Song of the Day: 'Right Here, Right Now' by Patrick Cowley

I selected this one by the famed producer behind Sylvester's "Do You Wanna Funk?" to celebrate what would have been Patrick Cowley's 69th birthday, if not for the AIDS epdemic. It's featured on the just-released "Mechanical Fantasy Box," about which Rich Juzwiak writes for Pitchfork, "accompanied by a newly published journal, this collection of synth odds and ends offers the rare opportunity to hear directly from an undersung icon of San Francisco’s gay disco scene."

Read more HERE.

Order "Mechanical Fantasy Box: The Homoerotic Journal of Patrick Cowley" HERE.

P.S. 

And you can listen to Catholic -- a post-punk collaboration Cowley did with a pal of mine (Jorge Socarras, a bit of a gay Zelig who co-designed ACT UP's "Silence = Death" poster) recorded between 1976 and 1979 -- HERE.

Beat Boy

The legendary HI-NRG dance producer Patrick Cowley might have been 67 today, if not for the AIDS epidemic. To mark the occasion, a third collection of his soundtrack work for gay porn has been released. And as Boy Culture puts it, "As background music, it surely fails, because the beats are so cunningly insinuating they could only be described as another scene partner, making a twosome an orgy and making an orgy that much more fun."

Listen/learn more HERE.

Song of the Day: Best Of Patrick Cowley - Megamix

Like many gay men, I've worshiped at the altar of Patrick Cowley since the first time I heard his work with Sylvester. But imagine my surprise when I discovered a pal of mine (Jorge Socarras, a bit of a gay Zelig who co-designed ACT UP's "Silence = Death" poster) had recorded an ahead-of-its-time New Wave album with the gone-too-soon producing wiz back in the mid to late '70s under the moniker Catholic. The project finally saw release in 2009 -- nearly three decades later -- and can be downloaded HERE. In the meantime, enjoy this incredible megamix of Cowley's finest moments, another sobering reminder of just how much talent we lost in the early days of the GRID/AIDS epidemic.

UPDATE:

The full album is now steaming on YouTube.