Keep the Fire Burnin' (Dan Hartman album)
| Keep the Fire Burnin' | ||||
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| Studio album by Dan Hartman | ||||
| Released | December 20, 1994 | |||
| Genre | Pop, Disco, Funk, House | |||
| Length | 77:02 | |||
| Label | Chaos, Columbia | |||
| Producer |
Dan Hartman (tracks 1-3, 7-11) Jimmy Iovine, Hartman (tracks 4-6) |
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| Dan Hartman chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    |
| Entertainment Weekly | B |
| The Courant | favorable |
| The Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music | |
Keep the Fire Burnin' is a compilation album from American musician/singer/songwriter Dan Hartman. It was his first album since 1989's New Green Clear Blue, and was released posthumously in 1994, following his death earlier in the year. The album is essentially a compilation featuring remixes of earlier hits and previously unreleased material.
Following the commercial failure of his 1989 album New Green Clear Blue, Hartman turned once again to producing, although he had revealed to be recording a new solo album immediately after the New Green Clear Blue album. By 1994, Hartman began to record a new album of contemporary pop and dance music. While in the studio during 1993, he noted that "So many things have changed in terms of social and political issues, as well as the need for love and personal relationships. All of these things are the reasons why writing and recording new material is most meaningful to me." In the end, a total of two songs were completed; "Keep the Fire Burnin'" and "The Love in Your Eyes". Hartman died on March 22, 1994, from an AIDS-related brain tumor.
Both of the two new recordings were released as singles. "Keep the Fire Burnin'" was a duet starring Loleatta Holloway, who had provided vocals for Hartman before, and was the album's leading single. It peaked at #49 in the UK. "The Love in Your Eyes" followed as Hartman's last ever single, although it failed to make any impact in America and Europe. The Keep the Fire Burnin' album itself was a commercial failure and failed to make any chartings.
The first two songs on the album were the two previously unreleased tracks, and both the final compositions of Hartman. "Living in America" was written by Hartman and Charlie Midnight, who handed the song to James Brown in 1985, who scored a big hit with the track. The version that appears here is Hartman's own previously unreleased version. "Free Ride" was originally recorded in 1972 by The Edgar Winter Group, of which writer Hartman was a member of. The version that appears on the album is Hartman's own solo version from his "Relight My Fire" album from 1979. Track four "I Can Dream About You" is the Larry Levan Remix, but not credited to him on the album. Track eight, the version of "Vertigo/Relight My Fire", is the rare "Progressive Instrumental Remix". "Keep the Fire Burnin'" was included twice on the album, with the closing version being "(That SFB Feeling Mix)". The tracks one, four and nine have no remix credit in the titles.
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