I’m a bit of an anorak, when it comes to early Hi-NRG music (when it was officially known as Gay Disco), so my nomination goes to pioneering keyboardist, producer and remixer, Patrick Cowley.
Cowley was born in 1950, in Buffalo, New York, where he studied English, before joining the burgeoning gay community in San Francisco. His first big break, in 1979, was as a keyboardist, on tour with black, gay disco diva, Sylvester (You Make Me Feel Mighty Real), with whom he later recorded the pop hit Do You Wanna Funk. He produced three solo albums on his own Megatone label, as well as writing and producing dance hits for other local singers. He produced two legendary, hard-edged quarter-of-an-hour remixes – I Feel Love by Donna Summer and Hills of Katmandu by Tantra. Cowley’s trademark sound, a pumping Hi-NRG bassline with trippy electronic effects, was partly a result of his home made synthesiser patches, and contains clearly recognisable elements of contemporary Trance. Cowley was years ahead of his time, and is cited by dance music giants New Order and the Pet Shop Boys as a major influence. His recording career spanned three short years, before he became the first celebrity to die from an Aids related illness, in 1982. His tour de force dance classic, Menergy, was rerecorded by Sylvester and released as the first ever Aids benefit record. To this spotty, closeted schoolboy, he was an icon of gay genius. I cried when I read of his death.
Nigel Tart, Brighton