Patrick Cowley

Patrick Joseph Cowley (October 19, 1950 - November 12, 1982) was a San Francisco-based musician and record producer credited as an early pioneer of electronic dance music. Melding psychedelia with disco at a fast tempo, Cowley helped refine a new music genre, “Hi-NRG,” which seemed ideal to enhance the hot and sweaty vibe of San Francisco’s gay clubs. 

Cowley also composed instrumental music for gay porn company Fox Studio. School Daze, Muscle Up, and Afternooners are a triad of evocative soundscapes, grand accomplishments of melodic sensibility, and very likely the best porn soundtracks ever created.

The three records overflow with erotic energy and desire. The sound is so reminiscent of the steamy saunas Cowley would frequent that it almost feels liquid: it drips, bubbles, and ebbs and flows in waves that conjure sexual fantasies and memories.