After Hartman's international success with "I Can Dream About You", along with the same-titled album released in 1984, it seemed that Hartman would continue gaining hit singles, especially after the album spawned another two American Top 40 singles "We Are the Young" and "Second Nature". However, when "Get Outta Town" was released, the single failed to make an impact in America or Europe. It was not a major success in the UK either, although it did manage to enter the Top 100 at #99 for a single week. This was despite a UK re-issue of "I Can Dream About You" entering the Top 10 only a month before. Hartman wouldn't make another appearance in the UK charts as a solo artist again until 1995 with "Keep the Fire Burnin'". As a song from the Fletch film soundtrack, Hartman would also contribute another song to the soundtrack, "Name of the Game". This was a song taken from the I Can Dream About You album, where it was the album's third single, though it was a commercial failure.
Release
The song was released on 7" and 12" vinyl via MCA Records in Europe, including the UK, Germany and Italy. It was also released on 7" vinyl in America. The sleeve titled the song as "Get Outta Town" whereas the vinyl itself would title the track as "Fletch, Get Outta Town". The American, German and Italian 7" vinyl release featured an instrumental version of "Get Outta Town" as the exclusive B-Side. The UK 7" vinyl release did not feature this B-Side, but "I Can Dream About You " instead, a remix of Hartman's 1984/85 hit song, by John Morales for M&M Productions. This remix was new and exclusive to the single. The European 12" vinyl release featured three tracks, with the main track being an "Extended Dance Mix" of "Get Outta Town". The other two tracks is the "7" Version" and a "Dub Version". Both the "Extended Dance Mix" and "Dub Version" was remixed by Chris Lord-Alge. The UK 12" vinyl release featured four tracks in total. The first two being the "Extended Mix" and an "Extended Dub" of "Get Outta Town". The "Extended Dub" was the same as the "Dub Version" was appeared on the European 12" vinyl, and was not extended. The other two tracks were remixes; "I Can Dream About You " and "I Can Dream About You " - again remixed by Morales. A 12" vinyl promo was issued in the UK, featuring a stickered white label, with one side is blue and the other yellow. The single came with a full colour picture sleeve, except in America where it came in a generic MCA Records sleeve. In Europe, the 7" and 12" vinyl issues featured a picture of Hartman with an orange/yellow background. In the UK the sleeve artwork was completely different, featuring a different close-up photograph of Hartman, with a patterned border. Since the single became out-of-print, and the fact that the soundtrack album for Fletch was only issued on vinyl LP, the song has never seen release on CD or as a digital MP3 download.
Promotion
A music video was created to promote the single. This featured Fletch, the character from the film, entering a tent where Hartman awaits him - a fortune teller with a crystal ball. Relating to the song's lyrics, Hartman warns Fletch to get out of town. Some scenes from the Fletch film are shown through the crystal ball. In May 1985 Hartman appeared on with his touring band on the American syndicated music show Solid Gold, where they mimed the song. In the UK, Hartman performed the song on two shows. He appeared on the UK BBC show Wogan Show, hosted by Terry Wogan, and again he mimed the song. Bernard Pierre mimed drums. The performed was aired on 25 October 1985. The other UK show was The Wide Awake Club where the song was also mimed, and broadcast on 2 November 1985. After the performance, Hartman was interviewed, where he revealed he was working on a new album, and at the time he was working on some potential tracks for it within the UK with Martyn Ware of Heaven 17. This was the album White Boy, which MCA Records chose not to release. To date the album has never received an official release, but tracks have been leaked onto the internet.
