By the mid-70\u2032s, Patrick\u2019s synthesizer skills landed him a job composing and producing songs for disco superstar Sylvester such as \u201cYou Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)\u201d, \u201cDance Disco Heat\u201d and \u201cStars.\u201d This helped Patrick obtain more work as a remixer and producer. Of particular note was his 18-minute long remix of Donna Summer\u2019s \u201cI Feel Love\u201d and production work with edgy New Wave band Indoor Life. By 1981 Patrick released a string of dance 12\u2033 singles, like \u201cMenergy\u201d and \u201cMegatron Man\u201d, creating the soundtrack for a generation. Also that year, he founded Megatone Records and released his debut album. Around this time Patrick was hospitalized and diagnosed with a then-unknown illness: that would later be called AIDS. Prior to his passing on November 12, 1982, he recorded two more Hi-NRG hits, \u201cDo You Wanna Funk\u201d for Sylvester and \u201cRight On Target\u201d for Paul Parker.<\/p>\n
In 1981 Patrick was contacted by John Coletti, owner of famed gay porn company Fox Studio in Los Angeles. John had heard about Patrick\u2019s music from the legendary Sylvester and proposed he write music for his films. Patrick jumped on this offer and sent reels of his college compositions from the 70s to John in LA. Coletti then used a variable speed oscillator to adjust the pitch and speed of Patrick\u2019s songs in-sync with the film scene. \u201cSchool Daze\u201d is a collection of Cowley\u2019s instrumental songs recorded between 1973 and 1981 found in the Fox Studio vaults. Influenced by Tomita, Wendy Carlos and Giorgio Moroder, Patrick forged an electronic sound from his collection of synthesizers, modified guitars and self-constructed equipment. The listener enters a world of dark forbidden vices, introspective and reflective of Patrick\u2019s time spent in the bathhouses of San Francisco. The songs on \u201cSchool Daze\u201d range from sparse proto-techno to high octane funk to somber post-punk to musique concrete, revealing the depth of Cowley\u2019s unique talent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dark Entries<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cSchool Daze\u201d<\/strong> is a collection of Cowley\u2019s instrumental songs recorded between 1973 and 1981 found in the Fox Studio vaults. Influenced by Tomita, Wendy Carlos and Giorgio Moroder, Patrick forged an electronic sound from his collection of synthesizers, modified guitars and self-constructed equipment. The listener enters a world of dark forbidden vices, introspective and reflective of Patrick\u2019s time spent in the bathhouses of San Francisco. The songs on \u201cSchool Daze\u201d range from sparse proto-techno to high octane funk to somber post-punk to musique concrete, revealing the depth of Cowley\u2019s unique talent.<\/p>\n
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