Formation

Dan Reed (born 1963 in Portland, Oregon) met Dan Pred in high school in Aberdeen, South Dakota, and after a time pursuing music studies at Northern State University, the pair returned to Portland and formed the Dan Reed Network in 1984. In 1986, they made their first recording, a six-track EP called Breathless which included a No. 1 single, "Steal Me", on Z-100 in Portland, Oregon.

The lineup at this point was Dan Reed on vocals and guitar, Brion James on guitar, Melvin Brannon II on bass guitar, Dan Pred on drums, and Rick DiGiallonado (formerly of Portland platinum rockers Quarterflash) on keyboards. The band's diverse ethnic and musical backgrounds (Reed is of German, Hawaiian, and Native American ancestry, James is of Jamaican ancestry, Brannon is African-American, Pred is Jewish and DiGiallonado is Italian-American) were reflected in the music, which, though discernibly hard rock, was blended with soul, funk, and jazz arrangements. DiGiallonado, who was married with one child, was replaced by Portlander Blake Sakamoto on keyboards; Sakamoto, of Japanese heritage, had returned from Los Angeles where he had been playing with future Atlantic Records artists Dear Mr. President (lead singer Julian Raymond moved on to be vice president of Capitol Records).

The Dan Reed Network made a name for itself with the live performances. The Washington Post described the band in one performance as "easily charming its ... audience with an unlikely brand of heavy metal-ish rock sharpened by junk funk and plenty of rock 'n' roll theatrics", and that "the Network's strength lies in its infectious temperament.^[4]"

Record deal

The band signed to Mercury Records with the aid of Derek Shulman (who was enjoying success with Bon Jovi and Cinderella), and were managed by Bill Graham. In winter 1987, the group released an eponymous debut album which was produced by Bruce Fairbairn (who had worked with Bon Jovi) and was engineered and mixed by Mike Fraser at Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver. They released their first single "Ritual", which peaked at No. 38 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song also received a music video.^[5]

The Dan Reed Network album received positive reviews, including a four-star write-up from Rolling Stone.^[6] Most reviews lauded the band's ability to blend elements of heavy funk with a gritty rock edge peppered with pop hooks, pulled together in a 1980s radio-friendly production. Rolling Stone wrote that "Producer Fairbairn deserves a nod for adding just the right amount of pop polish where it's needed", and giving even the weaker songs on a strong album an appeal. Still, while People magazine's review of the album as being "polished to a brassy sheen" saw the glass half-full, some music critics saw Fairbairn's pop-savvy commercial production as minimizing the band's funk grooves and heavy rock guitar. Newsday (New York) said "the songs don't stand up to repeated listenings due to Bruce Fairbairn's absurdly pristine production ... Fairbairn, best known for recordings by Loverboy, Aerosmith, and Bon Jovi, is a master at neutering hard rock and rendering it antiseptic." The Washington Post approached the issue with a constructively balanced context, comparing the Dan Reed Network's debut album to its live performances, saying, "numbers such as 'Get to You,' irritatingly synth-heavy on the record, were played with enough soul and engagingly invidious guitar to redeem them."

The poor promotion of the Dan Reed Network's debut album impeded the band's traction in the United States market. Def Leppard's album Hysteria (1987) was having disappointing sales at Mercury/Polygram and the label was pulling support from new artists to focus on saving the British rock band's return to the scene. Ironically, it would be Def Leppard's managers Cliff Burnstein and Peter Mensch who would offer the Dan Reed Network the final leg of the Hysteria tour in the US if they would switch to their management company, Q Prime. The band was initially reluctant to jettison Bill Graham, but by the beginning of 1989, they signed with Q Prime and the band enjoyed its greatest success.

1989–1997

While at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in January 1989, Dan Reed met up with Nile Rodgers. The second album, Slam, produced by Rodgers, better represented the Dan Reed Network's live sound and accelerated the band's growing status in Europe.^[3] However, the new collection did less well in North America, due to internal problems at Mercury/Polygram.

The band toured Europe in the winter of 1989/1990 to support Bon Jovi.^[3] The success of this tour led to the Rolling Stones selecting the band as their main support for their first tour in almost 10 years.^[3] The Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour of Europe in the summer of 1990, had the band playing to tens of thousands nightly in stadiums, where their showmanship and musicianship fired up the crowd in anticipation of the Rolling Stones. The relationship later led to Sakamoto working as the Stones' road manager.

The Dan Reed Network's third album, The Heat (1991), was their biggest success in the UK,^[3] but their American record label still had not figured out how to promote the band. The label was unhappy that Reed had shaved off his long dark hair, which they had viewed as a prime marketing attraction. The band soldiered on without tour support from Mercury/Polygram, including a stint supporting the Baby Animals in Australia, and what would be their final tour through Europe and the UK in the summer of 1993. In October 1993, the band members were starting to take different paths in their lives but agreed to go on a hiatus and not officially break up.

A live album called Live at Last (Halfway Around the World) was released in 1997. This album was compiled from hundreds of hours of tapes from keyboardist Blake Sakamoto. He and drummer Dan Pred auditioned several versions of each song to comprise a comprehensive 2-CD live set. A companion video, filmed live in Portland on New Year's Eve of 1991, also called Live at Last, was released as well.

Reunion

Dan Reed Network played a one time only reunion show on New Year's Eve 2012 with all original band members on stage.^[7] The band announced on January 12, 2013, that they will play further concerts together in both the US and Europe. That culminated at their first UK show for two decades, headlining the Enchanted Festival at Greenwoods Spa, Chelmsford on October 12, 2013. The band reunited Saturday, November 9 in Portland, OR at the Roseland Theater.

Anthology

In 2013, the Dan Reed Network teamed up with Pledge music on a new compilation album. This album was to include live versions of many songs and was a double CD set with online access and various other special options. The tracks being chosen by band members. The funding achieved 143% and the album was shipped to all supporters in late January 2014. It is now also available through online music stores.

Fight Another Day

Following the success of the compilation album, Anthology, the band returned to the studio to produce a new album of original material. The band lineup changed slightly in that Blake Sakamoto was otherwise busy and in his place, a new Keyboardist, Rob Daiker, joined the "Network". The album Fight Another Day was released by Frontiers Music SRL on June 3, 2016, to favorable reviews from fans and critics alike. This was followed with a world tour in 2016 and then a further European tour early in 2017. According to Dan Reed, the band wasn't satisfied with the labels promotion work for the album, so they decided not to work with them anymore.^[8]

Origins

In 2018 the band brought out a new album, consisting of a mix of new tracks and older ones, which were newly recorded. It was released by AOR Heaven/Soulfood. The album was recorded in different studios in Manchester, New York, Portland, and Stockholm.

Let’s Hear It For The King

In late 2019, the band went on tour in Europe to play anniversary shows of the album Slam. At the same time, the band produced a new album in Portland.^[8] According to Dan Reed, it will be a funky and heavy album, which will provide probably the best songs the band recorded in the last years since the reunion.

The Dan Reed Network album "Let’s Hear It For The King" was released by Drakkar Entertainment on March 4, 2022. The single/video "Starlight"^[9] was released October 22, 2021.

Dan Reed Network

Singles

Dan Reed

• Adrenaline Sky (1998)
• Sharp Turn (EP, 2004) Universal Music Enterprises/UMG
• An Evening with Dan Reed (2009)
• Coming Up for Air (2010)
• Studio Sessions - Dan Reed and Rob Daiker Live in the Studio (DVD, 2010)
• Signal Fire (2013)
• Transmission (2015)
• Confessions (2017)