Jimmy Harnen

Origin: Plymouth, Pennsylvania (USA)

JIMMY HARNEN

Jimmy Harnen

Discography:

Can't fight the midnight - 1989 (with lyrics)

Notes:

- Harnen was born and raised in Plymouth, a small town in northeast Pennsylvania. In high school, he played drums in the marching band. In 1985, he became the drummer for the local band Synch, made up of lead vocalist Lou Butwin, guitarist Dave Abraham, bass guitarist James A. Donnelly and keyboard player Chuck Yarmey.

That year, the band recorded some of their songs, with Harnen singing on one song, "Where Are You Now". He had written the song with a friend named Rich Congdon, and the band decided to release it as a single on the independent label Micki Records, originally backed with the Butwin-sung B-side, "End the Game".

After receiving local airplay in the Wilkes-Barre market, Synch was signed by Columbia Records and "Where Are You Now" was re-recorded at The Warehouse in Philadelphia with the former Dakota members Bill Kelly and Jerry Hludzik producing and Dave Abraham playing guitar. The band released the album ...Get the Feelin' in 1986, and "Where Are You Now" reached #77 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for two and half months. ...Get the Feelin' also included the local single, "Give Love Another Try", but it did not crack the charts. Synch was soon dropped by Columbia. They spent the next few years trying to recapture the spotlight, before disbanding.

In the interim, one Richmond VA radio station (WLZR 92.9 FM) was still getting requests for the song, which was a consistent top performer during the nightly local request countdown after its 1986 release. WLZR-FM night DJ Kidd Crockett (later known as Kid Kelly of Z-100 New York and current DJ on Sirius XM 'Hits' channel) continued to play the song even after national airplay had dwindled. A part-time DJ at the station, JJ Wright, had always liked the song and kept a promo single of the record for his personal use. In 1988, Kidd Crockett and JJ Wright reunited in Buffalo NY at WKSE-FM. Shortly after, when another resurgent single, "Into the Night" by Benny Mardones became a national hit again, JJ dug up his promo 45 and presented it to Kiss 98.5 Program Director, Paul 'Boom Boom' Cannon, who in turn played it for his national music consultant who in turn submitted it to many of his Top 40 and Adult Contemporary radio stations where the domino effect caused a massive revival for the single. In 1989, "Where Are You Now" had now successfully resurfaced and began receiving a tremendous amount of airplay nationwide, with the song now credited as 'Jimmy Harnen with Synch'. WTG, a new label at the time, signed Harnen and while the song was climbing the charts he began recording a full-length release for the label. This time, the song peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Harnen's first album, Can't Fight the Midnight, featured well-known studio musicians including future American Idol judge Randy Jackson (bass guitar), Toto's Steve Lukather (guitar) and a guest appearance by one of Harnen's idols, REO Speedwagon's Kevin Cronin and Synch/Dakota guitar player Jon Lorance. The album and tour flopped and Harnen spent the next couple of years releasing occasional songs and tapes until his move to Nashville, Tennessee.

There, he worked as the national promotional director for DreamWorks Records, and with management at Refugee Records. In early October 2006, Harnen rose from vice president of national promotion to senior vice president of promotion for Capitol Records.

In April 2009, Harnen left Capitol and joined Scott Borchetta, the founder of Big Machine Records (label for artists such as Taylor Swift), becoming president of the new label, Republic Nashville. Artists on the label include Florida Georgia Line, whose single "Cruise" was the most digitally downloaded single in the history of country music, Cassadee Pope, A Thousand Horses, Brett Young, and Ryan Follese. -

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Harnen#Biography)




- Jimmy Harnen was born and raised in northeast, Pennsylvania in the small town of Plymouth located near Wilkes-Berre / Scranton. In his early teens Jimmy's dream was to become a recording artist and songwriter, by his early twenties his dream became reality. He formed the Pop/Rock group Synch, later to be known internationally as Jimmy Harnen and Synch. After formation and many rehearsals, He was ready to venture into the recording studio, while taking his band Synch into John Nasser studio Holland "Sound Studios to record, He was looking for producers. He chose former Columbia recording artists Jerry Hludzik and Bill Kelly (Dakota), to produce and Rick Manwiller who came along as part of a package deal. Rick wound up playing keyboards, arranging and co-producing "Where Are You Now?", released in 1989 on WTG/Columbia Records. WTG was owned by three recording company legends, Walter Yetnikoff of Columbia records, Tommy Mottola former CEO of Sony Records and Jerry Greenberg former head of Atlantic Records in New York City.

Where Are You Now?" in 1990 went to #10 on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart, and #3 on the Adult Contemporary Chart. The record continued well into 1990's receiving national airplay. Jimmy was also featured on the national television show Dancin' USA over the USA cable network. The song still shows up on 80's rock compilation albums from time to time. Jimmy accomplished what many aspiring artists only dream about. In 1996 Jimmy and Rick Manwiller co-wrote "The Best I Can Do (without you)" which went Top 5 on Tampa Bay's Mix-96 (WMTX-FM), and received major airplay on 15 radio markets across the U.S. Something to note is Jimmy and Rick songwriting , "All About Time", recorded at Franklin, Tenn.'s North Beach Studio with producers Cliff Downs and Randy Goodrum (who's written songs like Toto's "I'll Be Over You", Michael Johnson's "Bluer Than Blue", and Steve Perry's "Foolish Heart"). Also included on this release 'Blind Lead the Blind' (Harnen / Manwiller / Brophy / Downs) and 'Can You Hear Me When I Talk to You?' (Harnen / Manwiller)., an interesting fact is Jimmy and Rick's song "Can You Hear Me When I Talk to You" broke Brenda Lee's 46 year-old record of being the youngest female singer to hit the country charts, when the honor went to Ashley Gearing as the new youngest female singer to hit the country charts.

Jimmy and his wife Lynn moved to Nashville, His first position in Nashville was National Promotional Director for DreamWorks Records. Later he served at Refugee Management in Nashville, representing international country recording artist Jo Dee Messina. In 2004 Jimmy also served at Capitol Records Nashville as Sr. Director of National Promotion. Capitol Records more info Jimmy Harnen has now been appointed EVP Big Machine Label Group and President of Republic Nashville. Jimmy has worked with Borchetta in a previous capacity at DreamWorks Nashville more info

American Artists Entertainment is proud to be part of Jimmy's Dream, from 1988 - 1994 acting constantly on his behalf with professional representation and development worldwide, under personal management in the performing arts. -

(http://www.aaeg.com/JimmyBio.html)




- Jimmy Harnen, a Pennsylvania native, first came to the attention of underground rock fans with his band Synch. They released an album in 1986 entitled 'Get The Feeling' which was produced by the Dakota pairing of Jerry Hludzik and Bill Kelly. From that point, Harnen moved towards a solo career, firstly as the leader of Synch, then ultmately on his own. His debut album 'Can't Fight The Midnight' is a pretty good effort, definitely AOR, and with all the hottest players money can buy. The WTG label though relatively small was the vehicle for the trio of Walter Yetnikoff (Columbia Records), Tommy Mottola (Sony, and former Mr Mariah Carey) and Jerry Greenberg former head of Atlantic Records. So, there's some 'oomph' behind the scenes for Mr Harnen.

The album contained a selection of great mid paced melodic moments, with stellar performances by the musos listed above, particularly Michael Thompson, who's distinctive guitar lines stand out a mile. The brace of songs 'When The Midnight Comes', 'If She Cries' and All Those Tears' are strong efforts. Elsewhere, 'For All The Wrong Reasons' and 'Southern Lady' are great too, the former containing a sax solo whilst the latter hints at a slight southern rock direction. The album culminates with the hit single 'Where Are You Now', which came out a few years prior, and which by all accounts did very well on the Billboard 100. It's overly soppy and not really a true reflection of the material on the album, which is mainly upbeat.

Also during 1989, Jimmy again hooked up with his band Synch, and released the single 'Where Are You Now'  on the same WTG label, but under the moniker 'Synch - featuring Jimmy Harnen. Yeah right, we get the picture. We know who's band it is ok? Jimmy still collaborates with the guys from Dakota, namely Rick Mainwiller, and reputedly finished an album called 'All About Time' in 1996. At last report, he was based in Nashville working in the business side of the music industry, as a VP for Capitol Records I understand. -

(https://www.glorydazemusic.com/articles.php?article_id=1205)