Dan Hartman Albums (5)
What The Critics Say
This is the first space music album released by Private Music, and should be cause for celebration among space fans. Dan Hartman comes from a background as a rock keyboardist and hit songwriter, but the main influence here is definitely Eno and Harold Budd. Dan lays down lush synth chords, while playing exquisite space piano and synth melody lines. The result is very similar in sound and feel to Plateaux of Mirror, an elegant and sublime journey through the deeper tones and shades of consciousness. ~ Backroads Music/Heartbeats, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Hartman's followup to Instant Replay, and while nothing here raced up the charts like that album's title single, the producer/singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist flashes his party energy through sturdy constructions. "Hands Down" trails off with Stevie Wonder and Edgar Winter trading fours on harmonica and sax respectively -- an inspired collaboration that could have run on a few minutes more. "Just for Fun," almost a one-man show, contrasts a muscular, syncopated hook to the insouciance of the lyric. The finale, "Free Ride," retools a hit Hartman originally wrote and sung for Edgar Winter, transferring the choogle of the older version's rhythm guitar to the rhythm section for a seemingly-simple discofication displaying the hand of a master crafsman. ~ Andrew Hamlin, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
"Instant Replay" itself kicks off with an "American Top 40" peppy countdown and boogies its way through an ode to rolling over in the clover that's as minty and mildly abrasive as toothpaste. Hartman, one of popular music's undersung utility infielders, sculpted his disco breakthrough with the same intricacy as Seymour Chwast's phantasmagoric album cover, but his fondness for real live percussion, room ambiences, and endless good-time monkeyshines set the finished work apart from the chilling and provocative flesh-against-machine conundrums posed by Donna Summer's work with Giorgio Moroder. His unapologetic love of show tunes with top-hat-and-a-cane swagger shines through the 11-minute-plus "Countdown/This Is It," where the mastermind chases Blanche Napolean through an obstacle course of sometimes-harmonized scat singing in between spidery sax lines from the songwriter's old boss, Edgar Winter. A swingin' party with Hartman, who called his studio compound "The Schoolhouse," teaching ABCs with the proverbial rhythm and ease. (Guitarist Vinnie Cusanso later slapped on some Egyptian warrior makeup and tossed his 12-string in the closet; as Vinnie Vincent, he became a controversial shred guitarist with and without Kiss.) ~ Andrew Hamlin, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Dan Hartman's Images came before his solo success with "Instant Replay" and "I Can Dream About You," and for the most part it is a pleasant set of recordings. "My Love" is hardly the Paul McCartney, Lionel Ritchie, or Petula Clark tune; it is John Wilcox from Todd Rundgren's Utopia and bassist John Siegler working with Hartman to give the world a luscious pop tune that should have charted as the songs by the above-referenced artists did using this same theme. This is slick, dense, complex pop music with lots of guest stars. Ronnie Montrose adds his guitar to the driving "The Party's in the Back Room," while Randy Brecker guests on "Can't Stand in the Way of Love." Hartman plays the kalimba on "Love It Too Much," an island tune with more than a touch of reggae, but keeping to the pop which this artist embraced so fully. "If Only I Were Stronger," resplendent in Tom Strohman flutes and heavy keyboards, is a blue-eyed Sound of Philadelphia song. The Harrisburg native had a good grasp of the sounds around him, and Images takes many journeys, from this Ambrosia-meets-Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes number to "High Sign and "Telephone," two songs which vaguely resemble Billy Squier's material with his band Piper. Squier's "Telephone Relation" is poppier than Dan Hartman's "On the Telephone" -- and Squier was playing his tune in the Sidewinders years before. "High Sign," which also features Ronnie Montrose, borrows from Piper's "Who's Your Boyfriend," and you know these artists were on the same circuit -- it's fun seeing the similar themes show up on two albums from the same time period. "Can't Stand in the Way of Love" is more slick R&B which would have suited a latter-day Chairman of the Board or Spinners very well. Rick Derringer plays acoustic lead and rhythm guitars on "Thank You for the Good Times," while Edgar Winter co-writes the first track, "Hear My Song," almost a sequel to their hit "Free Ride." It's a very mainstream album from a very mainstream artist. The "Cat Scratch Fever" riff of "The Party's in the Backroom" beat Ted Nugent by a year on this 1976 outing -- and Images remains a worthy testament to the many sides of the late, multi-talented recording artist. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
One of Dan Hartman's most essential solo albums came in 1984, when the late singer/composer signed with MCA and produced I Can Dream About You with Jimmy Iovine. This is primarily a pop/rock album, but it's a pop/rock album with a fair amount of urban contemporary/dance-pop appeal. Though Hartman was a member of a major '70s rock act, the Edgar Winter Group, he also had strong R&B and disco credentials -- 1979's "Instant Replay" and 1980's "Relight My Fire" both received a lot of airplay on R&B stations. And this excellent album finds Hartman showing his enthusiasm for R&B on pop/rock gems that range from the hit title song and the anthemic "We Are the Young" to the Motown-tinged "Name of the Game" and the new wave-ish "Electricity," which he co-wrote with Labelle graduate Nona Hendryx. Most of the songs, however, were written by Hartman and partner Charlie Midnight, who proves to be as valuable to Hartman as Iovine -- a studio heavyweight who is known for his work with everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Stevie Nicks. Hartman, Midnight, and Iovine all do their part to make I Can Dream About You the focused, consistently rewarding album that it is. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
