Originally Published: 2010-07-18

Dan HIll

When internationally-renowned singer/songwriter Dan Hill leaves for his afternoon appearance at The Beaches International Jazz Festival, maybe he’ll jog there. You see, he’s been a proud Beaches resident for a couple of decades now, living and working in one of those lovely big old houses near the water. He also happens to be something of a running fanatic.
That’s one of the many fascinating things we learned about Hill in a long recent interview at his home.
Of his passion for running, he says “People like me work really har,d at what we do, so running is this wonderful hobby for some of us. The last thing you want to do when you go to bed is read about what you do. If you read about running, it’s a hobby, so it’s very relaxing.”
To use an athletic metaphor, Dan Hill is now a long-distance runner. He sprinted out of the blocks in the ’70s as a young folk-pop singer/songwriter, scoring a huge No. 1 international hit single with “Sometimes When We Touch.” That is one of the most-covered songs ever, a sentimental ballad both loved and reviled in equal measure.
Hill is far from a one-hit wonder, though. He scored other hits in the ’70s and ’80s, but since then he has primarily been known for writing songs for some huge names in pop and country. That list includes Celine Dion, The Backstreet Boys, 98 Degrees, Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire, George Benson, and even Britney Spears.
His basement music room walls are covered with plaques honouring platinum record sales by such artists.
“The truth is my day job is songwriting.I’m never going to make the kind of money as a recording artist or performer or author or writing articles for Macleans that I make if I bang out a song that gets onto a Celine Dion album. What that success does is free me up to perform, because I like performing, or to write a book because I want to write a book. Luckily it’s a day job I really love. I spent June 4 hanging out with [boxing superstar] Manny Pacquaio in New York, talking about the possibility of doing a remake of “Sometimes When We Touch” before he has a big fight in November, and me singing in a cameo role. That’s my day job, still working my song catalogue like a shoe salesman! When you strip it all down, it’s not that romantic. Peddling your songs like any other merchant!”

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