American country-western singer and songwriter who put out a string of hit singles in the ‘70s as part of the duo “England Dan and John Ford Coley.”
Raised with a household of music, Dan was playing string bass from the time he was four with the Seales Family band. His parents divorced and he stayed with his mom, settling in Dallas in 1958. He played in garage bands through high school, where he and Coley first met. In 1965 he began cutting demos in Nashville but it was two years before his first single was released, “The Smell of Incense,” with a group named the “Southwest F.O.B.”
Seals and Coley formed a soft-rock duo in 1969 and were soon signed with A&M. Their first singles did not make any waves and they were dropped in 1973. Their venue was club dates until 1976 when a demo, “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight” became a breakthrough hit, making No.2 on the U.S. pop charts. They stayed on the top through the rest of the ‘70s.
Seals went solo in 1980, still billed as England Dan but the following year he was hit hard by the IRS, losing everything to back taxes and unstable bookkeeping. During the next three years he changed his direction into country, breaking into the Top 40 in 1983 and the Top Ten in 1984. In ’85 he began a streak of nine straight No.1 hits, starting with “Meet Me in Montana” with Marie Osmond. It was a peak decade before his exceptional success tapered off.
Seals’ release of “A Quiet Room” on 11/24/1998 affirmed that his talent was still substantial.
Link to Wikipedia biography