Dan Hartman

Daniel Earl Hartman (December 8, 1950 – March 22, 1994) was an American pop rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter and original frontman for several bands, including The Soploids, Mak and the Turnarounds, Our Wringer, Last Wing, and Orion.

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".

Hartman was born on December 8, 1950, to Carl Hartman (1921–2006) and Pauline Angeloff (1925–1999) near Pennsylvania's capital, Harrisburg, in West Hanover Township, Dauphin County.

His father served as an aerial gunner during World War II before eventually working for the U.S. Postal Service.

His maternal side of the family originated from Yugoslavia and were likely of Russian or Bulgarian descent.

Hartman was a child prodigy and studied classical piano.

He attended John Harris High School, where he sang for the John Harris Choir and partook in journalism and theater as extracurricular activities.

Hartman joined his first band the Legends at the age of 13 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 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.

The Legends disbanded by the mid-1970s.

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.

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.

Upon launching a solo career in 1976, he released a promotional album titled Who Is Dan Hartman and Why Is Everyone Saying Wonderful Things About Him? It was a compilation disc including songs from Johnny Winter and the Edgar Winter Group.

His second release, Images, was his first true album and featured ex-Edgar Winter Group members Edgar Winter, Ronnie Montrose and Rick Derringer and guests Clarence Clemons and Randy Brecker.

In late 1978, partly due to being introduced by the Studio 54 sound system, Hartman reached No. 1 on the Dance Charts with the disco single "Instant Replay" (the title track of his third full-length album Instant Replay) which crossed over to No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1979 and also reached the Top 10 on the UK charts.

Musicians Hartman worked with on the associated album included Vinnie Vincent and G. E. Smith.

This was followed by his second chart topper, 1979's "Relight My Fire" (the title track of his fourth full-length album Relight My Fire), which featured friend Loleatta Holloway on vocals.

Hartman 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".

"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.