Description

Cybernetic disco maestro Patrick Cowley returns to Dark Entries with From Behind, a collection of grooving and ecstatic covers of 60s garage and soul cuts. Best known for his chart-topping disco anthems, Cowley left us with an incredible body of work before his tragic death in 1982 due to AIDS-related illness. Since 2009, Dark Entries has been working with Cowleys friends and family to uncover the singular artists lesser-known sides, including his soundtracks for films on compilation albums School Daze, Muscle Up, and Afternooners. From Behind reveals yet another facet of Cowleys myriad influences; garage and soul. As a tripped-out teenage music freak who arrived in 60s San Francisco, it should come as no surprise that these psychedelic sounds, both heady and visceral, infuse Cowleys oeuvre. Recorded during Cowleys most productive period, 80-82, these tracks show the master flexing his virtuosity while paying loving tribute to the songs that shaped him. A rough draft of Loverdes Iko Iko contorts the jaunty Dixie Cups classic into a slithering, monstrous bathhouse groover, the songs signature claps draped in cavernous reverb. An unexpected hi-NRG cover of The Doors 20th Century Fox has Paul Parker on vocals, ironically twisting the originals overt heterosexuality. Via Cowleys vocoder, The Whos Shakin All Over is transformed into a haunting meditation on the loss of bodily autonomy that AIDS inflicts, while the Moody Blues Ride My See Saw appears in instrumental, amped up and synthesized for dancefloor impact. Were also graced with instrumental demo versions of The Seeds Pushin Too Hard and The Electric Prunes Too Much To Dream (Last Night), which later appeared on Paul Parker releases. Things close out with a swinging version of the Four Tops Motown classic Baby I Need Your Loving, Cowley later reimagined for R&B artist Carl Carlton. The record comes housed in a sleeve designed by Gwenal Rattke and includes an insert with photos and liner notes written by Louis Niebur. Arriving on October 19th in celebration of what would have been Cowleys 74th birthday, From Behind gives us yet another glimpse into Cowleys world: iconic, erotic, and more than a little cheeky.