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Patrick Cowley
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Patrick Joseph Cowley (October 19, 1950 - November 12, 1982) was a Disco and Hi-NRG dance music composer and recording artist. He recorded in a similar style to Giorgio Moroder, and is often credited with pioneering electronic dance music.
Early life
Patrick Cowley was born in Buffalo, New York on October 19, 1950 to Ellen and Kenneth Cowley. Cowley's family originated in the Horseheads and Corning areas of New York and lived in Rochester.
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Encyclopedia
Patrick Joseph Cowley (October 19, 1950 - November 12, 1982) was a Disco and Hi-NRG dance music composer and recording artist. He recorded in a similar style to Giorgio Moroder, and is often credited with pioneering electronic dance music.
Early life
Patrick Cowley was born in Buffalo, New York on October 19, 1950 to Ellen and Kenneth Cowley. Cowley's family originated in the Horseheads and Corning areas of New York and lived in Rochester. During his teenage years, Cowley became a successful drummer with local amateur bands before attending Niagara University and later the University at Buffalo to study English. In 1971, at the age of 21, Cowley moved to San Francisco to attend the City College of San Francisco where he studied music, specifically the use of synthesizers. Cowley contracted HIV sometime in the early 1980s.
Musical career
Cowley met San Francisco based musician Sylvester James in the late 70s. Sylvester had asked Cowley to join his studio band after hearing some of his early synthesizer recordings.
Cowley's own hits included "Menergy" in 1981, a frank celebration of the gay club sex scene, and "Megatron Man", which hit #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1982. That same year, Patrick Cowley became the DJ at the "Menergy" parties at The EndUp in San Francisco. He also wrote and produced the dance single "Right on Target" for San Francisco artist Paul Parker, which reached #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. Cowley also did a 15'45" long remix of Donna Summer's "I Feel Love", which is now a collector's item. His final album, Mind Warp, was composed as he felt the increasing effects of HIV infection, and its songs reflect his increasing detachment from conventional reality as the disease progressed. Cowley only released three solo albums, but groups including the Pet Shop Boys and New Order cite Cowley's style as a major influence.
Cowley wrote and produced songs for several San Francisco musicians including friends Paul Parker and Frank Loverde. He was associated with many lesser known musicians such as Kat Mandu, Maurice Tani and Linda Imperial.
Death
During a world tour with Sylvester in late 1981, Cowley complained of feeling increasingly unwell. Upon returning to the United States, he visited a doctor who diagnosed food poisoning. Weeks later, with his condition only worsening, doctors again failed to identify what was wrong with him. At this early stage in the history of the disease, misdiagnosis was common and so Cowley was discharged from the hospital (in 1982) after doctors could do nothing more for him. After discharge, Cowley went on to complete two albums (his Mind Warp and Sylvester's All I Need album -- later retitled Do Ya Wanna Funk after its chart-topping hit.) A couple of tracks were also completed for a planned Sarah Dash album that year (the album, however, was cut short by Cowley's death.) However, by the time of Mind Warps release, Cowley was largely wheelchair-bound and unable to attend the launch event held at the Galleria Art Center in San Francisco. Subsequently Cowley began receiving in-home nursing care and died at his home, in San Francisco, on November 12 1982. He was 32 years old, an early victim of AIDS (which was then still known as GRID).
Discography
Albums:
Menergy (1981) Megatron Man (1981) Mind Warp (1982)
Notable Singles:
Audio sample
See also
External links
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