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."
In my life there was a time after and before Patrick Cowley, and I’m sure many people recalls what they were doing while listening Patrick’s hits. He is inmortal.
This
is my modest tribute to his work, his life and all people who supported him.
"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
PATRICK
JOSEPH COWLEY , " Pat ", as he was named, was born
on October 19, 1950, in
Buffalo, under the sign of Libra. He grew up in the north of New York, with
his brothers.
Patrick was the second of them. James was the oldest (born in 1948 ) , then
Patrick, then Mariellen and lastly Madonna, the youngest (no relation with the
siger ).
His father, Kenneth Cowley, who had lived on his block in Buffalo for almost 40
years, sadly passed on January 2005 at 85 and his mother Ellen died about 13
months after Patrick. Patrick's grandfather was Bernard Cowley.
The
branch of his family tree comes from the Horseheads and Corning NY area. There
he was a drummer in garage style bands. He could play guitar, and keyboard, but
his keyboard playing was by ear, though limited, but it contributed to keep his
songs simple yet strong. He studied English at Buffalo's university.
Patrick used to bring his nephews great gifts from wherever he had been on tour
and bring them the tapes of his concerts that they would dance along to.
Patrick had his drum in the basement and would drive everyone crazy with
the loud music, as his sisters can remember today, but Patrick's parents were
very supportive of his dreams of making music.
Left: Patrick and Bernice Hatch (neighbour and friend)
Center : Kenneth Cowley (father) in an interview by Anthony Violanti in 1984
(Buffalo News Staff Writer)
Right : Pat Cowley
“Hi, I am not sure who is on the
receiving end of this guest book but I grew up with Pat, we used to call him
Patty. He lived down the street from me and he was my first boyfriend. I lived
on Weyand St in South Buffalo and he and I attended St Teresa's elementary
school together. I just came across his name on google. He and I were friends
all through our teenage years. I often think of him and it still makes me sad
that he died so young. “
(BERNICE BERTA HATCH, Rochester, NY)
"Patrick came home one day and said, ' I'll never be able
to get the music I want here. He just said, 'I'm going to San Francisco”
"His music was his whole life. He didn't take care about clothes, money,
even his health. Nothing meant as much to him as his music.
" .( KENNETH COWLEY )
With big ambitions but little
money, Patrick told his parents he wanted to hitchhike west. Though worried
about him, they knew his independent nature, and agreed to let him try to find
what he wanted.
Ken Cowley then asked his son if
he could drive him to the Thruway, where the journey would begin. Patrick got
out of the car in his jeans and army jacket and hoisted his knapsack to his
back. Then he walked back to his father and gave him a hug.
"I watched him walk away and start
hitchhicking. Then I got back in the car, I had a lunp in my throat. It's very
emotional to say good-bye to your son like that. I watched him through the
rear-view mirror as I drove away. It was a moment I'll never forget.
“ (KENNETH COWLEY )
"We had
no idea the illness was so bad, the Doctor's couldn't tell Patrick what exactly
was wrong. In a way, I wish he were more well known in Buffalo. Right now,
we've got Rick James and he's great, but it seems to me we should be aware of
other people who have made their marks- people lik Patrick. His music is
important, his music was his life. ", (KENNETH COWLEY )
Patrick Cowley original handwriting.
BEGINNING : with
ARTHUR ADCOCK and MAURICE TANI
In
1971, at the age of 21, he moved from Rochester to the San Francisco Bay
Area to begin his synthesizer studies at the City College of San
Francisco. and later making his own recordings and productions.
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 )
Left : Patrick
Center : (San francisco 1974) playing drums at Arthur Adcock's house.
Right : (1976) Maurice Tani and Patrick, cut out of a band publicity photo.
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.
"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.
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 )
E-MU System synthesizer. Patrick was a master on the E-mu
system at the City College in 1973
" 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 :
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.
PATRICK
& JORGE SOCARRAS
" 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 )
Left: (1976)Jorge Socarras (singer of Indoor Life) and Pat,
proposed record cover for the duo Catholic. Artwork shot by Archie Connely aka
Archie Style.
Center: Patrick in the old times.
Right : Jorge Socarras today
Shots of 'Catholic', finally
released in 2009 by Stefan Goldman from Macro Recordings (Germany)
with Jorge Socarras and Stefan as executive producers.
"It nothing
less then a "once in a lifetime" sensation that Macro announces the
release of a full unreleased Cowley album written and performed in
collaboration with Indoor Life vocalist Jorge Socarras. This one is no
re-issue, no material scapped by the original artists - but a work Cowley took
5 years to perfect. The original release got delayed for 3 decades due to
Cowley's tragic death due to AIDS in 1982.
Recordeed betweeen 1976 an
1979 , "Catholic" is a genge-bending concept album with a range from minimalistic photo-techno to synth-driven
post-punk-pre- dating acts like LCD soundsistem and by almost 30 years. It
shows a much broader range than any Cowley or Socarras material available and
gives a totally new perspective to one of the most inspiring eras in music
history. The album hit the stores for Patric Cowley's birthday on October 19th,
2009. The first single from the album is 'Soon', out September 7th , featuring
remixes by Morgan Geist of Metro Area and KINK of Rush Hour as well as the
original track 'Robot Children'. " ( STEFAN
GOLDMANN , MACRO RECORDINGS. )
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.
Left: (1982) left to right
Michael Finden, Frank Loverde, Linda Imperial, James Tip Wirrick and Patrick in
San Francisco.
Right: (1976) Patrick (4 th ) in a band playing at Embarcadero Center in
downtown San francisco. Sexy Candida Royale ( 5 th ) on stage and Maurice tani
(2 nd).
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 San Francisco; they would become very
close friends. There was a little tension in the beggining between Patrick and
the other band members. They didn't give him much credibility as a player at
the time because his sound and techniques were quiet ahead of the times for
1978 .However things really started to change after a while and he eventually
became a very respected and beloved member of that group.
Left: James Tip Wirrick, Patrick’s fellow in Sylvester’s
band.
Right : Maurice Tani today.
"Patrick Cowley came along and
basically created a sound in music that became known around the world as a San
Francisco identity sound. It was a druggy sound. It was an 'up' sound. Patrick
created a synthesized sound that would enhance a drug induced high and the song
which really launched that sound was 'Menergy'. " (CASEY JONES)
"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)
PATRICK COWLEY and
FRANCESCA ROSA
“ Patrick Cowley and I
were friends throughout the seventies and into the early eighties up until the
time he died. We were roommates on and off on at least three separate occasions
in San Francisco—in households both big and small. I first met him in Buffalo,
New York where he had grown up. I had gone to high school in a small town
outside Buffalo, and of course ran off to the big city from time to time. I
can’t remember the exact circumstances where or when we met but it was probably
around 1970 or 71.
I have to say
that it is a bit unsettling to realize that the guy I bickered with (like all
roommates do) about the phone bill or over whose turn it was to do the dishes
or sweep the floor, or turn that g*dd**n volume down (or up) for g*d sakes I’m
trying to sleep! is now internationally famous, but that being said, I think it
is a wonderful and well deserved thing, since one of the very best things about
living with Patrick and being his friend was getting to listen on a regular
basis to the impromptu synthesizer concerts he would perform at home when the
mood (or maybe I should say the moog) struck him. He played for roommates,
friends, boy friends (lots!), and sometimes, if I was the only person around,
just for me. He played all kind of things including the rough cuts and
embryonic tracks of songs he worked on with Sylvester, things he worked on with
Jorge Soccarras, Paul Parker and others and later what became Megatron man, and
all kinds of other things too, sometimes he just liked to jam and see what
happened. It was very informal and a lot of fun. In this way he was able to
practice and hone his craft for an audience, even if it was an audience of one
or two, and entertain his friends at the same time, and this created a real
bond. Patrick eventually had a studio South of Market (SOMA) St, but he still
always had a little home studio and a portable synthesizer. “ (FRANCESCA ROSA )
Francesca Rosa: Patrick’s roomate in San Francisco
in the early 70’s.
“Patrick had a continual battle with the cockroaches that
kept invading his room from the kitchen, and nesting inside the piano. He’d
start to play and then they’d start jumping out of it. This drove him crazy for
obvious reasons and one day he went absolutely wild with the bug spray. Another
epic moment on Central St. We may not of had a lot of money, but we weren’t
bored in those days.
Patrick was a very
neat, orderly person, and even the less fastidious of us in the household tried
to keep the kitchen clean since roaches can live forever on very little, but it
seemed that every apartment in the Haight was cockroach heaven, and they and
Patrick did battle over that piano for a long time. This was the downside of
cheap rent, which the roaches also really liked. As amazing as San Francisco
was at that time it definitely had its real funky side.
So as Patrick’s
career was beginning to take off Patrick’s health dramatically deteriorated. He
lost large amounts of weight, he had a severe case of thrush in his mouth, his
hair went from very thick and curly honey blond to a thin almost translucent
fuzz on his head. He developed carposi lesions. He was dizzy all the time, and
coughing all the time. Then more in and out of the hospital and he had all
kinds of tests and procedures, much more serious than the first round of
hospital stays, etc.
But to back
track–by the last few weeks we were taking turns twisting a white handkerchief
or wash cloth soaked in water into Patrick’s mouth so that he could get a bit
of liquid since he could no longer drink out of a glass or hold anything down,
and this was the way they told us to do it. Drop by drop. He was a wraith then,
Skeleton Man and semi–comatose but he still had those enormous blue eyes,
clouded over by then, but still these big pools, and I just remember looking
into them and dripping water into his mouth and wondering if he had any idea
who any of us were. I was glad his father had come early enough from Buffalo,
N.Y. to really be a support to him and when Patrick was still fully cogent.
It’s been over
twenty-five years since Patrick died. I still live in San Francisco, And
sometimes I’ll be walking down the street or walking by a club somewhere and
I’ll hear some Sylvester song coming off a car speaker or something, all that
Cowley synthesizer joyously blasting and roiling away and I’ll think, there’s
my old roommate again. “ (October 15th, 2009 –
FRANCESCA ROSA )
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