Patrick Joseph Cowley, Record-producer

b. October 19, 1950
d. November 12, 1982

Born in Buffalo, New York, he died in San Francisco in 1982, aged jusr 32, an early victim of AIDS (when it was still known as GRID)

 During his teenage years, Cowley became a successful drummer with local amateur bands before attending Niagara University and later the University at Buffalo to study English. In 1971, at the age of 21, Cowley moved to San Francisco to attend the City College of San Francisco where he studied music, specifically the use of synthesizers.

Cowley met San Francisco based musician Sylvester James in the late 70s. Sylvester had asked Cowley to join his studio band after hearing some of his early synthesizer recordings. Cowley contracted HIV sometime in the early 1980s.

Cowley's own hits included "Menergy" in 1981, a frank celebration of the gay club sex scene, and "Megatron Man". In 1982, Patrick Cowley became the DJ at the "Menergy" parties at The EndUp in San Francisco. He also wrote and produced the dance single "Right on Target" for San Francisco artist Paul Parker, which reached #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.

Cowley also did a 15'45" long remix of Donna Summer's "I Feel Love", which is now a collector's item. His final album, Mind Warp, was composed as he felt the increasing effects of HIV infection, and its songs reflect his increasing detachment from conventional reality as the disease progressed. Cowley only released three solo albums, but groups including the Pet Shop Boys and New Order cite Cowley's style as a major influence.

Cowley wrote and produced songs for several San Francisco musicians including friends Paul Parker and Frank Loverde. He was associated with many lesser known musicians such as Kat Mandu, Maurice Tani and Linda Imperial.

During a world tour with Sylvester, Cowley complained of feeling increasingly unwell. Upon returning to the United States, he visited a doctor who diagnosed food poisoning. Weeks later, with his condition only worsening, doctors again failed to identify what was wrong with him. Cowley was discharged from the hospital after doctors could do nothing more for him. It was after this that Cowley completed the album Mind Warp.

By the time of the album's release, Cowley was largely confined to a wheelchair and was unable to attend the launch event held at the Galleria Art Center in San Francisco. Subsequently, Cowley become an early victim of AIDS (or GRID, as it was known). 

Confined to a wheelchair and re-hospitalized, Cowley died in San Francisco of Aids-related complications, at age 32.

October 19th in History, : Dmitri Ivanovich, Russian Czarevich, Patrick Cowley , Divine, Robert Reed

Born this day:

Dmitri Ivanovich: Russian Czarevich
Also called Demetrius Ivanovich, son of Ivan IV and little brother of the Czar Fyodor I. Boris Godunov loved to fellate the boy, but then, after the death of Fyodor, Dmitri was murdered, possibly by order of Godunov, in order to gain the throne himself.

Patrick Cowley:
 American record-producer. He was born in Buffalo, New York and studied English at Buffalo's university. Cowley died of Aids. 

Divine:
 Drag Queen, singer and actor, who was described by People magazine as the "Drag Queen of the Century". The fat fabulous drag queen, immortalized by director John Waters in such films as "Mondo Trasho", "Pink Flamingos", and "Female Trouble", once described himself as "just another man in a dress."

Robert Reed (1932  - 1992)   US 
 Actor, best known for "The Brady Bunch". Married and publicly closeted, he was nevertheless well-known as gay to colleagues on the series. He was HIV positive at the time of his death in 1992  

Sodomy in History,  October 19

1964 — Judge Allen O’Connor of Connecticut is accused of sex with a young man. He resigns and is disbarred.

1994 — A federal judge in New York follows case law in the state and dismisses a public indecency charge against a man for sex in the bushes. He said it couldn’t be seen by others.

Calendar of Sodomy, October