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The Recording Artist

Many of the songs on my various recordings were co-written, although many were written by me alone. For the sake of brevity, I will not mention my co-writers here, but they are faithfully listed on all my CDs and albums.

I am currently in the process of recording a new studio album. It will largely consist of me singing songs I wrote but that other artists recorded. Two examples are “I Do (Cherish You),” which 98 Degrees/Mark Wills recorded, and “I Promise You,” released by the Backstreet Boys. I will continue to give updates on the progress of this album.

Starting Monday, February 9, 2009, I’m planning to post a new recording for downloading or purchase. It’s the title song to my book, I Am My Father’s Son. The book, published by HarperCollins Canada, is in stores now (and can be ordered online here) .

Below are a few of the awards I’ve won

  • Five Junos
  • One Grammy
  • Six ASCAP Awards for outstanding radio airplay in America
  • One BMI Award for outstanding airplay in America
  • Five SOCAN Awards for outstanding airplay in Canada
  • The Harold Moon Award (Canada’s most prestigious music award, handed out annually to a songwriter who has made an exceptional contribution to international songwriting)
Dan Hill, 1975

Produced by Matthew McCauley and Fred Mollin.
Gold in Canada. Released worldwide, with respectable international sales.

Dan’s comments: The songs on this album were written through the years 1972 (when I was 18) to 1974 (when I was 20), so they reflect the disposition of a young man: searingly personal, naïve, and passionate. I’m proud of this album, in particular the songs “You Make Me Want to Be (a Father),”my first hit single in Canada; “You Say You’re Free”; and “Fountain.” “Growing Up” was released in the U.S. as a single. It charted on the Billboard Hot 100, appearing with a big splash, but disappeared as fast as it entered.
track listing and cover art
Hold On, 1976

Produced by Matthew McCauley and Fred Mollin.
Gold in Canada. Released worldwide, with greater sales internationally than Dan Hill.

Dan’s comments: “Hold On,” “Question Marks in Time,” “Dear Caroline,” and “Phone call” are the standout songs on this release. But the songwriting consistency isn’t as solid as it is on my debut album. However, my singing is much better. And “Hold On”, marks a step forward in my songwriting ability.
track listing and cover art
Longer Fuse, 1977

Produced by Matthew McCauley and Fred Mollin.
Triple platinum in Canada.
Platinum in the United States.
Platinum in many international markets.

Dan’s comments: “Sometimes When We Touch” has enjoyed enough comments, so I’ll take the Fifth on this song. Its history speaks for itself. (For anyone wanting my in-depth story on “Sometimes…,” you can find it in my book, I Am My Father’s Son HarperCollins Canada, 2009). “Fourteen Today,” “Longer Fuse,” “Southern California,” and “McCarthy’s Day” are my personal favourites on this album. While I’m obviously proud of the success of “Sometimes…” and am forever grateful to my preternaturally gifted co-writer on that song, Barry Mann, and my producers, Matthew McCauley and Fred Mollin, I can no longer be objective about the song itself, as it is “bigger than me, bigger than life.”
track listing and cover art
Frozen in the Night, 1978

Produced by Matthew McCauley and Fred Mollin.
Platinum in Canada. (it may have gone Gold in America; I honestly can’t remember.)
“All I See Is Your Face” topped the U.S. “middle-of-the-road” charts (this was before the term “Adult Contemporary” came into use) and, if memory serves, peaked at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Dan’s comments: My personal favourites on this album are “Friends,” “Dark Side of Atlanta,” “No One Taught Me How to Lie” and “All I See Is Your Face.” From a song consistency level, this album was superior to Longer Fuse, but it was so sad, so achingly intense, due to what I was going through in my life at that time, that it may simply have been too overwhelming for say, a typical, mainstream listener. And obviously, I didn’t come through with the “big song” to follow my life-changing smash single from ’77/’78.
track listing and cover art
If Dreams Had Wings, 1980

Produced by Roy Halee and Don Potter.
Released on Epic worldwide.

Dan’s comments: This album marked the beginning of my fall from mainstream pop stardom. Punk and alternative music were coming into fashion and the “sensitive singer/songwriter” ideal was regarded by many as “dated,” “unmanly,” or “slick.” However, this album contained a handful of strong songs, “If Dreams Had Wings,” “Unloved People,” and “Ghost” being the standouts.
track listing and cover art
Partial Surrender, 1981

Produced by John Boylan.

Dan’s comments: This album also failed to have any commercial impact, for many of the same reasons as my previous album. However, “Somewhere in the Distance,” by far the best song on this album, still amazes me. Particularly my chord progression. Sheesh, I wish I could play guitar like that now. It was also my paternal grandmother, May Hill’s, personal favourite song of mine. My wife, Bev, claims it was the song that caused her to fall in love with me, back in 1980. The “rockier” songs on this album that are mediocre, but there are a few ballads on this record (“Don’t Give Up on Love” and “I’m Just a Man”) that are hold up well.
track listing and cover art
It’s a Long Road (Theme to First Blood) (1982)

Produced by John Boylan.

Dan’s comments: I recorded the theme song for First Blood (otherwise known as the first Rambo movie, starring Sylvester Stallone), but I did not write this song. It’s one of only two songs I’ve recorded and released over my career that I did not write. The song, called “It’s a Long Road,” was written by Hal Shaper and Jerry Goldsmith. I can’t be objective about the song’s quality, but I did pull off one heck of a powerful and rangy vocal performance. This song was a hit in Asia and Australia and charted in England. Some people come up to me and tell me it’s the best song I’ve ever written. When I laugh and tell them I didn’t write this song, they get embarrassed. I don’t take it personally. I’m a confident guy when it comes to songwriting. But I find it hilarious that they think this is my best song.
Love In The Shadows , 1983

Produced by John Lewis Parker and Dan Hill.

Dan’s comments: While this record was released internationally, it never came out in America. Frankly, this was an experimental album that failed. I was trying to be “hip.” Big mistake. This was not John Lewis Parker’s fault; he’s a great producer and songwriter. I was simply attempting to “change with the times,” but I should have stayed true to myself. Nevertheless, the few songs where I’m just writing and singing from my heart—“The Old Lady Song,” “In Your Eyes” (more on “In Your Eyes” in my “Dan Hill the Singer-Songwriter” section), “Don’t Know Where It Comes From”—are wonderful. “Love in the Shadows” is a nifty little song, especially given that it’s propelled by only two chords. “You Pulled Me Through” contains my greatest vocal performance on this album, but the song itslef doesn’t contain the freshness of my previously mentioned songs .
track listing and cover art
Dan Hill, 1987

Produced by Hank Medress and John Capek.

Dan’s comments: This was my big “comeback album.” The single “Can’t We Try?” (featuring Vonda Shepard) reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the #1 Adult Contemporary Song of the Year on Billboard’s 1987 wrap up. “Never Thought That I Could Love” hit #1 on the U.S. AC charts, while “Carmelia” hit #6.

It was my shift to writing on piano rather than guitar that enabled me to bang out hit songs again. I’d finally learned how to fuse my natural passion as a songwriter with the craft of a seasoned hit maker. Barry Mann and Michael Masser (both songwriting geniuses) gave me a world of songwriting knowledge when I worked with them in the late 70s and early 80s, and it finally rubbed off on me.

However, this was a difficult album to make, as I fought a lot with various people involved in this project. With all the producers, executive producers, arrangers, etc., involved in this record, an awful lot of differing musical opinions were bandied about. At one time or another, everyone involved in this project wanted to strangle me. Probably for good reason, as I wasn’t the easiest “artist” to deal with at the time. Fortunately, John Sheard, my close friend, and musical director on this album, played a huge role—musically and personally—in saving this record from going down the tubes. Without John Sheard’s musical stewardship and indefatigable loyalty, I would never have been able to bang three hit songs on this record and prove to the world and, more importantly, to myself, that I was more than a “one hit wonder.”

My favourite songs on this album are “Can’t We Try?” and “Never Thought.” Surprisingly for an album containing three chart smashes, the overall collection lacks songwriting consistency. I don’t believe that anything else on this album comes close to the writing quality of my two aforementioned favourite songs.
track listing and cover art
Real Love, 1989

Produced by John Sheard and Dan Hill.

Dan’s comments: “Unborn Heart,” my only single from this album, peaked at #2 on the AC charts. “Wishful Thinking” features Celine Dion (still largely unknown outside of Quebec at this point) as my duet partner. This is a very strong song with equally powerful vocals. “Why Do We Always Hurt the Ones We Love?” and “Real Love” are two other very good, though not brilliant, songs on this album.

Despite “Unborn Heart’s” (this is not a pro life song, simply a very personal song expressing how I felt when I found out that my wife, Bev, was pregnant) massive Adult Contemporary airplay, this album did not generate enough sales to warrant Columbia Records investing any more money in my career. By the end of 1989, I was dropped from the label. My songwriting talents, while undeniable, were not enough to launch me back to the pop star status I’d briefly enjoyed in the late 70s.
track listing and cover art
The Dan Hill Collection, 1989

Platinum in Canada, released in many territories, selling solidly, if not spectacularly

Dan’s comments: This “collection” went platinum upon its release, shocking the heck out of everyone. This is a solid representation of the first half of my singing/songwriting career.
Dance of Love, 1991

Various producers: John Sheard, Doug James, Dan Hill, Chas Sanford, Charles Judge, Humberto Gatica, Rick Hahn.
Worldwide release.

Dan’s comments: I’d rank this as one of my best albums, with far more consistent songwriting than on my four 80s releases. “I Fall All Over Again” peaked at #3 on the U.S. AC charts. “Hold Me Now” and “Dance of Love” also did well on the U.S. AC charts. While this album sold solidly in many markets, it did not produce the “superstar” sales that the Michael Boltons and Bryan Adams of the world were racking up. Quality Records and I shook hands and parted ways.
track listing and cover art
Let Me Show You (Greatest Hits and More), 1993

Producers: Various.
Sales: Poor in Canada. But well over two hundred thousand in the States. (I should point out that I’m working on memory, so I could be off a few thousand here or there)

Dan’s comments: I set up my own record label in the States, called Spontaneous Records. In 1993 I released this greatest hits package, which also included four new songs. My remake of my old co-write with Michael Masser, “In Your Eyes,” reached #10 on the U.S. AC charts. My remade duet version of “Sometimes When We Touch” (with Rique Franks) enjoyed a lot of airplay in the U.S., as well as in many other markets.  The album sold consistently year after year, until 2007, when my U.S. distributor, Navarre, merged with Koch Records. Koch decided not to include my album on their label, and Let Me Show You basically disappeared from U.S. stores.
track listing and cover art
I’m Doing Fine, 1996

Various producers: John Sheard, John Jones, Rick Hahn, Dan Hill, Chas Sanford.

Dan’s comments: This album produced one U.S. AC chart single, “Wrapped Around Your Finger.” Just like Let Me Show You, its distribution in the United States was discontinued when Koch took over my former distributor, Navarre. “Memories” is a great song. I personally love “I’m Doing Fine.” But, by 1996, after being diagnosed with diabetes, I’d lost some of my recording passion and was becoming more interested in writing songs for other artists. I’m Doing Fine would be my last studio album containing all new songs.
track listing and cover art
Love of My Life (The Best of Dan Hill), 1999

Producers: Various.
Released in Canada and various territories (excluding the U.S.)

Dan’s comments: This is by far, my best greatest hits package. Four new songs are included on this greatest hits package; each of them represent me in top songwriting form. These four songs are “Seduces Me” (more on that one in my “Dan Hill the Singer-Songwriter” section); “Love of My Life” (more on that song, too, in my “Dan Hill the Singer-Songwriter” section); “Once Upon A Time”; and lastly, “Daddy’s Song,” perhaps the most personal and powerful song I’ve ever recorded. It’s also one of my best songs.
track listing and cover art
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