“So what’s Corey Hart up to these days?” is probably not a question you’ve given much thought to, if indeed it ever crossed your mind.

In 2002, after stepping away from his recording career to focus on raising his family, Hart started a record label, Siena, with the help of legendary Sire record executive Seymour Stine. Just a couple of weeks ago, Hart released the debut album from Siena’s first signing, Marie-Christine, a Canadian-Haitian singer. He served as executive producer on Walk In Beauty, writing six tracks and contributing to another three.

One of those, “Girl In Shades,” serves as the lead track on Walk In Beauty, and is based on Hart’s 1984 debut single, “Sunglasses At Night.” You can hear an extended snippet of “Girl In Shades” in the promo clip below, and learn more about Marie-Christine (she covers Stevie Wonder and Prince on the album too):

Perhaps distracted by Corey Hart’s smoldering good looks during in his string of hits in the ’80s — That spiky hair! Those bedroom eyes! — I don’t recall paying much attention to the fact that he wrote his own songs. But “Sunglasses At Night,” “Never Surrender,” “Boy In The Box,” “Everything In My Heart,” etc., were all him.

“I was always of the artistic mind set, I suppose from the singer-songwriter mold that I would only record my own original compositions,” Hart recalls. “Doing the odd cover was fine by me but doing someone else’s original song just didn’t feel right. I probably would of sold a ton more records If I had – but I’m a pretty stubborn dude!”

But Hart’s done pretty well for himself in the years since, writing several songs for a fellow Canadian singer who’s had a fair measure of success, Celine Dion. I imagine having landed tunes on three multi-million selling sets brought him some bank.

Twenty-seven years ago this week, “Sunglasses At Night” was just starting its climb up the Billboard Hot 100. The song reached its #7 peak on September 1, 1984, just as summer was coming to a close, already forever part of pop culture.

Purchase Corey Hart – “Sunglasses At Night” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.