PATRICK COWLEY
"
THE SAN FRANCISCO SOUND "
OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY: 1950-1982
by Daniel Heinzmann
"This site has been dedicated in
memory of Patrick but also to Jo-Carol Block sadly passed away in the early
2003."
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Patrick Cowley : The
Magical Man who gave us amazing sound and beautiful music. |
WELCOME TO THE
COWLEY PAGE :
All that I know about Patrick Cowley is expressed here, it is meant as my
modest tribute to this real genius of synthesizers.
With great effort along a patient and very intense research, I have
shaped this story for all of you: Fans and Lovers of his musical
production.
But my intention was not only a biographical page, because of the
magnitude of Patrick , so I do mention everytime those talented
people surrounding his life and very close to Patrick's world :
Artists, Friends and Fellows .
Also you will see pictures, will read details of his art and
his work that we have never known till today .
I am plenty sure you will enjoy reading these pages, and of course
the other sections of this website.
For many people, he was one of Hi-NRG music's fathers, as well
as incredible producers like Bobby Orlando, Bill Motley, Ian Levine, John
Hedges, Ian Anthony Stephens, among others. Though he himself was not
known as an stage artist, his reputation as exceptional performer and
musical producer had no border or nationality limits. His productions are still
alive, and we consider them epic and magisterial; he is the major musical
talent in Hi-NRG history.
And particularly for me he is inmortal.
"Patrick Cowley forged an electronic sound so
new and exciting that it shook the foundations of dance music for years and is
still influencing current artists with its haunting simplicity and powerful,
driving energy.
While many of his contemporaries in the field of electronic music used the
technology to create synthesized replications of already existing sounds and
rhythms, Patrick Cowley brought the future to them and laid it at their
feet." ( DAVID DIEBOLD )
"Patrick
Cowley is inmortal because he lives now in each keyboard or computer and in
every heart of the people who love him and listen him actually."
(FELIPE NIEVES CRUZ -fan and producer-México)
"Patrick Cowley is unique, incomparable, and, though years go by, his music always sounds fresh. Yet, up to now, there has been nobody in the world who can be like him." (GUADALUPE HUITRON -fan-México)
PATRICK
COWLEY : THE FAMILY
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1974 : Patrick Cowley
playing drums at Arthur Adcock's house.( |
BEGINNING : Arthur, Maurice and Pat
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1976 : Maurice Tani
and Patrick Cowley, cut out of a band publicity photo. |
In
1971, at the age of 21, he moved from
In
1972 Jerry Mueller started the Electronic Music Lab at City College of San
Francisco. There were three students in the class : Arthur Adcock, Jerry
Judnick and Patrick Cowley.
Six months later Maurice Tani joined the group. They used to meet for class in
Mueller's basement until a room became available at the college.
" Patrick and I played in a couple of bands together, created radio
jingles, songs, electronic pieces, costumes, back up singers....all kind of
stuff. His disco music was really just the latest thing he has done. He was the
student in charge in the Electronic Music Lab while other student used the
school's equipment.
Patrick, Arthur and I continued to do a lot of experimental music, blending
various types of music and adapting them to the synth. Some avant-garde, artsy
stuff.
After Patrick made some money with Megatron Man, he bought his own Electrocomp
synthesizer and an Otari 1/2'' 8-track machine. "
(MAURICE TANI )
At
the time there were only three brands of synthesizers available : 'Moog', which
was the name that most people associated with music synthesis and which was
expensive, 'Buchla', also expensive, and 'Putney', made in England and
relatively cheap.
So
they bought a 'Putney'; It had a pin-matrix instead of patch cords, but it
worked quite well. Later, they switched to an E-mu system (which Patrick used )
and finally to a 'Serge' synthesizer, which was ,and still is, excellent; It's
the only analog piece of equipment left in the City College's digital studio
nowadays.
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"E-mu system"
sinthesizer. In 1973, Patrick was a Master performing at the City College. |
"Patrick was a master of the E-mu system, but he did it intuitively.
Everyone else could talk the lingo: 'This oscillator is modulating the filter',
but Patrick couldn't tell you how he got his sounds; he just did it." (JERRY MUELLER )
"One day, I came into the studio and heard a tune called 'A White
Shade Of Pale". I assumed Patrick was playing a tape, but it turned out
he'd synthesized the whole thing ! Not an easy thing to do !
(JERRY MUELLER )
" Arthur Adcock had a little money
from his family and bought his own Electrocomp system. He was very generous
with his equipment and would let Patrick come over and use the gear a couple
days a week. Patrick introduced me to Arthur and we all shared the gear for the
next few years.
Patrick, Arthur and I formed a production company called Short Circuit that
produced musical segues, 'stingers', sound effects for radio stations, etc.
" (MAURICE TANI
)
Here is a review of the main dance music clubs that existed in San
Francisco at the end of the 70's and wherever "disco Music" was
developing :
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1976 : Patrick Cowley
in a band playing at |
Mind
Shaft ( on Market Street) , I-Beam
(on Height Street), Dreamland ( on Harrison
Street) , Disco International ( in Oakland) ,
Trocadero Transfer ( on Fourth Street), Dance Your Ass Off (
in North Beach) and most famous of all “The City” ( on
Montgomery and Broadway).
Patrick was employed as The City's light technician
,in North Beach, in the basement showroom where Sylvester's band was
making shows. The City was the biggest and most important gay disco club
in the Bay Area and Sylvester with his band played a demo ("You Make Me
Feel") so Patrick could make the modern arrangements.
The
band had no idea at all that he was doing music, he kind of kept it under the
hat for a long time. He let them hear some tapes he had recorded . He asked
them if they would like to go down and do backups music on some songs he'd been
working on.
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1976 : Jorge Socarras (singer of Indoor Life) and Patrick Cowley,
proposed record cover for the duo 'Catholic'. Artwork shot by Archie Connely, aka
Archie Style. |
Jorge Socarras & Patrick
" In the mid-late 70's, before I started 'Indoor Life' , Patrick and I
were best friends for many years and produced over an album's worth of
very edgy new-wave material under two names: 1) Catholic 2) Lesser Man.
We tried to get his label to release it, but it was way too out there for him.
These songs, highly influenced by the likes of Eno, Devo, Nico, and other
two-syllable names, feature him playing most synths parts, and my singing, with
some guest spots by Sylvester's band.
Patrick was surrounded himself with people from many styles of music: disco,
rock, gospel, new wave, ... and I was the most new-wave. That was so amazing in
Patrick." ( JORGE SOCARRAS )
It
was really quite astonishing for them to hear those powerful and innovative
sounds. Patrick did "kickin' In" and "Love Me Hot" which
have never been released as well as many others which surely
still remain in Megatone's vault (today Unidisc) . It was just at that
moment when Sylvester became very intent on somehow integrating that
synthesized music into their basic R&B (Rhythm and Blues) sound of that time,
hired Patrick who, since then (1978) would go with him on tour by Southamerica
and Europe with his keyboards and synthesizers.
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1982 Left to right:
Michael Finden, Frank Loverde, Linda Imperial, James Tip Wirrick and Patrick
Cowley having a good time in |
By
then, Sylvester was working on his second album, with his guitar player and
songwriter James 'Tip' Wirrick ,who later became his producer. Patrick
and Tip Wirrick were neighbour in
"Patrick Cowley came along and basically created a sound in music
that became known around the world as a
"Patrick has a lot of fun to work
with. He'd say : 'Hey, let's have a joint and make some music', and that's just
what we did. Of course that was before he ever started getting sick. We always
had a good time." (LAUREN
CARTER)
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