page 4
THE
DECEASE
Patrick Cowley left
Sylvester's band because he already was sick, also because he could not stand
touring, but also he wanted to do his own productions with his own
singers . However, Sylvester himself had let him go, after the UK tour of Mighty
Real, Disco Heat, with the idea that synths were over, and R&B would be his
new direction, and Patrick was no longer necesary.
This is famous DJ Bobby Viteritti, then and now. Patrick recorded the 'Funkytown Revival' with him. (1981)
However, he joined Sylvester again a short time later, because the gay
star broke off his contract with Fantasy Records; they were not pleased with
gay image anymore since Harvey Fuqua (his producer) wanted a straight photo on
the cover for his new record, Fuqua did not even want Cowley's presence in the
production or in Fantasy's studios. However,nothing was better for Sylvester
than going to work with his old friends ,Patrick Cowley and Marty Blecman, at
Megatone Records.
"One night, Marty Blecman was having a party and Patrick had a long talk
with me who, at that time, was working at University of California Medical
Center in San Francisco. Patrick kept looking very sick and I, very worried
about him, convinced him to go to UC Med Center and see a specialist, which he
did. At that time AIDS, the decease, was unknown. He first got sick
in South America , and everybody thought it was the food he had eaten." (DANNY WILLIAMS )
Patrick had a "mysterious undiagnosable illness".
Physicians could not diagnose any certain desease. They thought he
had parasites caused by food or a psychosomatic illness. They also
treated him and prescribed medicine for pneumonia.
1-2 : Ken Krivello an Paul Parker (1982), both nursed
Patrick after hospital.
Marty Blecman finally had
admitted Patrick into the UC Med Center in November of 1981, precosely
as the album was hovering to the top ten on Billboard. Then, by New
Year's eve, he was taken to intensive care. His family had arrived in San
Francisco and they feared the worst thing due to his critical condition. A
little while later, Sylvester arrived after touring and upon arriving at
the hospital, his friends asked him to tell and promise Patrick anything
just to give him some hope or something to live for. Patrick was, somehow,
asking them to let him die and his father was freaking out that they, his
friends, were telling Sylvester to do this.
"I would go there as much as I
possibly could, and read my bible and just be with him. I finally just told him
that he had to get better.I told him that we just had to do a record together,
that everyone was waiting on a joint project from us, and that he just had to
try harder. I told him I wasn't going to have it anymore and to get his ass up
so we could go to work." (SYLVESTER)
Original invitation to celebrate the premiere of ‘Menergy’
and ‘I Wanna Take You Home’ at Alfies, San Francisco, California.
"You are cordially invited to Alfies by Marty Blecman to celebrate the premiere of Patrick Cowley's hits 'Menergy' and 'I Wanna Take You Home' performed and recorded with Acapella Gold on Fusion Records. Also appearing with Acapella Gold will be guest star Paul Parker premiering cuts from his album, produced by Patrick Cowley. Saturday the Twentieth of June Nineteen Hundred and Eighty One. Showtime eleven P.M. Alfies 2140 Market San Francisco, California.
All sowtimes produced by Patrick Cowley. Associate producer Marty Blecman. Management & direction by Marty Blecman. "
So ,miraculously, Patrick got on his feet again and left the hospital.
He went over to Paul Parker and Ken Crivello's house to get over. It was a very
difficult time. Paul was working in a hospital at that time in a cancer
unit as a unit coordinator.
Other friends would not come around, because AIDS was so unknown, they thought
they might catch it like catching a cold. Paul and Ken took care of him the
best they could, carrying him upstairs 72 steps and nursing him for about
a month.
After that, Patrick would sometimes visit them, but he was so thin and
weak that Paul had to carry him upstairs on his back whenever he dropped
by and whenever they could receive him.. It was a great pleasure for Patrick,
at those moments, to watch those stairs from Paul's back. Paul weighed
After a time, as though his friend Sylvester were a real Messiah,
Patrick was again on his feet into the studio and with a $500 budget, they
recorded one of the all time dance clasics, 'Do Ya Wanna Funk'.
His musical fellows watched his life fade away, though he was always
brave and funny. He never complained, and he kept making his art till the
end. He would go into the studio and work, making jokes about his
hospital stays. He even had a sense of humor even about his pain; he got so
thin that it hurt him to be sitting for a long time because his bones
were so close to the skin; there was no fat tissue on them and Pat would
laugh about that instead of complaining. Despite having a great talent, he
would listen to his friends's ideas and work on them.
" Paul y Ken
were very beautiful and supportive through the whole thing. You kind of forget
how close we all were at one time, with us doing our own thing and everybody
else doing theirs, but at one time we were all like a family and spent a lot
more time together." (JO-CAROL BLOCK)
"
Working with Patrick was always a joy, because he always tried to
bring out the best in me and show it off and I'm grateful for that. He had no
ego with me and vice-versa and even while he was sick he put a lot of joy into
his music, for the sheer pleasure of it and not for any ego-gratification whatsoever." (LINDA IMPERIAL)
"On the last day od Patrick's life I came
over and found his nurse talking on the phone and smoking a cigarette. I blew
up at her because one thing Patrick would never allow was smoking in his home. I yelled at her, and told her nover to do it
again. When I finally went in to see Patrick there was water welling up in his
eyes, but he couldn't talk at that point. By the time, I got home from his
house, they called and said he was gone. " (KEN CRIVELLO)
Left : Sylvester, Paul Parker and Pamala Stanley.
Right : Loverde, (left
to right: Peggy Gibbons, Frank Loverde and Linda Imperial )
THE
LAST ALBUM
Cowley seemed to reach the top of success as well as his
disease's with the release of "Mind Warp" which had wonderful
special effects. This would be his last album, amazingly made with a Patrick
who already was in a wheelchair.
"Mind Warp",
the album of death, as his fellows called it, would have as collaborators among
others to Michael Bailey ( mix consultant), Jo-Carol Block , Lauren
Carter y Paul Parker (vocals ), Peter y Mary Buffet (chant), John
Hedges, Jeff Mehl y Jim Saunders (chant), David Frazier (
percussion), Tip Wirrick ( guitar), Maureen Droney and
Gordon Lyon (sound engineers), Ken Kessie ( engineer and remixer) y
Marty Blecman (remix and associate producer).
This album was recorded by Maureen Droney and mixed by Ken Kessie. They
started early in the morning until 11:00 am , the time that Maureen had to
leave.
"During that period of Patrick's life
it was very obvious through his song-writing
what was on his mind. 'They Came At Night'
was a very ominous , paranoid kind oi song, dealing with the forces of darkness
and things involved with the unknown. He died a short while after finishing
'Going Home' which was also indicative of his situation at the time
" (PAUL PARKER)
" What really
destroyed me was how (at the end) he became so bitter. All of the plans we had
made for future proyects were getting so far out of reach for him. He was so
bitter, and I was so unhappy, but I was still there with him until i had to
leave to tour Europe. I remember I went to visit him the day before I
left. He looked terrible and was in a very foul mood, saying some mean things
to me, and i said : 'Patrick, I'm not going to allow this to taint the way I
feel or what i have to say to you, because I love you, and we're gonna try to
pull it all together. If you can't do it now, just wait and then we'll really
do it, we'll just really do it. ' He just looked at mewith those enormous blue
eyes that he had and just smiled (sort of) not saying anything." (SYLVESTER)
Megatone had released "Mind Warp" and Marty
Blecman and his people made a tribute to Patrick at the Galleria Design
Center ( 101 Henry Adam Street ) with the
presentation of the album. Patrick Cowley was so sick that he couldn't attend.
Part of his medical team put him in a wheelchair and snuck him out of the
hospital so that he could see the party.
Then, upstairs on a balcony in his wheelchair , very weak and sick, and by
moments quite moved, he just watched the great party taking place downstairs as
the result of his musical genius.
" I remember that night ! Lauren and I were singing 'They Came at Night'... we had this choreography, I remember - we were choreographed by one of the choregraphers from the TV show Dance Fever... we were on stage and there were all these lasers going and something was dripping on us and we thought we were going to be electrocuted! Patrick was in a wheelchair, but they set up this big fabulous leather chair for him in the center of the balcony to hold court and watch the show. It was very emotional." (JO-CAROL BLOCK)
Gallería Design Center, Megatone gave a party in tribute to
Patrick Cowley with the release of 'Mind Warp' (1982)
"I didn't see Patrick as much as I
could or should have towards the end because of a lot of traumatic
circunstances, including my own illness at the time, plus I hate to admit it,
but I held a lot of childish feelings of... jealousy( I guess) at his
success, wich always went unresolved . I visited him once in the hospital, and
it just blew my mind because I had no idea of the scope of his illness or just
how sick he wasbecause nobody really understood at the time. It was
apparent though, that he was not long for this world. And yet he was achieving
all of this unending success. He called me after that and I told him how happy
I was that his music was doing so well, because at that point everything
he did just rocketed up the charts, and all he could say was: 'What's the use
of it ? '. I could tell that he was in tears. It was very tough." (MICHAEL FINDEN)
_______________________________>>> next
page 5