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Paul Parker (from Tribal Rites - San Francisco's Dance Music Phenominon
1978-1988 by David Diebold, 1988)
The star
I started out my singing career in a top forty band here in San Francisco where we did hotels, restaurants and juice houses – basically anywhere that we could sing. We did a lot of work for almost nothing but we had a great time. One day I was walking down Castro Street and came upon Patrick Cowley sitting on a stoop. He had just gotten back from touring Europe with Sylvester and was no longer with the band for several reasons. Anyway, a friend of mine introduced us and he invited me to come to his studio to sing a demo, to see if we might work together. He had this really funky studio down near Eight and Howard in a deserted old building which everyone was eventually chased out of. He later moved to another building nearby and shared a studio space with Tip Wirrick. The first demo we did was Love me hot, then Pushin' too hard and then along came Right on target which became my first single. We also did Lift of which ended up on Patrick's first album. It ws very exciting for me to be recording in a studio for the first time and also it was dance music (which was a change from what I had been doing). Patrick taught me everything I needed to know about recording at the time and also about latin rhythms because he started out as a drummer in a top forty band, then went on to learn guitar and study synthesizers, finally using everything he knew to become a songwriter. He was also a lightman at The City Disco and I think that being exposed to that much dance music taught him a lot about it. It was so exciting in the dance music scene in those days because I could go in and participate and just experience it all, whereas nowadays I really can't just go out and experience it because I have become a part of it in a different way, yet separated in a sense. When you get into the recording business you develop strange relationships with the DJ's; either they are overly friendly and transparent, or they feel the need to go out of their way to prove that they needn't be friendly to you. It's very strange. I have remained good friends with several DJ's though, like Howard Merit who is in Key West now and Ian Levine in London. Marty Blecman was a DJ at Alfie's at the time and wanted to start a record company and that’s just what he and Patrick did. Marty was sort of my manager then but as the record company idea began to take shape we realized it to be a conflict of interests. Since Patrick and I were such good friends I never worried about being paid or anything like that though. Unfortunately, during this whole time Patrick started getting sick. Marty and I were friends at the time and were both very worried about Patrick, not knowing what was going on (as most people didn't at that time concerning AIDS), so we just did the best that we could and tried to encourage and support him. Sometimes he would come over to visit Ken (my new manager) and me for the afternoon and would end up staying for a week, which was okay because I was gone so much and wanted to see him as often as I could. I'm not sure if he ever came to understand (or accept) that when I went away on a tour singing it was because I had to in order to make money and live. I had to promote the record and I wanted to be a singer. I also started dabbling in song-writing at this point with Shot in the night which became the only new song on my first album. At the same time Patrick was working with Frank Loverde on Die hard lover and I remember Marty saying that he was just throwing Moby Dick a bone by letting them put that song out... Of course it turned out to be one of the biggest records of the whole lot (doing especially well in Europe and Mexico). Here it was a monster dance hit but over there it went pop. Anyway, that was how my whole involvement with dance music began and while it was rolling along Patrick got sicker and sicker as I was becoming this disco singer and travelling all over the place. I'd never been anywhere before and suddenly I was going everywhere and meeting thousands of people. It was great, but at the same time when I’d get back from each trip Patrick was more ill or had something happening to him and so the whole experience of becoming a "star" (and in fact the whole disco scene) became very connected with AIDS and dying to me. I met Ken Crivello just prior to Right on target and he became my manager. Patrick came and lived with us for a while during a rehabilitation period when he had to learn how to walk again. He had gone from being a healthy, vibrant, cocky thirty-year-old person to basically like a little old man with a very childlike quality too. It was kind of like having your best friend turn into your grandfather before your eyes. It wasn't a good experience. One of the most important things I learned from Patrick was about song-writing. He's really the one who got me started in it because before we met I just assumed that I couldn't do it. I had tried when I was about 22 and I failed so I just gave up until I started working with Patrick later. Of course that's really what I do most, along with producing records for other artists (which I also really enjoy but never dreamed I'd be doing one day). After Patrick died I met Ian Anthony Stephens in London. He asked me if I'd like to do a track with him and I said I’d love to. About two weeks later he came to San Francisco and we worked together on a number of songs, including Desire which did very well and turned out to be the biggest British import record of the year. We started Fantasia Records together after that and the first release was Don't play with fire b/w Without your love and we've been working together ever since. I actually split with Megatone when I took Desire in to let them hear it and Marty refused to even listen to it. He said he wanted to go to New York to find me a producer and that it would be the start of something great (and to forget Desire). Well, I left the office and talked with Ian and just decided to leave Megatone. I called Marty up and told him that if he didn't want to put any energy into projects that I believed in, then I would go elsewhere. There wasn't much point to working together because I was never the type to just sit back and take orders from an executive concerning art, especially my art. At this point I’m working a lot with Man Parrish and am just finishing my follow-up to One look (my second #1 Billboard hit), which came out on Dice Records. I've also been putting together songs for a Jessica Williams album, along with producing Lisa, Perri Halevy, Debbie Jacobs, and Marianne. The Future The future is where it's really all going to happen as far as I can see, concerning dance music. I've done a lot recently (production and writing-wise) and I feel that my best work is among it, so I am excited about the future. It's really very fulfilling when you realize that those are your thoughts that are manifesting themselves as songs and then records and a lot of people are being excited by your songs and your production. I can't imagine what it would be like to have a brain like Mozart's and be able to work through the kind of music that he did but on a smaller scale I'm able to do what I do, and it's incredibly rewarding to me. The future is open to us, we can decide to stay here or go on or do whatever we want. It's great how most people keep striving for whatever they can see from wherever they are now, you know? The collaboration with Man Parrish led to singing three songs on the second album of Man Parrish in 1986. (Here to eternity, Abracadabra and Body talk) They recorded two more songs in 1987, which are never officially released. (Could be loved and No mercy) In '95 he released an album titled Destiny and was awarded for the song Philadelphia medley. On this CD you also find remakes of Right on target and Time after time. Between 1996 and 1998 Paul teamed up with Angie Gold to record a couple of duets (One more hurt and I finally found someone). Both titles can be found on the sampler series Mad about the boy from Klone Records in the UK. 
In 2002 Paul contributed two songs (Have yourself a merry little Christmas
and Home for Christmas) to the christmas album Carols Across America.
A part of the proceeds of this album goes to 'Aids Emergency Fund' and 'Breast
Cancer Emergency Fund'. It also features songs from Jo Carol (Block, former
Patrick Cowley singer), Linda Imperial and Ernest Kohl. The album is produced
by John Hedges.
Man Parrish teamed up with Paul Parker again in 2003. On a trip to California, Man asked Paul to re-sing his 1980's mega club hit Right on target, Paul agread. They also recorded a 'jazzy' song called Dreamer. You can listen (and buy) these songs and other songs from Man Parrish with Paul Parker on the website of Man Parrish. (www.manparrish.com) |
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Paul parker - Right On Target |
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Paul parker - Shot In The Night (With footage from a live performance) |