PATRICK COWLEY
The San Francisco Sound
Official Biography
by Daniel Eduardo Heinzmann - © 2001

PATRICK COWLEY and THERESA MCGINLEY

They first met in the fall of 1968. Theresa McGinley was a sophomore from new York City attending Niagara University . It was the late 1960's, and the hippie culture was in full flower. Theresa McGinley dressed in the style back then -lng straight hair, jeans, and army jacket.

Soon after the school year began, Theresa met Patrick Cowley, a freshman who was dating her roommate. Patrick and Theresa played the hippie roles to the hilt. After a year, they left Niagara and transferred to the State University of Buffalo. Their relationship was unusual; they weren't lovers but friends - best friends. They seemed to do everything together, wheter it was going to a demonstration , studying or listening to rock'n 'roll.

                      "I really enjoyed his company. He was just a true friend, always there when you needed him. " (THERESA MCGINLEY)

“When I met Patrick Cowley he was a virgin and so was I. It was my good fortune to meet him in 1968 when we were both still teenagers. We talked a great deal about sex, a subject that fell into the realm of sacred mysteries. Along with sex, we discussed music, literature, poetry, films, and the struggle to throw off the yoke of our conservative Roman Catholic upbringings. As college students we espoused antiestablishment sentiments and participated in Vietnam War protests. Several months after the Stonewall riots, and after I indicated to Patrick that I was questioning my own sexuality, Patrick came out. First he confided only to me that he was homosexual. Up until then, he had never had sex with a man. It was not easy for him to come out to our circle of friends, much less to his family, but Patrick knew what he wanted to do. Shortly after that confession he moved to San Francisco.In 1971 Patrick gave me the gift of a plane ticket to join him in San Francisco. He was ebullient when he met me at the airport, and declared that he had found his people and wanted to share this new world. We moved into a tiny apartment that faced the Panhandle on Oak Street in the Haight-Ashbury. Together, we delighted in joining the counterculture and discovering what we saw as visionary perspectives. Along with participating in the exciting mise en scène, Patrick pursued his creative interests, with emphasis on music. When Patrick was ill in the early ‘80s, I helped with care-taking and eventually moved into a flat in his Castro neighborhood home. He was one of the early AIDS victims who did not stand a chance against the virus. As his body weakened, his emotions grew stronger. He was the first individual I metwho encouraged my creativity and I credit our friendship with inspiring me to explore it. He may not have been the front man, but he definitely was a leading man and a Niagara of creativity.”(THERESA MCGINLEY)

                     “ Theresa McGinley was the friend of Patrick’s who did the most for him in terms of really taking care of him then—rolling up her sleeves and emptying the bedpans, changing his dressings, moving him in and out of his wheelchair day after day after day, month after month, making sure he got his meds—in other words the real nitty gritty when he was dying.

I was around at the end, visited him both at home and in the hospital many times, and tried to help where I could along with quite a few other people others including his father who came in from Buffalo and stayed for quite a while, but it was really Theresa who did the heavy lifting, including dealing with the incredibly obnoxious final nurse that the visiting nurses agency sent over. “ (FRANCESCA ROSA )

MEGATONE :   THE  SUCCESSORS                                        

                        " About a month before Patrick passed away, I called him from the Saint club, in NY.  At that time the 'Saint' was  at the top of the list of Gay Clubs. I had just peformed 'Right On Target' and 'PushingToo Hard'  the night before, and called to tell him how exciting it had been. It was Halloween, 1982.  Road Warrior was the basic costume of the night.  Five thousand people in a jam-packed club, and I started my show at 5:30 am.  One of the most exciting appearances I had  ever performed. Patrick was weak, but told me:' Well, I guess you're launched'.  I went back home and  the month after, Patrick passed away. How bittersweet it all was, since the beginning of my rise was Patrick's end."   (PAUL PARKER )

Patrick Cowley died on November 12, 1982 when he was 32. One month later, in december, a ceremony was done in his memory. Paul Parker and Ken Crivello already had a commitment in New York where Paul was going to sing his songs in an AT&T convention with some changes on the lyrics for the commercial interest of the company, for that reason Paul could not be in the ceremony, and Megatone's people were upset arguing that Paul had prefered going to New York.

                     "Anyone who knew him would know that Patrick would have wanted him to be in New York doing that AT&T convention, the epitome of mainstream success! So Patrick's music was played for all of these high-powered executives, that was Paul's tribute to Patrick basically." (KEN CRIVELLO)

Only Arial Records run a memorial ad in the trades when Patrick passed away. Scanty recognition for someone who contributed with so much talent to the record industry and to the comunity. 

                       "I left America and was gone for about a week. I did a concert in London (at heaven) Someone called me from the states, and it was so matter-of-fact. After chit-chatting for a while, they said: 'Oh, isn't it terrible?' I said: 'What?' .  Patrick had died that morning. Well, I had to go on stage after that and sing 'Do Ya Wanna Funk' (which was the biggest record out at that time) to this crowd, and I just freaked. Patrick was specially loved in europe, I had to tell these people that he was dead and then sing. It was a very 'heavy-duty' thing for me." (SYLVESTER)

                  "I thank God for him every day because just his name associated with 'Died Hard Lover' gave it a big boost, specially in Europe. I mean, we were interviewes countless times and usually ahlf of the questions were about Patrick Cowley. He touched a lot of people and they still want  to know and talk about him. His music was that innovative and moving."(FRANK LOVERDE) 

 On December 16, 1988, Sylvester died  of AIDS related complications; he was 41 years old. Two years later, in 1990, Frank Loverde passed away. Also,  in 1990, Marty Blecman released "The Patrick Cowley Collection" dedicated to Patrick's memory. An important dedication appeared on the cover to his partner and friend. Blecman continued heading Megatone up to his death on September 20, 1991, of AIDS. 

                          "Before computers and synthesizers could punch up a sound effect, Patrick was crafting his art the hard way. Painstakingly patching his own programs by hand and creating what was to become famous as 'The Cowley sound.' "(MARTY BLECMAN )

The staffer man and collaborator David Diebold continued heading the label, but he also caught  the virus. Terrence Brown became Megatone's chairman , he said he had to move the label out of San Francisco 'because everyone was dying'.  In 1994, Megatone moved to 349 Hollywood Boulevard  (Hollywood, CA), but Brown himself was hospitalized with the deadly desease. 

  John Hedges continued heading Megatone Records, who in turn was forced to sell it to pay for his own HIV-related expenses. Hedges, in 1976, was awarded with the “Billboard’s First Best Disco DJ” award . His partner at that moment was no other than Marty Blecman. Both of them made the transition from DJs to promoters to sponsor Sylvester.

  Megatone Records, whose legendary co-founder was  Patrick Cowley was immediately taken over,  after its imminent bankruptcy by the Canadian label Unidisc, from  Quebec, Canada.  

  By the late '80s, AIDS had devastated the San Francisco's disco community and Patrick had been one of the city's first casualties. Other speciality labels followed Megatone's lead. Moby Dick and CNM were founded, and for a few years in the early '80s, San Francisco churned out top-flight disco records on a regular basis.

                   "AIDS ravaged the entire industry. Not just DJs and performers but also the writers, the producers, the promoters.  Everyone at Moby Dick, exept the one girl who worked there, was desvasted by AIDS. The entire label. Same with CNM Records. All our stars and producers were dropping like flies."  (JOHN HEDGES )

  Patrick's productions earned a reputation strong enough to lure one of disco's most important promoters. A little after Patrick's death,  Audrey Josephs, from New York city,  helped to edit Patrick's last work .

HIS   WORK :  THE  COWLEY  SOUND                      

Patrick Cowley passed away on November 12, 1982 and still, through the time and years, we feel  astonished when we  listen to that incredible scale of sounds emerging from his excellent productions. Patrick Cowley was a 'brilliant' man who  shook the foundations of dance music.

                 "At least Patrick did, in his life, get to do what he really wanted to do which was to become a record producer. He wrote and produced many dance singles which millions of people danced to, loved and were inspired by. I still meet people around the world who ask me about him and want to know what he was like. They all know that we were close in friendship. Even that is amazing that so many people knew about a friendship." (PAUL PARKER)

                                   "Cowley actually went on to become a guru, a 'Lord over sound', a trademark sound which bore his name , and would hanceforth be referred to countlessly in other productions as 'The Cowley Sound'  and 'The San Francisco Sound'. Since then, a lot of the international producers of hi-NRG dance music who aspire to keep the spirit of the music alive, have gone on to mimic the keyboard wizardry of Patrick Cowley. So his flame actually lives on today in the new music. He definitely was a founding father of today's dance music. 'HI Energy' itself is actually a term which has its very roots in Patrick Cowley." (CASEY JONES)

PATRICK COWLEY OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY - THE SAN FRANCISCO SOUND - by DANIEL EDUARDO HEINZMANN - 2001