Lisa Hartman's Lack of Success as a Solo-Singer

[Billy Nolan]

Why do you think Lisa Hartman wasn't successful as a singer? I have all four solo albums, including her singles, and I also thought she was very good as a blues singer in "Return of Elliot Ness." Here in Germany, she enjoys considerable popularity in the field of female-fronted rock (AOR). One of her songs was also included on the famous "Munich City Night" sampler. Last year, one of her songs, "'Til My Heart Stops," was played on a Berlin radio station. The reviews of her last album were quite good in European music magazines (attached is a review of the last album by a British metal and rock magazine and a review of the album "Letterock" by a major student newspaper). Why do you think she didn't have a major breakthrough as a singer? I have the impression that European audiences liked or appreciated her music more than US audiences. Was she too "random" in the US?
Her last solo album, "'Til My Heart Stops" from 1987, was also appreciated in Switzerland and Sweden, as contemporary magazines and music websites testify.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

But she was Tabitha!

 

[Billy Nolan]

Yes - and she also sang the title-song of Tabitha.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Yes - and she also sang the title-song of Tabitha.

Did not know that. Thanks

 

[Julia's Gun]

Wasn't it all a bit too mainstream though? She jumps on the back of other artists doing covers of tracks like Time After Time or Dancing in the Street, but she wasn't doing anything more original like Toyah, Hazel O'Connor or Kate Bush were at this time. Was it too much imitation rather than innovation?
I still loved her though as an actress as well as a singer, and have often wondered why her Knots stint didn't do more to further a solo career. She didn't act much either after Knots. I think that Ben has a lot to answer for, wasn't much of a tour manager was he?

 

[Julia's Gun]

 

[Billy Nolan]

Wasn't it all a bit too mainstream though? She jumps on the back of other artists doing covers of tracks like Time After Time or Dancing in the Street, but she wasn't doing anything more original like Toyah, Hazel O'Connor or Kate Bush were at this time. Was it too much imitation rather than innovation?
I still loved her though as an actress as well as a singer, and have often wondered why her Knots stint didn't do more to further a solo career. She didn't act much either after Knots. I think that Ben has a lot to answer for, wasn't much of a tour manager was he?

Hmm... I think her last album, with "Imagination" and "Can't Get You Out of My System," is quite innovative for its time. I think she may have released the wrong songs as singles.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

attached is a review of the last album by a British metal and rock magazine

"...the awful Knots Landing series..."

 

[Billy Nolan]

"...the awful Knots Landing series..."

​

I'm sure it was a typo and should have been "awesome."

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I'm sure it was a typo and should have been "awesome."

It's the only thing that makes sense.


The reviewer is probably typical of Lisa's British audience in knowing her primarily from her stint on Knots. I don't ever recall any of her albums being in British record shops at the time - and believe me, I looked.

It's a shame because her music and voice seemed to go down well with casual viewers here. Back in the day, if I mentioned Knots and someone inexplicably knew what I was talking about, Ciji and the music angle were usually spoken about fondly. I'm sure there was a market for her music here, but it was mostly untapped.

I have all four albums, but they're the Wounded Bird CDs released decades later (and those, too, were imported).

 

[Billy Nolan]

It's the only thing that makes sense.


The reviewer is probably typical of Lisa's British audience in knowing her primarily from her stint on Knots. I don't ever recall any of her albums being in British record shops at the time - and believe me, I looked.

It's a shame because her music and voice seemed to go down well with casual viewers here. Back in the day, if I mentioned Knots someone inexplicably knew what I was talking about, Ciji and the music angle were usually spoken about fondly. I'm sure there was a market for her music here, but it was mostly untapped.

I have all four albums, but they're the Wounded Bird CDs released decades later (and those, too, were imported).

That's exciting. Here in Germany, at least her last album was available in record stores. Her CD didn't hit stores until 1988. At the time, there was also a German label that released the album here: WEA Records, the German subsidiary of Atlantic Records in the US. When the albums were in stores here in the late '80s (the episodes with Ciji and Cathy first aired on German television in 1989-1990), I didn't watch Knots Landing. I didn't try to get their albums until 1992, when they were no longer available.
It wasn't until 2000 that I gradually started getting her albums, and I found the last album on LP and CD from German second-hand dealers. Later, I also bought all the CD reissues.
A friend of mine actually found and bought Lisa's album on the shop tables of larger department stores in German cities. She was a fan of Knots Landing even earlier than I was. However, she was disappointed that there were no Ciji songs on the album.
The first time there was demand for her music in this country was when she appeared as "Neely" in "Valley of the Dolls" in the early 80s.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

"Success" in the music business, certainly in America, is a political thing. As is the case with many businesses. The industry doesn't care about talent -- only the fans do.

In some cases, genuine talent is resented by the moguls. Probably because they think it makes the artist harder to control -- and the artist's very existence creates a contrast to the subpar stuff the moguls are promoting.

 

[Monzo]

I wasn't aware that such a hard effort was being made to establish Lisa Hartman on the German music market. Maybe if the record company had known that ZDF would starting airing Knots Landing 1988 they would have held back her releases a bit longer until Ciji would have appeared. But her singing on a soap wouldn't have automatically made her a star in Germany, just look at Apollonia Kotero who never entered the German charts. Audrey Landers was simply lucky to be produced by German producer Jack White, who knew the German music market. And by the way, David Hasselhoff was lucky that Audrey Landers introduced him and Jack White to each other; otherwise, David Hasselhoff wouldn't have become such a big star in Germany.

If Lisa Hartman had been willing to perform her old material on one or another music show of ZDF (which Knots Landing aired) around 1990, she might have had a chance with the help of features in teen magazines. But as far as KL actors go, I remember reports about Alec Baldwin in teen magazines, (that's only because he was already big at the cinema when KL started airing his episodes in Germany) and about Danielle Brisebois, who, incidentally, became the only KL cast member to make it into the German charts. Her cover version of Brenton Wood's "Gimme Little Sign" peaked at number 51 in Germany in 1995, but didn't bring her lasting success. I remember reading in a magazine back then that Danielle Brisebois had been on Knots Landing, and only then did I realize it was THE Danielle Brisebois, because I didn't recognize her in the music video at first.

 

[Billy Nolan]

I wasn't aware that such a hard effort was being made to establish Lisa Hartman on the German music market. Maybe if the record company had known that ZDF would starting airing Knots Landing 1988 they would have held back her releases a bit longer until Ciji would have appeared. But her singing on a soap wouldn't have automatically made her a star in Germany, just look at Apollonia Kotero who never entered the German charts. Audrey Landers was simply lucky to be produced by German producer Jack White, who knew the German music market. And by the way, David Hasselhoff was lucky that Audrey Landers introduced him and Jack White to each other; otherwise, David Hasselhoff wouldn't have become such a big star in Germany.

If Lisa Hartman had been willing to perform her old material on one or another music show of ZDF (which Knots Landing aired) around 1990, she might have had a chance with the help of features in teen magazines. But as far as KL actors go, I remember reports about Alec Baldwin in teen magazines, (that's only because he was already big at the cinema when KL started airing his episodes in Germany) and about Danielle Brisebois, who, incidentally, became the only KL cast member to make it into the German charts. Her cover version of Brenton Wood's "Gimme Little Sign" peaked at number 51 in Germany in 1995, but didn't bring her lasting success. I remember reading in a magazine back then that Danielle Brisebois had been on Knots Landing, and only then did I realize it was THE Danielle Brisebois, because I didn't recognize her in the music video at first.

Lisa Hartman was also featured in several articles in German teen magazines (including Bravo). We've talked about this before. Attached are sample reports from Bravo. Unfortunately, her management of the international market was not good. She certainly had fans here – including in the AOR music scene. I remember buying her CD from a secondhand dealer in 2001. I asked him (he was a music connoisseur) whether Lisa Hartman was generally well-known. He said she was very well-known in the scene among fans of female-fronted rock, and that her last album, "'Til My Heart Stops," was indeed a must-have! I hadn't known that until then. But Bravo also regularly featured reader inquiries about her music – and whether her albums were still available here in Germany. I'm surprised, though, that her songs are also played on German radio... But if you look at suggested music lists from various music providers, Lisa Hartman is often included as a solo artist.
At the time, Bravo magazine spread the word that her music wasn't available in Germany. But that was simply wrong! The German label WEA distributed her last album here
.

 

[Stillwitty]

Why do you think Lisa Hartman wasn't successful as a singer? I have all four solo albums, including her singles, and I also thought she was very good as a blues singer in "Return of Elliot Ness." Here in Germany, she enjoys considerable popularity in the field of female-fronted rock (AOR). One of her songs was also included on the famous "Munich City Night" sampler. Last year, one of her songs, "'Til My Heart Stops," was played on a Berlin radio station. The reviews of her last album were quite good in European music magazines (attached is a review of the last album by a British metal and rock magazine and a review of the album "Letterock" by a major student newspaper). Why do you think she didn't have a major breakthrough as a singer? I have the impression that European audiences liked or appreciated her music more than US audiences. Was she too "random" in the US?
Her last solo album, "'Til My Heart Stops" from 1987, was also appreciated in Switzerland and Sweden, as contemporary magazines and music websites testify.
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Because her skills were limited: In LA, every 3rd person coming out the Walmart sounds at least as good as she does...

 

[Billy Nolan]

In LA, every 3rd person coming out the Walmart sounds at least as good as she does...

That's a bit of an exaggeration.

 

[Stillwitty]

That's a bit of an exaggeration.

It's known as humor.

 

[Billy Nolan]

It's known as humor.

... an interesting kind of humor.

 

[Billy Nolan]

It's known as humor.

Seriously, no offense intended. I have a great sense of humor (especially dark humor) – but how would anyone recognize your kind of humor in this context? That's the end of that discussion. --- Back to the topic.

 

[Monzo]

Did any other characters besides Ciji, Cathy, and Ginger sing on the show? It would have been a natural fit for Anne, but I don't recall ever hearing her sing.

Aside from Lisa Hartman, Michelle Phillips, and Danielle Brisebois, are there any other cast members who have released music?