year book, along with his signature.

Dan was the band leader and penned a number of tracks for the group and played electric piano, the organ and guitar. Although the band started out as a soul group they soon moved into rock music. The group released a number of 45's including "Why/Baby Get Your Head Screwed On " (1968).

In late August 1964 Dave Hartman approached his brother Dan and asked him to play keyboards for the band. Dave said later (in an interview for the liner notes of High Towers) "He (Dan) didn't want to join the band. He was into Motown stuff, and we were into the Beatles". Eventually Dan was persuaded and went on to write much of the band's material.

During his early days in the band Dan wore a false mustache, during performances, as he had a day job in a bank. One of the first songs that Dan recorded with the legends was 'High Towers' - Dan said that he heard a DJ say 'somebody got a wah wah for Christmas' after playing the High Towers record. Dan was slightly embarrassed that the record contained so much wah wah on the track!

Dan Hartman worked very hard to promote his material and regularly sent it to record companies in New York City, although he kept getting rejection letters he continued to write new material and send it back out to them.

In December 1971 a Legends demo disc sent to CBS Records caught the attention of Edgar Winter who was in the process of forming a new band - Rick Derringer and Steve Paul were sent down to check the band out.

This ended up with Dan joining the Edgar Winter Group and leaving the Legends. The band lost a big talent but didn't feel any animosity towards him.

Extract from the former Borderline Books website which has now been removed from their archive:

Legends Personnel:

DAN HARTMAN - electric piano, organ, gtr
DAVE HARTMAN - gtr
DENNY WOOLRIDGE - bs
LARRY SADLER - drums

45 single releases:

1. Why/Baby Get Your Head Screwed On (Bridge Society Up 2202-7-13) 1968
2. Keep On Running/Cheating (Bridge Society Up 2204) 1968
3. High Towers/Fever Games (Railroad House 12003) 1969
4. Sometimes I Just Can't Help It/Jefferson Strongbox (Legends no #) 1969
5. Rock And Roll Woman/Problems (Heart CS 7672) 1973
6. Rock And Roll Woman/Problems (Epic 5-10937) 1973
7. If I Had A Nickel / Remember What I Told You (Frog FR-01) 1992
NB: (7) is a limited edition 45 of two Hartman-penned tracks from 1969

Hailing from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, The Legends set out as a soul band but soon got into rock. However, this soon led to the departure of their original drummer, Ralph Swartz, who hated rock, and his replacement by Sadler.

Soon after their debut single was released in early 1968 with the above-mentioned line-up. The 'A' side was a mellow, bluesy ballad - an attempt at commercialism and it was a local hit. The flip was an early Cat Stevens' composition, which the band rearranged into a driving rock song. Their follow-up did not stray much from the original versions. It featured Larry Swartzwelder on guitar as Dave Hartman was drafted for the Vietnam war. This also was a local hit, and the 'B' side Cheating can now also be heard on Sixties Rebellion, Vol. 15.

Their third single was cut in 1969. Dan Hartman played guitar on this as Swartzwelder had gone into service. Joe Caleoiero had joined the band on bass. This was the band's most stable line-up and they sounded much like The Jimi Hendrix Experience , performing many of his songs in their live shows. High Towers included wah wah effects, electric piano, double tracked vocals and dreamy Nazz -like harmonies, and was the band's most popular single. It can be heard on 30 Seconds Before The Calico Wall (CD) and Psychedelic Patchwork, Vol. 1 . The 'B' side, is equally inspired by Hendrix / Cream, and happily, has been compiled on Brainshadows Vol. 2 CD.

The band were arguably on the verge of a breakthrough when its leader, Dan Hartman, departed to join The Edgar Winter Group and later embarked on a solo career. However, they soldiered on and were rejoined by Swartzwelder upon his return from service and added Dean Lescalette (rhythm gtr). The 'A' side of their final single, Rock And Roll Woman was nonetheless produced and written by Hartman. Initially issued on Heart Records (CS 7672), it was at Hartman's instigation later issued by Epic (5-10937). The band planned a single for Epic, but this did not materialise, although they carried on playing until 1975 before calling it quits: Caleoiero went on to play in a pop R & B band, The Class Act. Sadier became a session musician for Olivia Newton-John and John Miles among others and managed funk band, Positive Force, and co-managed Skyline Records.

High Towers double CD, released by Arf Arf Records.

The release of High Towers is truly a labour of love. Erik Lindgren and his team have worked tirelessly to bring this early example of Dan Hartman's musical talents to the fore.

The exhaustive sleeve notes, authored by Doug Sheppard, contains contributions from members of the band who put the work into perspective as you listen to the tracks.

As you listen to the music you can hear and feel the talents of the young Hartman at work. It's fascinating as you realise that you've heard those musical patterns before - sometimes from the Edgar Winter Group, sometimes from his solo work.

The most poignant of comments from the liner notes come from Dan's brother, Dave. "I'm three and a half years older than him age-wise, but he's 100 years older than me wisdom-wise. That's what I miss the most. What I could have learned had he continued to live. He would have been a great teacher for me."

The CD, dedicated to the memory of Dan Hartman, is a must-have for any fan who has followed his musical career. The launch party was attended by Dan's Father (Carl Hartman, sister Kathy and brother Dave (former Legend band member).

ArfArf Records News Release - The Legends: High Towers (Arf Arf-087/88) Two CD set

Some people know 'em as the spawning ground for Dan Hartman of Edgar
Winter/"Free Ride"/"I Can Dream About You" fame. Other people know 'em for their
four excellent singles. But until you've heard Arf! Arf! Records' new double-CD
High Towers compilation retrospective, you haven't gotten the full perspective on the Legends.

From '64 to '73, the Legends were as synonymous with Central Pennsylvania as a Hershey Bar with almonds, and every bit as tasty. They got the audiences dancing with their mix of pop, rock and soul in the mid-'60s, freaked 'em out with heavy psychedelia in the late '60s, then rocked 'em back outta their shells with even harder rock in the early '70s. All phases are documented on High Towers, which traces the rise of the Legends from their garage band roots playing teen hops and fire halls into seasoned rockers blowing the doors off larger venues.

Featuring their four ultra-rare singles and an even rarer promo flexi from 1970, the first CD documents the Legends from 1967 to 1973, their most renowned era. But the listening pleasure doesn't end with rare 45 sides like the stompin' freakbeat cover of "Baby Get Your Head Screwed On" from '67 and the quirky wah-wah piano of "High Towers" from '69. CD number one is rounded out by a bevy of previously unreleased material, including seven more power-trio psych-outs from 1969, three pounding hard rockers from 1973 that should have the stoner rock crowd in air-guitar heaven, and even a CD-ROM of a video made by the band in 1972 to promote "Rock and Roll Woman," a regional smash that almost got the Legends on American Bandstand.

And then there's the second CD, which throws a life preserver to those '60s fanatics who abandon ship when the captain's into psychedelia or hard rock. Fear not, garage fiends, as CD number two completes the Legends' voyage with 26 previously unissued cuts from 1965 and 1966, including a few band originals and teen-fueled renditions of "Shakin' All Over," "You Really Got Me" "I Need You," "Don't Bring Me Down" and even the Shadows of Knight's fuzz ripper, "I'm Gonna Make You Mine." Perhaps the coolest garage vault find of all, however, is a pair of cuts by the Donshires (featuring future Legend Joe Caloiero) from 1965, "Sad
and Blue" and "Tripeline," which would be lighting up eBay if the songs had ever been pressed on a single.

The musical experience is only enhanced by a 24-page booklet lined with
pictures, memorabilia and a detailed band history (including interviews with six former members) by Doug Sheppard of Discoveries/Ugly Things. Whether you're into garage, psych, hard rock or even Dan Hartman himself, High Towers is guaranteed to scale the rock and roll heights for you.

More Information

Dan was the band leader and penned a number of tracks for the group and played electric piano, the organ and guitar. Although the band started out as a soul group they soon moved into rock music. The group released a number of 45's including "Why/Baby Get Your Head Screwed On " (1968). 

Arf! Arf! Records of Middleborough, Mass. will soon be releasing a two-CD compilation of Harrisburg's number one rock export, the Legends. Dan Hartman is on a considerable portion of the cuts (many previously unreleased), and even some of the material recorded after he left had his input via songwriting.

Besides the music, the main thing that will be of interest to Dan's fans is that the package will also include an extensive booklet featuring many never-before-seen vintage photos and detailed liners including interviews with some of Dan's old mates (and closest friends): Larry Sadler (who played on a few Hartman solo albums), Joe Caloeiro, and of course, his older brother Dave.

This is the first time that the earliest period of Dan's career has ever been reissued and it's very difficult to find any of the Legends records he played on (few copies were pressed in the first place). So this should be a pretty illuminating experience for Hartman fans, most of whom probably have never heard it.

Impressed by Hartman's demo tape, Steve Paul introduced him to Edgar Winter, who had just disbanded White Trash. Edgar said that he and Dan played together and he immediately knew that Dan would be able to collaborate with him. Although Edgar's roots were in Jazz and Classical music he knew that Dan had an ear for all types of music. The result of Hartman and Winter's first collaboration, the double platinum They Only Come Out at Night, featured Hartman on bass, guitar and keyboards; he also co-wrote half the songs on the album and sang lead on the hit single "Free Ride." He was a member of the Edgar Winter Group for three years.

In the 1970s he also worked as a session musician with artists as diverse as Ian Hunter, Stevie Wonder, Todd Rundgren, and Ronnie Montrose; co-produced Winter's solo album Jasmine Nightdreams; and produced Foghat's Nightshift. After three years with Winter, Hartman left the band and turned his attention to writing his own music. He released his first solo recording, the pop/rock Images, in 1976.

Dan said that at the start he had a really low salary and was on the road five days a week for his first year. He always got his biggest buzz when people came up to him to say that they had danced to or were moved by his music.

Dan recorded three albums with The Edgar Winter Group and wrote many songs for the band. One of the more popular songs from the album "They Only Come Out At Night" was the hit "Free Ride." Dan went on to record "Free Ride" as a solo artist in 1979 and included it on his "Relight My Fire" album.

Edgar Winter posted his recollections of Dan on the Ultimate Edgar Winter Group fan Site.

After the Edgar Winter Group disbanded in the mid 1970's Dan embarked on a solo career and made 6 solo albums. He also produced and wrote songs for many other artists. His album "Images" hit the streets in 1976 and included contributions from Ronnie Montrose, Rick Derringer, Edgar Winter and Carl Hartman (Dan's father, as a whistler on the track "Thank You For The Good Times"!). Credits on the album include all of the above, plus Moni and Chuck Ruff.

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.

Both of these singles were amongst the first records to be released on 12-inch vinyl in the UK and in the US... in fact, Instant Replay is one of the few UK 12" singles to have a playing speed of 33 RPM!

"Instant Replay" was covered by one-hit-wonders "Yell" in January 1990 and got to number 10 in the UK charts and a total of 8 weeks in the top 40.

This single was the first of many songs which Dan originally wrote that were covered or sampled by other artists.

Dan was (and still is) very popular across Europe and his music continues to be played across the globe.

A full listing of his songs can be found on the BMI website.

Dan tended to write and produce his music alone, constructing pieces by laying down music tracks on top of one another, having played all of the musical instruments himself. During the time that Instant Replay and Relight My Fire were written and recorded while Dan was living in the "Schoolhouse", in Westport, Connecticut.

Photo: Dan at the the Schoolhouse

Dan followed up his success with "Instant Replay" with his "Boogie All Summer" single which was released during summer 1979. Although the record received good airplay it failed to make an impression on the UK charts. "Boogie All Summer" followed in the same genre of "Instant Replay" but also has echoes of "Love Making Music" and other tracks that were to appear on his following album "Relight My Fire".

"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!). "Hands Down" was released and did not figure in the charts and neither did the much-slated re-recording of "Free Ride" which Edgar Winter Group purists objected to because of it's disco reincarnation.

It's interesting to note that both "Instant Replay" and "Relight My Fire" were recently used on "The Best Disco Album In the World" series, ensuring that Dan Hartman is rightly recognised for his contribution to the disco age. These tracks, along with "I Can Dream About You" can still be heard regularly on mainstream pop radio stations.

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. Dan had returned to the musical style that was first heard on his "Images" album, but the music had matured. Although the album contained several very catchy tracks the album was not a success and took Dan Hartman's solo career further away from the limelight.

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. "Second Nature" had minor success in the clubs and brought back echoes from the days of "Instant Replay". Indeed, the "Second Nature" 12" single included 12" versions of "Instant Replay" and "This is It" on the B side.

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. Dan was in the UK during 1985/1986 producing and appeared on the "Wogan Show" (BBC) and "The Wide Awake Club" (TV-AM) performing "Get Outta Town" and "Waiting to See You" (Co-penned with Charlie Midnight), which was performed live at the newly revamped Liverpool Docks in a TV show called "Rock Around The Dock".

In 1984 Dan was interviewed on "The Hot Ones" US radio show. This is my edited version of the original which was provided to me by a Japanese fan in 2000.

1985 TV appearance on TV-AM, UK

During his interview on TV-AM he revealed that he preferred to work through the night in the recording studio and had just come straight into the interview (at 7am) after an all night session. During his interview he told the show's presenter, Tommy Boyd, that he always traveled to the UK on Concorde as he hated to waste time in the air. He said that he enjoyed playing tennis and his favourite place was the lower east side of New York.

Dan Hartman Can Do More Than Dream About It – By Billy Cioffi

Music Connection – June 10 – June 23, 1985

Dan Hartman is one extremely talented, multifaceted artist who has unassumingly managed to create a rather unique niche for himself in the pop music world. Recently, thanks to the maddeningly hummable hit, “I Can Dream About You,” Dan Hartman once again found himself in the rarefied atmosphere of the top of the charts. Hartman’s latest ascension comes at the end of a self-imposed hiatus from solo work that found him concentrating his talents on producing, composing, and engineering for other artists. This period of voluntary exile from the public eye came at the tail end of a string of Number One dance records, among them “Instant Replay” and “Relight My Fire.”

I had a big problem with everyone in administrative,” Hartman recalls, as he mixes a track at Capitol Recording Studios. “They were all telling me I couldn’t do what I wanted to do, and if I did, it wouldn’t be something they wanted to work on [read: promote]. The record company, the management, and everyone I was involved with really didn’t understand where I was going.

“It was during that period when dance music got that stigma, around 1980,” he continued. “The said I should back off dance music when it was them [the record companies] who f****d it up to start with! I said, ‘Look, if I can’t do what I wanna do, I don’t wanna do anything.’ So I didn’t make another record for a few years.”

Hartman didn’t exactly turn into a couch potato during this span of time; in fact, he was extremely prolific. During the interim between solo records he released one more LP, It Hurts to Be in Love, featuring a terrific remake of the Gene Pitney classic. Turning to production, Hartman plunged into a series of projects that only served to underline his creative eclecticism. He produced records for acts that ran the stylistic gamut from the Plasmatics’ punk/metal to Sedaka’s A/C sounds. Besides producing, Hartman found time to write songs for Diana Ross, Nona Hendryx, and the million-selling soundtrack of the film, Breakin’, —not bad for what Hartman calls his “Garbo Period.”

Hartman feels one can follow his recordings from the beginning to the present. “I think I am focused,” he reflects. “There is a thread of continuity through all my records. You can play ‘Free Ride,’ ‘Instant Replay,’ and ‘I Can Dream About You’ back-to-back and they sound like the same album. The box or package it comes in is different, but, to me, I feel like I’m always doing the same thing. I’m doing what I’m about.
“In terms of image,” Hartman continues, “it was never important to me to have some amazing look. I never concentrated on that. I didn’t spend time worrying about whether the next record should come out, ‘cause it’s important to keep on the charts.”

As it turns out, Hartman wasn’t even looking for a record deal when fellow producer Jimmy Iovine asked Dan to submit a song for the movie, Streets of Fire. Hartman sang the song and produced the track in his home studio, but in the film and subsequent MTV video, the song was lip-synced by four black actors who played a vocal group essential to the film’s story line. This isn’t the first time Hartman’s vocal identity has confused people. “I don’t care,” replies the artist, when asked if this didn’t hinder development of his public persona even more. “Everybody though I was a black girl on ‘Instant Replay.’ Dennis Hunt [of the L.A. Times] did an article on me and we went through a whole dinner talking about the album, and at dessert, he says to me, ‘I gotta tell you, the black girl who’s singing lead is really happening! Who is she?’ I said, ‘That’s me!’ So I went back to the hotel room and played it on the piano for him—he didn’t realize it was me.”

It wasn’t until “I Can Dream About You” was a hit that Hartman signed with his current label, MCA Records, which has released the album of the same title. While by no means reluctant to make a record, the multi-instrumentalist feels he has to have specific criteria for recording; i.e., his ego doesn’t compel him to release product. “I’ve had distinct periods in my life where I’d disappear completely. The main reason is, you have a responsibility to people to entertain them in a positive way. A lot of artists are doin’ the self-expression thing, and they expect you to dig it or tough! That’s not the reason I make music. So when there are times where I don’t really feel that I can offer something that makes sense that I think is valuable to somebody, I don’t make a record.” Hartman adds candidly: “I go through periods of feeling very inferior, either with my personal romantic life or whatever. I can’t expect someone else to take me seriously if I’m not serious myself. If I’m confused, I’m not about to go and make a record.”

With the most recent album, Dan is gearing up to play live. This is a facet of his career he hasn’t engaged in since he left the Edgar Winter Group. “When I did ‘Instant Replay’ and all those dance records, you couldn’t do those things live and artistically pull them off like you could on a studio console. Those records were made to listen to—they communicated on a disc level. So I didn’t play live at all.”
While appealing, the spotlight doesn’t lure him the way it does other performers. “I like playing in front of people, but it’s not my number-one interest. Some musicians can’t wait to get onstage, but it’s not my thing. My thing is to do whatever interests me at the time. If I decide I want to fly to France and record a collection of songs in some studio instead of doing a tour, I’ll do it. I went to Denmark and produced a record for two CBS artists. I learned Danish, took Berlitz courses; it was an experience absorbing a different culture and living there for six months. Making this newest album was all about my living there. There is more European influence on it than any of my other albums. I’m going more in the direction of exploring the distinct differences in American and European pop music.”

With a summer tour in the works and a few carefully chosen movie soundtracks, Hartman’s hiding days may be over. He feels his new label and management understands his creative direction and are willing to back him up in his determination to pursue the various projects that interest him. Most recently, he contributed a song to Chevy Chase’s new film, Fletch.

“The way I think is, whatever you do, if it’s good, then it’s right. The band is real good and I can get to do live what I try to do on records—it will be a good show to see. It’s great,” he laughs, “after being in the business and feeling like an old-timer, now I gotta lot of great material. I can do ‘Free Ride’ right up to the latest movie song, or,” he adds characteristically, “anything I want to do.”

Research: Tracy Rotkiewicz

After his big hit "I Can Dream About You" Dan Hartman changed styles again and released "New Green Clear Blue", his penultimate solo album. This album was a complete change in style yet again for Dan. The tracks, played and recorded live were a journey into the subconscious and although the album received very good reviews in the music press it was not a commercial success.

Dan co-wrote "Living in America" with Charlie Midnight. His last singles "The Love In Your Eyes" and "Keep the Fire Burnin'" were released after his death in 1994. His final album-"Keep The Fire Burnin" -the 7th- a compilation of songs previously released - was also released after Dan's death.

After being diagnosed HIV Positive, Dan's last major production projects included tracks for Holly Johnson and Tina Turner. He died 22nd March 1994, at his home in Westport, Connecticut, USA. This was 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.

Tom Robinson, back at home in England, wrote and dedicated a song to Dan - The story of how Tom came to hear the news of Dan's death, via a message left on his answering machine.

Connecticut (Robinson/Phillips/Fenner/Burt)

The message light was blinking as I walked in from the rain
The thunderclap erupted right outside my window pane
Across the cold Atlantic came a bolt out of the blue
I tried to lie and carry on but only thought of you

And it's raining in Connecticut
It's raining in LA
It's raining every place I go
Since you were blown away

Your laughter in the restaurant, the parties and champagne
The driven urge to prove yourself - to win and win again
The fortress that surrounded you - awards on all the walls
The demons in your darkness and the friends you never called

And it's raining in Connecticut, it's raining in LA
It's raining in the dead of night, it's raining every day
And it's raining in Australia - it's raining in Calais
It's raining every place I go since you were blown away

And I'm lost - tonight as I remember you
Your heart was even wider than your smile
And all you ever dreamed of was the one who'd love and hold you
As you carried on - now you're gone, gone gone

The echoes from the restaurant, of parties and champagne
The driven urge to win and win, your privacy and pain
The page of fading photographs, the bitter-tasting pill
The stranger we all knew so well... the friend we never will

And it's raining in Connecticut, it's raining in LA
It's raining in the dead of night, it's raining every day
It's raining in Australia - it's raining in Calais
It's raining every place I go since you were blown away

Yes it's raining in Connecticut, it's raining in LA
It's raining in the dead of night, been raining every day
Now it's raining in Australia, Bankok and Old Bombay
It's raining in the whole damn world
Since you were blown away

In memory of Dan Hartman d.1994

Listen to the song here. (Used with permission).

Photo: New York Times, April 7, 1994.

Memorial Events

Two seperate memorial events were held for Dan, 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.

Additionally, Dan's long time friend Ann Ruckert joined forces with Glenn Ellison, Blanche Napoleon and Charlie Midnight and held a Celebration of the life and memory of Dan Hartman' at a local church in New York City.

As part of the ceremony a video tape, comprising of two parts, was shown. It contained footage of Dan's music career as well as tributes from Neil Sedaka and Tina Turner.

Dan Hartman was a man of great talent, and not fully recognised by the general public. He was a multi-talented musician - a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, (guitar, keyboards, bass, drums) and producer who had a real talent for writing great songs.

Photo: Self-portrait, 1988. This photograph has been kindly provided by Robert K Wright.

Dan Hartman: Rockin’ in the Schoolhouse

RollingStone, June 28 1979: By Scott Isler

Inside the home studio that produced hits for Foghat and other rockers looking for intimate feel.

As an example of the individualism that’s possible in home studios, consider Dan Hartman’s Schoolhouse. The name comes from the studio’s location in one room of a sixteen-room Connecticut colonial, just outside Manhattan, that was built in 1760 as a boys’ school. Over the past three years, albums by Foghat, .38 Special, Muddy Waters, Rick Derringer, Johnny and Edgar Winter, David Johansen and, of course, Hartman himself have been recorded and/or mixed there.

Bitten by the recording bug while in his teens, keyboardist-guitarist Hartman, who had a solo hit last year with ”Instant Replay,” first rigged up a home studio while playing with the Edgar Winter Group. After the band dissolved, he went house-hunting with a studio in mind.

”I was looking for a house with at least one large room that could get a big Led Zep drum sound if we wanted,” he says. ”The School-house is that room; it’s responsible for all those big-sounding guitars on Foghat’s Night Shift album — that really big sound rock & roll demands.”
In the Schoolhouse, Hartman found an ideal studio situation almost ready-made. Although carpeting and curtains were added to soak up sound in the twenty-by-twenty-six-foot room, Hartman has done remarkably little acousticizing — a fact he’s proud of.

”I could move tomorrow, and you’d never know there’d been a recording studio here,” he says. ”I didn’t want to rip things out or acousticize it or do any of the shit that makes you feel like now you’ve spent a million dollars and have this big important studio. I like to use an acoustically interesting house as it is.”

And he does mean ”house.” Besides the studio proper, all three floors of the building are wired for recording. ”We have used almost every room in the house for different sounds,” he says. All of the wiring leads to an eight-by-fourteen-foot control room, also known as the master bedroom. The control room commits engineering heresy by being one story above, and diagonally across from, the Schoolhouse; there is no visual contact.

”As an artist, I don’t like being able to be seen,” Hartman explains. ”If you’re having difficulty getting a part, it adds to the tension when the assistant engineer, engineer, producer and producer’s wife are hanging out. With the School-house, my engineer’s in the control room, and I could be doing vocals while stretching my T-shirt over my head and it wouldn’t matter. Everyone who’s worked here has gotten used to this nonvisual communication and actually found it to be advantageous. That’s what home studios are about — that funky thing.”

The Schoolhouse’s twenty-four-track, $300,000 setup (Hartman uses MCI recorders and control console; Altec Big Red monitors; two Crown DC-150 power amps; Sony, AKG, Senn-heiser and Neumann mikes; and Sony and Teac accessory tape machines) may not be everyone’s idea of a funky thing. But the philosophy behind home studios remains the same regardless of economic outlay. As Hartman notes, a home studio is a place ”to feel like a person rather than the next number coming up on the charts. When I go back to a real studio to mix something, I look at the playing room and say, ‘Wow, how could I ever play in that?’ ”

The Schoolhouse - Unconventional Recording Studio

By Laura Foti

NEW YORK – Aspiring musicians know the hardship involved in cutting a demo tape. Most new acts are unable to afford sufficient time in a high-quality recording studio, and must settle for a rush job with often unsatisfying results.

Because his studio in Connecticut, The Schoolhouse, is not strictly a business, Dan Hartman is willing to give new acts a break. By no means does he shun big names –recent productions have included works by Neil Sedaka, David Johanson, Johnny and Edgar Winter, .38 Special, the Average White Band and the Plasmatics – but those just starting out hold a special place in Hartman’s heart.

"I’m not in business," Hartman says. "I’m not soliciting anybody. There is no ‘Schoolhouse Recording Studio, there’s just my house."

A one-room schoolhouse built in 1760 serves as a living room; there are 15 other rooms, including the studio proper.

"The only things that are recorded at the Schoolhouse are projects of my own that I’m doing or projects for friends who would like to use the studio and make a record in the kind of atmosphere that exists here," Hartman explains. "Partly that’s because the studio is two doors away from my bedroom.

"Studio rates are not exorbitant," he continues, "that if you only have a certain income, you’re rarely given a chance to get a sense of who you are musically. I want those people to get a chance, so I make my studio available to them at reduced rates. A group called the Outsets, for example, just finished a two-day demo tape."

Hartman, a songwriter, producer and engineer, is first and foremost an artist himself; his latest album, "It Hurts To Be In Love," was recently released on Blue Sky Records. Past singles were disco hits "Relight My Fire" and "Instant Replay," but Hartman is returning to his rock-oriented roots these days. His musical career began with the Edgar Winter Group.

In fact, his first home studio was in a house at Sands Point, N.Y. where he and the Winter Group were based until their 1976 break-up. "We needed equipment in the house," Hartman says, "so we could capture an idea right there." The equipment in sands Point included a 16-track set-up.

The Schoolhouse, by comparison, houses a $300,000 24-track studio and illustrates Hartman-the-artist’s approach to recording. "creativity is an interesting thing," he muses. "You can sit back, have a glass of wine, watch some television, whatever, and get a terrific idea of what you want to do. If you then have to book time and travel to New York City, it’s often not possible to re-create the same feelings. The great thing about being at home is that as soon as you get an idea you can put a mike at the piano and record it. That way you don’t lose the vibes, and you don’t have to worry about finishing the studio’s next booking arrives. I know a lot of people write in the studio so they don’t lose the immediacy, but my bills aren’t as high."

Although the Schoolhouse features carefully chosen, sophisticated equipment, Hartman claims his approach to recording is artistic, not technical. "I never look around to see what’s new," he says. "I’ll never be asked to serve on a AES panel. But every six months I talk to the top people in the field and get their advice. What it all comes down to, though, is that it’s not how clean a record is, it’s the feeling behind it.

"Why spend $3 million on a studio?" he asks. "you can get some great sounds in a funky four-track studio with a few bottles of champagne. Recording is a human thing, not technical. There are computer chips that can exactly duplicate the sound of a snare drum, right down to including mistakes. That’s nice, but where do you get the human feed-back? We’re all becoming wizards- what about the drummer’s energy? That adds a sexualness, a vibrancy you can’t get no matter how sophisticated equipment is."

Many thanks to Paul F. Brown for providing this archive material.

Multi Level

Dan Hartman moved from the Schoolhouse, which he rented, and bought a house, built on multi-levels, on the banks of the Saugatuck river in Westport. Dan used the small studio at the rear of the house to write and produce New Green Clear Blue and lived there until his passing in 1994.

The house comprised of vaulted ceilings, skylights, 5 fireplaces, 2-story living room and 2 master suites.

When Dan lived in the house the exterior walls were painted yellow - nowadays they are a more 'sober' grey.

Artist Studio – Dan Hartman: Multi Level

Mix 2/85
By: Brooke Sheffield Comer

Real estate agents in Westport, Connecticut, looked askance when Dan Hartman asked for a “house with a sound.” He looked at 60 before choosing a 16-room colonial as the site for his most recent home studio, Multi Level. With a control room, two performance studios, glass, and every room wired for sound, there’s a fine line between Multi Level and a professional studio. If anything, Multi Level, with its 16 rooms on nine different levels (hence the name), offers more diverse sound potential than the average professional studio.

An aficionado of home studios since his first, in a 35-room Long Island estate with the Edgar Winter band, Hartman has upgraded his equipment and saved certain original pieces, like his three Teletronics LA2As, to create a room that gives him the exact sound he wants, a sound that sent “I Can Dream About You” to the top of the charts. “My AKG BX20E echo units might not be state of the art, but I’ve had them a long time and I like the sound, so I used those chambers on my records,” says Hartman, whose writing and production credits cover a range from Diana Ross to Neil Sedaka. “It’s a personal thing,” he explains, “having that private affair between you and the creative process. You can only capture it by having your own studio. I’m looking at a Sympatico 2 to work with in the studio, but you can keep upgrading studios forever and that isn’t the point. The point is to get the magic out of a studio and that’s what I’m able to do.”

Hartman’s studio is in a separate section of the house, but under the same roof. Since all the rooms on the various levels are wired for sound, the house has four or five very different sounds. “You can put actual musicians in any of the rooms and mike them or the ambient sound,” Hartman explains. “I wanted a control room in the house so I could go in any time of the day or night; some place that would lend itself to acoustically exciting areas so it wouldn’t be like you were trapped in one studio.”

Multi Level has two main playing studios, one higher than the rectangular 15’ x 19’ control room, and adjacent, on the other side of a glass wall that is actually two four-foot doors. The other 16’ x 18’ studio is lower than the control room, in another part of the house with the control room in the middle. “That’s the beauty of the house,” Hartman says proudly. “I found it in that state, and all I had to do was the acoustical work inside the control room.”

The console is an automated, 24 track MCI 538 series, and the speakers are Big Reds, which are Altec 604E, triamped with Crown amps. Inspired by the sound in London’s Trident Studios, Hartman followed their example and put his monitors on the floor in front of the console. “I’ve always loved Trident’s sound,” he reveals, “and a friend said ‘why not try putting your Altecs on the floor and stand if you need to hear something critical but then sit down and turn them off, and it will sound perfect.’” The monitors are run completely flat, with no equalization or baffles around the room. Two of the side walls have quieting fabrics and the back walls are hard, so the room is live.

The performance room adjacent to the control room is elevated about three steps on concrete, and holds the seven-foot, conservatory sized Yamaha piano. The 19’ x 18’ space has a cathedral ceiling, fireplace and 32 mike inputs. This completely soundproofed area has been the site of recording sessions with Muddy Waters, The Plasmatics, and Johnny Winter.

Another main area that Dan finds very valuable is a 20’ high space extending the full two stories, with double story glass facing a river. The floor is brick and one of the walls has a brick fireplace hearth that stretches the full two floors. There are no carpets or drapes, so Hartman can send drums into a stereo system and re-record the ambiance through a set of stereo microphones that stay in there all the time. “I’ve researched and finally gotten the perfect sound blend that I like,” says Hartman. “It’s on I Can Dream About You, and my other albums. It’s an ambient sound I can choose to elect and send through the system when I want an ambiance on vocals, and I happen to like this sound a lot.”

In addition to the basics, Hartman uses stereo parametric equalizers perfected by and purchased from George Massenberg; his original, and now valuable LA 2 As; regular 1176s; dbx 160 compressors; 949 Eventide Harmonizers; AMS and old Lang equalizers. “I don’t have a lot of outboard stuff,” he admits, “but what I have is collector’s kinds of things that help me get the kind of sounds I like. I don’t have any preferences as far as mikes go. I have everything from Neumann 47s and 87s to Crown PZMs, maybe a total of 20 or 30 in the studio. There’s also a harpsichord.”

An engineer as well as a writer, musician, vocalist and mixer, Hartman has never done a lead vocal outside his own studio, and he always engineers his own work, as a personal signature. For mixing he goes out to see what the sound is like in another environment. “that’s where you can make a mistake in your home studio,” Hartman warns. “You can get so tunneled into your project that when you make a final image of it, it doesn’t translate to people outside. So I go out and mix with an engineer. On my last album though, I did three mixes here, and everyone liked my mixes best.” When he goes out to mix, Hartman’s choice studios are Studio 55 and Image Recording in Los Angeles, and Sigma Sound and the Power Station in New York.

One problem Hartman finds when he records on the MCI and mixes on an SSL is a brittle sound. He uses Scotch 250 tape instead of Ampex for warmth, but finds the best combination is to work on an SSL to begin with, or to take something he did on the MCI and run it on a Neve. “It runs like a Rolls Royce on the Neve,” He says. “I’m looking at a Neve board with Necam computer, and also a Studer two track and an Otari 24 track. I hate to be boring though, and everyone gets Neve or Studer. I think Otari’s more exciting. I want to change the two track from MCI to Studer eventually though. You have the be careful about how much EQ you have on an MCI, or you can screw up the sound by pointing it too hard at any one point. I’ve developed a technique of adjusting the synthesizer or the mike placement to get just what I want.”

Multi Level is both a convenience and a monster for Hartman. Though he admits it’s necessary to have a place to put down ideas a certain way as soon as they strike, such easy access to the studio is “both a luxury and a downfall. Not that I’m a good two-shoes workaholic,” he explains, “but there are times when I can’t stay out of the studio. When you work in a professional studio, you have to leave so someone else can come in. It’s easy to overwork when you’re creating something passionate and exciting. Who wants to quit? Who wants to eat?”

With the close proximity of the kitchen to Hartman’s control room, at least he is spared the fuss and bother of sending out for burgers.

With thanks to Tracy Rotkiewicz.

Dan Hartman’s recording equipment

There is little information regarding Dan’s passion for what he did… making music. In particular, it’s his recording equipment that is either forgotten or ignored. Many people have a genuine curiosity about Dan’s personal life, but when it comes to the music, that should be his legacy. With that, it is the tools which helped create the sonic landscapes that grabbed our attention, whether it be through the headphones of a stereo system, current video distribution sites, a dance floor, a store’s PA system. Something got your toes tapping, and put a smile on your face. Here, we examine those tools used. Granted, there are few pictures of either Dan’s home studios (The Schoolhouse and Multi-Level). I think it’s time to put some things on file, and try to figure some important recording devices.

Culled from various publication sources between ’79-’85, there are some clues as to what was used, and exactly which model. If anybody wants to add any information they have knowledge about, then by all means, share it. Let’s not only make this page about videos and memories, but also some in-depth analyzing of music. I know I can’t do it all by myself. Let’s keep the fire burnin’! We need to remember that Dan was not about state-of-the-art equipment. Nor do I believe he was the type to go and check out a NAMM Show (National Association of Music Merchants) for this reason. He loved the studio he had so much and worked hard to get it just right, that it remained the only portion (besides the chimney) not to be remodeled at Multi-Level.

In his own words, Dan had this to say, “I hate anything with digital numbers on it. I just go by instinct. It's the same with a new AMS as it is with a synthesizer for me. I never read manuals. I just sit down with the thing for a couple of days and fiddle with the knobs until I figure out what it can do. And get what I like out of it.”

Some of the items are from pure guesswork because the model was not mentioned. But, seeing as though, most of the recording equipment is from 1985 and earlier. We don’t know exactly what he used in later years, but my guess is pretty much what he had from those previous years continued to work well. When it comes to the Lang equalizer, it’s said to be “old.” By 1985 standards, that could be even ten years earlier. In this case, I discovered it to be 60s era. There is no exact model mentioned of the Neve in any publication I could find. So, I got as close as I could with a year and it being “vintage.” Also, I’m unsure if he ever did acquire a NECAM, but to give you an idea of what it looked like at that time, it’s included. The only one I did not include that got mentioned was the Sympatico 2, which was iffy, and it sounded like Dan was unsure if he really wanted to add it.

Tracy Rotkiewicz.

The Producers
Dan Hartman
by Chas de Whalley

Article from International Musician & Recording World, November 1985

"I consider myself a communicator more than anything else. And communicators understand what people's ears are listening to. Especially as you have to open the door before you can make your statement. If you open that door by making such experimental sounds that it flogs people — then they ain't gonna open up their ears to you."

How good a communicator Dan Hartman is you must judge more by his records than by his turn of phrase. Sure, the guy is easily bright enough and he knows what he's trying to tell us. But very first thing in the morning after a heavy night negotiating the roadworks on the southbound carriageway of the M1, our Dan's tongue is still a little stiff and sleepy. It will probably be lunchtime before his breakfast black coffee has its desired effect. Nevertheless, the sense gets through even if the sentences are often a little shattered.

We were talking not so much about the space between us as about Dan Hartman's new album on MCA which contains the blockbusting hit I Can Dream About You from the Streets Of Fire movie and marks him down alongside Hall and Oates and Huey Lewis as one of the finest purveyors of that peculiarly American musical hybrid — Soul Rock.

Of course, the last thing I would ever do is ask my grandmother to suck eggs, let alone quiz Mr Hartman on the validity or viability of what he does. After all, one way or another this friendly fellow from mellow New England has been at the top of his trade for almost 14 years, penning or producing US hits for a varied bunch including Edgar Winter (for whom he spent three years playing bass guitar), Foghat, 38 Special, and Diana Ross as well as racking up chart success in this country under his own name with infectious dance records like Instant Replay and Relight My Fire in the late Seventies.

Nevertheless I did venture the opinion that, for a man who cites the likes of Mose Allison and Allen Toussaint as major influences — and admits to an infatuation with Sam and Dave's brand of Stax stomp as well — this current album was really a little too sanitised and pre-packaged for comfort. A bit too US Industry Standard for British ears. The moment I opened my mouth I expected trouble. But even first thing in the morning after a heavy etcetera Dan Hartman took the criticism on the chin with a grin and even agreed with me!!

"Sure. It does lean more towards the industry standard rather than towards my roots. But I meant it to be that way for a reason. To begin with this is my first album in about three years and my first for a new label. So I wanted the album to have the same basic listenability throughout and I wanted the record company to feel that they could hear four or five potential singles on it. Tracks that would work on the radio. Because that was what I was aiming for, I had to make sure that each song would capture an exact feeling which would get across to the most number of people.

"I always like to make records like that. I hate records where all the musicians or the artiste are really saying is 'Dig Me!' You can lose a lot of your potential audience by making self-indulgent statements. Unless, of course, you're so neat and groovy that people say 'Wow Man! Come All Over Me!'. Now I think I am pretty neat and groovy, but I prefer to make the sort of records which will make people think about themselves, not about me. Pop music shouldn't really express the innermost thoughts of the artiste as much as giving the listeners a feeling of exuberance or pain or power or whatever. To give them a sense of their own selves.

"Once you start making music with that sort of end in mind, you realise that you have to make it less jagged and more compartmentalised. And so the reason I Can Dream About You sounds maybe as Industry Standard as it does is because it was designed to get through to as many different sorts of people as possible. And that isn't necessarily a negative factor."

But from a British point of view, it does represent a lot of what's bad about American music in the 1980s.

"I know. And I can dig that. Personally I find I listen to more English and European records these days than I do American records. There's always more of a sense of experimentalisation to them. It's all down to the social conditions in the UK and the music reflects that in exactly the same way that American records reflect the social conditions in the US. English records are usually much more of a sketch, and the first scratches on the paper are what they leave. In America they like records which... It's like the difference between two or three players jamming away and whatever comes out is what it is, and a Rock concert with all the latest digital equipment so that when the band comes on they blow you hair away because the sound is so perfect. That's the way the Americans like it. And it's because America's pace and attitude is so much more aggressive. They have no time for Art. It's all 'Give it to me now! Fast, finished and exciting, so I can get on to the next!'. I love that Fine Young Cannibals record, for instance, because it's the opposite of all that. It's obviously come right off the top of somebody's head, which is a very British thing, and even though it's essentially a demo it's got so much energy. It's like Pop without the gelatine they'd pour all over it in the States."

Despite this ready willingness to criticise his fellow countrymen, Dan Hartman has yet to decide to pull up his roots and re-locate in Europe. Maybe the five months he spent in Copenhagen in 1983 grooming Danish superstars the RK Band for an international career put him off the idea. Or maybe the fact that he has a 24-track studio of his own literally in the front room of his Connecticut home keeps his feet firmly on American soil. Or maybe it's because he believes he's discovered the perfect compromise for a creative writer, performer and producer in the United States.

"You have to present your music to Americans in a form which they recognise and understand. That way they'll listen."

And there speaks a man who has no doubt about how to take care of his business. And doesn't care who knows about it. But what of production itself? Surely it can't be a combination of curly blond charm, strength of character and grim determination that has kept Dan Hartman in employment and staying in the best hotels for all these years? Well, it certainly isn't technical expertise, that's for sure.

"I'm the least technical person I've ever met," he quips. "I hate anything with digital numbers on it. I just go by instinct. It's the same with a new AMS as it is with a synthesizer for me. I never read manuals. I just sit down with the thing for a couple of days and fiddle with the knobs until I figure out what it can do. And get what I like out of it.

"When it comes to producing too I just go for something that will jump off the record and into people's heads. Again, it's a question of what feels right.

I try to make records which have a point of view to express and so you always have to concentrate upon the voice. When we did my album we tried very hard to keep the sort of R'n'B danceability in the vocals you'd expect from a D Train or Gloria Gaynor, but still keeping that Rock conviction you get from Foreigner."

By 'we' Dan Hartman means himself and the legendary Jimmy Lovine who co-produced the album: "to stop me making a breakdance record which nobody but kids on the corner in New York City would listen to". It was Lovine, as executive producer of the musical side of Dan Hill's epic Rock melodrama Streets Of Fire, who coaxed Hartman back to a recording career of his own.

But not even the insistence of the man who can number Tom Petty, Bob Seger, Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith among satisfied customers could drag Dan Hartman away from his home studio.

"I do everything in my house. I've had a 24-track studio there for over 10 years. I've always used MCI gear. Right now I've got the 538 console with the oil-filled modules and an MCI multitrack. But I reckon I'll get an Otari soon because I want to go 48-track. All my outboard equipment is old design tube stuff like Teletronic and Urei limiters and Pultec equalizers which I've bought from other studios over the years. None of them are made any more but they're all so simple to use!

"The first album I produced there was Edgar Winter's Jasmine Nightdreams. I did Instant Replay there and loads of other stuff. It was called the Schoolhouse originally because it was in this one huge room in an old New England school house which had been built in about 1760, I think. Other people have used it too. Johnny Winter produced those albums he did with Muddy Waters there, you know, Hard Again and I'm Ready with me doing a lot of the engineering. I cut Metal Priestess with Wendy O' Williams and The Plasmatics right there in my house too."

Plasmatics!?! Well, !*%& me!

Anybody further away from the Dan Hartman school of blue-eyed soul would be hard to imagine. I refrained from asking Mr Hartman whether the formidable Ms. O' Williams wears the same arrangement of gaffer tape in the studio as she does on stage. Instead I enquired how he'd been roped in to do that one. Only to be astounded when he told me how he'd actively sought the band out, tracked them down and all but begged them to let him work with them.

"It goes back to what we were talking about earlier in a way. I was in Los Angeles for a spell in 1983 and I bought about 80 different LPs. I put them all on one by one and I got so depressed because they all sounded like so much over-produced crap. There was nothing being communicated, nothing at all.

Then I fell upon the Plasmatics and I thought 'This Is It'. I played it constantly and I kept thinking 'This is such an awfully made record. If only somebody would help them make a good record with that outrageous attitude.' So I chased them and phoned them up. They said 'Dan Who?' When I explained who I was, how I'd done Free Ride and Frankenstein with Edgar Winter and had a hit myself with 'Instant Replay' I thought they'd hang up. But they didn't. I had a great time working with them because if there's one thing the Plasmatics like to do it's communicate. It nearly shook my house down with the volume.

And now that Dan Hartman is capitalising on his Streets Of Fire success by contributing title songs (and often the productions) to a whole string of big budget Hollywood movies like Chevy Chase's Fletch, John Travolta's Perfect, Crush Groove and the new Rocky IV (which is fought out to the sound of James Brown singing Hartman's Living In America) there must be a fair few people in the business who aren't quite sure which hat ol' Dan's wearing this week.

"You're right. People get confused because they want the boxes your talent comes in to be always the same shape and the same colour. If you don't do that then people lose track of who you are. They say 'Oh, he doesn't know himself'. But I know who I am. The energy is the same, the expression is the same and the work diligence is the same. Always. It's just that sometimes it all comes in different boxes and different colours. It may be weird to some people but it surely doesn't bother me."

Keep up to date with some of Dan's most rare tracks via this Soundcloud account.