Patrick Cowley

Some Funkettes

Dark Entries
21.95 €
icon/play-white
Backorder
Tax included, Shipping not included
Dark Entries is humbled to continue digging through the archives of legendary producer Patrick Cowley. While best known for his production on chart-topping cybernetic disco anthems such as Sylvester’s “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” or his own “Menergy”, Cowley, who passed away from AIDS-related illness in 1982, left us with a substantial body of work. Since 2009, Dark Entries has been working with Cowley’s friends and family to shed light on the lesser known facets of this singular artist’s output. This has resulted in a string of celebrated archival albums, including Catholic (featuring Jorge Socarras), School Daze, Muscle Up, Afternooners, and the recent Mechanical Fantasy Box. Some Funkettes, the latest addition to this series, is a collection of previously unreleased cover songs recorded from 1975-1977. These raw, unembellished tributes both showcase Cowley’s early musical interests and chart the development of his production techniques. Some Funkettes opens with Cowley’s sauntering instrumental rendition of “Do It Anyway You Wanna”, the disco classic by People’s Choice. Next is a psychedelic reworking of the Temptations’ “Papa Was a Rolling Stone”, here hazily retitled “Papa Wuzza Rollinston”. Over its 7 minute runtime, the track’s metronomic, minimal groove builds to a frantic synth solo - this is pure Bay Area motorik. “Spiked Punch”, a curious riff on Herbie Hancock’s “Chameleon” follows. Cowley’s lurching, minimalist reimagining of Hancock’s opus prefigures the work he would later do on Sylvester’s masterpiece “I Need Somebody to Love Tonight”. Side B opens with a truly important historical document: Cowley’s cover of Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love”. The Moroder-produced disco anthem was a critical influence on Cowley - he would later resculpt the original song into arguably its highest form with his 15-minute-long remix. The instrumental cover version here is sparse and euphoric, brimming with classic Cowley synth signatures alongside the infectious Moroder bassline. A relatively faithful take on Bazuka’s 1975 funk classic “Dynomite” follows. The record closes with the dub version of “Spiked Punch”, which highlights developments in Cowley’s recording and synthesis techniques by way of its resonant burbles and spring reverb-laden passages. Some Funkettes was made possible with help from Patrick's brother Jim and his former studiomate Maurice Tani. All songs were mastered for vinyl by George Horn. The sleeve is a collage designed in 1975 by Cowley’s former roommate Francesca Rosa that was found covering a reel to reel box. It features a yin-yang symbol and a photograph of a scruffy 24 year old Patrick, to which we added his original handwriting. Each record comes with an insert featuring a four page essay by Francesca as well as a postcard featuring liner notes and a photograph by Cowley’s roommate and best friend, Theresa McGinley. Vocal versions of “Papa Wuzza Rollingston” and “Do It Anyway You Wanna” are included as bonus tracks on the digital and CD releases. This peek into Cowley’s formative years arrives just in time for what would have been his 70th birthday.

Share Article

Details

Release Date

23.11.2020

Cat No

DE-283

Tracklist

Track 1
icon/play-white
Track 2
icon/play-white
Track 3
icon/play-white
Track 4
icon/play-white
Track 5
icon/play-white
Track 6
icon/play-white
Disco
icon/play-white
LP
Patrick Cowley
26.95 €
Malebox Dark Entries
Backorder
Disco
LP
icon/play-white
Patrick Cowley
26.95 €
Malebox Dark Entries
Disco
icon/play-white
2-LP
Patrick Cowley
23.95 €
Afternooners Dark Entries
Backorder
Disco
2-LP
icon/play-white
Patrick Cowley
23.95 €
Afternooners Dark Entries
Disco
icon/play-white
12"
Patrick Cowley
23.95 €
Lift Off (Alan Dixon Remixes) Unidisc
Backorder
Disco
12"
icon/play-white
Patrick Cowley
23.95 €
Lift Off (Alan Dixon Remixes) Unidisc
High Energy
12"
Patrick Cowley
19.95 €
Menergy ft. Sylvester (Purple Disco Machine Remix) Unidisc
Backorder
Disco
12"
Patrick Cowley
19.95 €
Menergy ft. Sylvester (Purple Disco Machine Remix) Unidisc
Disco
icon/play-white
LP
Patrick Cowley
33.95 €
Mind Warp Unidisc
Backorder
Disco
LP
icon/play-white
Patrick Cowley
33.95 €
Mind Warp Unidisc
Electronica
icon/play-white
2-12"
Patrick Cowley
25.95 €
Mechanical Fantasy Box Dark Entries
Backorder
Electronica
2-12"
icon/play-white
Patrick Cowley
25.95 €
Mechanical Fantasy Box Dark Entries
Wave
icon/play-white
12“
Alex Molo
22.95 €
Look at me (Yellow Vinyl) DARK ENTRIES
Preorder
Rock / Pop / Indie
12“
icon/play-white
Alex Molo
22.95 €
Look at me (Yellow Vinyl) DARK ENTRIES
tba
12"
Garland
22.95 €
Heartbeat Dark Entries
Preorder
12"
Garland
22.95 €
Heartbeat Dark Entries
tba
LP
Blues Lawyer
26.95 €
All In Good Time Dark Entries
Preorder
LP
Blues Lawyer
26.95 €
All In Good Time Dark Entries
Dark Wave
icon/play-white
LP
Euroshima
26.95 €
Gala Dark Entries
Add To Cart
Rock / Pop / Indie
LP
icon/play-white
Euroshima
26.95 €
Gala Dark Entries
Wave
icon/play-white
LP
Forbidden Overture
26.95 €
Turned On Dark Entries
Add To Cart
Rock / Pop / Indie
LP
icon/play-white
Forbidden Overture
26.95 €
Turned On Dark Entries
Wave
icon/play-white
LP
Linea Aspera
26.95 €
Linea Aspera Dark Entries
Backorder
Rock / Pop / Indie
LP
icon/play-white
Linea Aspera
26.95 €
Linea Aspera Dark Entries
Disco
icon/play-white
7"
Ben and the Tight Squeeze Band
14.95 €
AM Funk / Summer Rest Athens Of The North
Backorder
Disco
7"
icon/play-white
Ben and the Tight Squeeze Band
14.95 €
AM Funk / Summer Rest Athens Of The North
Funk
icon/play-white
7"
Weldon Irvine
16.95 €
Mr Clean / Homey Dynamite Cuts
Add To Cart
Funk/Soul
7"
icon/play-white
Weldon Irvine
16.95 €
Mr Clean / Homey Dynamite Cuts
Soundtrack
icon/play-white
LP
Piero Piccioni
29.95 €
Fatevi vivi - la polizia non interverra Musica Per Immagini
Backorder
Rock / Pop / Indie
LP
icon/play-white
Piero Piccioni
29.95 €
Fatevi vivi - la polizia non interverra Musica Per Immagini
Latin Club
icon/play-white
2-LP
Gerardo Frisina
34.95 €
Joyful Sound Schema
Add To Cart
Latin America
2-LP
icon/play-white
Gerardo Frisina
34.95 €
Joyful Sound Schema
HipHop
icon/play-white
7"
Various
12.95 €
ED SPINNING #1 Beatsqueeze
Backorder
HipHop / Rap
7"
icon/play-white
Various
12.95 €
ED SPINNING #1 Beatsqueeze
Library
icon/play-white
2-LP
Various
33.95 €
Tele Music, 26 Classics French Music Library Vol. 3 Bmg
Backorder
Toolz
2-LP
icon/play-white
Various
33.95 €
Tele Music, 26 Classics French Music Library Vol. 3 Bmg