“When you’ve written a classic banger like the Edgar Winter Group’s ‘Free Ride,’ a huge disco hit like ‘Instant Replay,’ a monster 1980s smash ‘I Can Dream About You,’ and James Brown’s rousing movie theme ‘Living in America’ (a co-writing collaboration), what do you do for an encore? In Dan Hartman’s case: combine yet more writing — along with production and session work duties — for a stunningly diverse list of groups and acts including The Plasmatics, Nona Hendryx, Steve Winwood, John Waite, Paul King, Tina Turner, Dusty Springfield, Bonnie Tyler, .38 Special, Foghat, Muddy Waters, Diana Ross, Average White Band, Neil Sedaka, Chaka Khan, Joni Mitchell, and more.
Hartman gained so much traction by writing, producing, and performing for others that his solo recording and performance career was very much obscured. Renowned contemporary music critic Robert Christgau slammed Hartman’s workhorse ways in his review of Hartman’s 1989 album Instant Replay, seemingly with compliments wrapped in insults: “Too bad one of the few disco albums that out-dollar-for-dollar the corresponding disco single is this super-efficient piece of rock funk … ” But on the slow tune, ‘Time and Space’ … “Hartman breaks his own rule by trying to write a meaningful lyric and then triples the misdemeanor by running it through his own larynx. Who does he think he is, Robert Plant? Machines can’t sing.”
The ballad “Time and Space” begins in A major, with dynamics ranging from hushed sections accompanied by soft piano to rhapsodic passages supported by string section, plentiful percussion, and more. 2:26 brings us to the bridge, which shifts to C major at 2:55 via bouncy syncopation. Ultimately, Hartman is at the helm of a full-blown anthem — a ballad eventually turned power ballad.
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