Do You Love Your Robot Children?

While I have still to write about my L.A. trip and the Grace Jones show (will get to it soon), had to post a quick one after getting this update in the mail. The late, legendary, seminal disco producer Patrick Cowley, it seems, is getting the Arthur Russell treatment, with Stefan Goldmann (of of the d*ruffalo blog) and Finn Johanssen of the Macro label set to release a long forgotten project helmed by Patrick Cowley & Jorge Socarras (once of the group Indoor Life, for whom Patrick had produced an EP). The project, entitled "Catholic" and recorded between 1976 and 1979 was submitted to and subsequently shelved by Megatone Records. The project had effectively been forgotten until until the original masters were uncovered by San Francisco DJ Ken Woodard (of Honey Soundsystem) in former Megatone president John Hedges' basement in a 2008 move.

With more in common with post-punk/no-wave than with disco, it's probably not too surprising that Megatone decided against releasing it at the time. While the recordings have definite hints of his more familiar (and seminal in itself) electro-disco style, the sound is ultimately experimental than his more familiar Hi-NRG disco recordings. "Catholic" in a way feels like the mid-point between the 1980 Indoor Life record he had produced and the material he would later release under his own name.

While "Catholic" might be a bit more leftfield than what some fans of his established work might be used to, extracts like "Robot Children" and the unapologetically sexual shuffle of "Burn Brighter Flame" provide a revealing glimpse into another side of Cowley's work and a more complete appreciation of his brilliance.

Listen: Patrick Cowley & Jorge Socarras - Robot Children
Listen: Patrick Cowley & Jorge Socarras - Burn Brighter Flame

More background information and full audio samples are available at the Myspace page Macro have set up, which also has a great three-part video interview with Jorge Socarras about the genesis of the project and the new interest in Patrick's work.

"Catholic" is currently scheduled for an October 19th release, in time for what would have been Patrick's 59th birthday, preceeded in September by a 12'' release for "Soon," with mixes from Morgan Geist and KiNK.

PREVIOUS RELATED ENTRIES:
DISCO DELIVERY #50: BRENDA MITCHELL - DON'T YOU KNOW (1978, BARCLAY/POLYGRAM) (SATURDAY JANUARY 12, 2008)
LAST CALL! (SUNDAY NOVEMBER 26, 2006)
DISCO DELIVERY #7: SYLVESTER - M-1015 (1984, MEGATONE) (FRIDAY FEBRUARY 17, 2006)

LINKS:
MYSPACE: PATRICK COWLEY & JORGE SOCARRAS
MACRO RECORDINGS
PATRICK COWLEY TRIBUTE
RESIDENT ADVISOR NEWS: MACRO GET CATHOLIC (INTERVIEW WITH STEFAN GOLDMANN) (MONDAY JUNE 1, 2009)
ELECTRONIC BEATS: UNRELEASED PATRICK COWLEY ALBUM TO SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY (TEXT: GARETH OWEN) (JUNE 6, 2009)
FACT MAGAZINE: PATRICK COWLEY'S CATHOLIC PAST UNCOVERED (TUESDAY JUNE 9, 2009)
RESIDENT ADVISOR: STEFAN GOLDMANN
MYSPACE: STEFAN GOLDMANN
RESIDENT ADVISOR: FINN JOHANSSEN
D*RUFFALO: THE DAILY MAGAZINE FOR EXCESS CULTURE
DISCOGS: PATRICK COWLEY
DISCOGS: JORGE SOCARRAS
MYSPACE: JORGE SOCARRAS
HONEY SOUND SYSTEM
MYSPACE: HONEY SOUND SYSTEM
DISCOGS: JOHN HEDGES
DISCOGS: INDOOR LIFE

CATEGORIES: DISCO NEWS, MINI DELIVERIES

Chic & Johnny Mathis collaborations to finally be released?

Updated 02/03/09

Those familiar with Chic and Nile and Bernard's more obscure productions are likely familiar with the unreleased album they had produced for Johnny Mathis in 1981, entitled "I Love My Lady." Even moreso than the reported Aretha Franklin sessions, which it seems were aborted even before they had began, this album, apparently an actual finished project, has become the undisputed holy grail of Chic Organization productions. Given that people in the Chic camp like Rob Sabino, the late Tony Thompson and Nile Rodgers himself have undyingly vouched for it's excellence, no one seems to have an official explanation as to why it continues to remain unreleased. It's been suspected that Chic's production was a much too radical change in direction for Mathis. In Daryl Easlea's excellent book, "Everybody Dance: Chic & The Politics of Disco," there are a few pages dedicated to the unreleased Mathis album. At the time, Mathis had just come off a very successful collaboration with Deniece Williams, with Rodgers and Edwards apparently drawing inspiration from the aftermath of his comeback. In Easlea's book Nile Rodgers explained the inspiration and his theory as to why the album was pulled:

"He had been this big superstar, then his light dimmed a little, and then he came back after that massive record with Deniece Williams. His popularity rekindled, he went on this reckless tear - partying and hanging out; it really frightened the people closest to him. When we did this record, it was so exciting and youth oriented. All his people went 'oh my god.'... The Johnny Mathis record to me sounded like Al Jarreau meets Chic. It didn't sound like Johnny Mathis to me - it was even more edgy than I'd ever heard him.. That's why it was pulled. His audience at the time was like middle-aged women who would go out to Vegas, and this was pushing his envelope." (pgs. 191-2)

Apparently the shelving of the album project didn't stop Mathis from breaking out somewhat. The apparent 'reckless tear,' that Rodgers talks about possibly gives some context to him coming out as a gay man the following year..

However, as elusive as the album is, apparently there are some out there with copies of the recordings, one of them being Ralph Tee of Jazz FM in the UK, who recently played the title track on his radio show this past Sunday (November 9th). I recently came across a post on the discomusic.com forums by a mystery poster from the UK who had put up a link to a rip of the radio stream. Listen for yourselves..

Johnny Mathis - I Love My Lady (unreleased) (link updated)

At the end of the clip, Ralph Tee says that this and two more tracks from Chic's Johnny Mathis album will be given an official release on a Chic box set, supposedly planned for next year. I haven't been able to find any further details so far, so hopefully those will be forthcoming...

As it is though, this track sounds like one of the finest things Chic did in the 80's, like a slightly Brazilian flavoured, sparer version of the classic Chic sound.. Despite the breezy, laid-back arrangement, the Chic groove and elegance is unmistakable. While the 80's had seen Chic moving with the times, ditching the ever present Chic strings (which appear here in their understated spendour) in favour of synths, horns and a generally more funk-centred sound; this track instead echoes both the classic Chic disco sound of the 70's and some of their more adventurous acoustic efforts in the 80s ("You Can't Do It Alone," "Tavern On The Green" and some of the other tracks off the Soup For One Soundtrack to name some examples). Although I can't help but wonder how this could have sounded with a full "I Want Your Love" or "Upside Down" type of treatment, this song occupies a wonderful middle ground between the two acts. With Johnny Mathis adopting a bit of Chic's urbane edge, and at the same time giving the Chic Organization an opportunity to further expand, experiment and redefine their sound in the post-disco landscape, this is ultimately a welcome revelation. Hopefully we'll be hearing more soon..

UPDATE 02/03/09: And apparently we are hearing more.. Courtesy of the Chic Tribute site, another track, entitled "Sing" has just leaked. Unfortunately it's only a one minute snippet this time, but a pretty promising one nonetheless.. Go to the Chic Tribute News page to hear the sample.

PREVIOUS RELATED ENTRIES:
BBC RADIO 2 - THE RECORD PRODUCERS: NILE RODGERS (SATURDAY JANUARY 6, 2007)
DISCO DELIVERY #2: NORMA JEAN WRIGHT - NORMA JEAN (1978, BEARSVILLE) (SATURDAY JANUARY 14, 2006)
UPCOMING SISTER SLEDGE REISSUES (FRIDAY AUGUST 10, 2007)
UPCOMING REISSUES & RELEASES (CHIC AND MORE!): (DECEMBER 1, 2006 - JANUARY 22, 2007) (SATURDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2006)
UPCOMING REISSUES & RELEASES (APRIL 25 - MAY 30) (FRIDAY APRIL 21, 2006)

LINKS:
JOHNNY MATHIS - I LOVE MY LADY @ CHIC TRIBUTE
CHIC TRIBUTE NEWS: NEW MATHIS TRACK (FEBRUARY 2, 2009)
DARYL EASLEA INTERVIEW @ CHIC TRIBUTE
TONY THOMPSON - THE MAN WHO PUT THE BACKBONE IN CHIC (ECHOES MAGAZINE INTERVIEW) @ CHIC TRIBUTE
EVERYBODY DANCE: CHIC & THE POLITICS OF DISCO (BY DARYL EASLEA) @ AMAZON.CO.UK | AMAZON.COM
CHIC @ ALL MUSIC GUIDE
CHIC @ DISCO-DISCO
CHIC @ DISCOGS

CATEGORIES: DISCO NEWS, MINI DELIVERIES