Robert Owens
AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists:
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Robert Owens
- Genres: Electronica
Biography
Though electronica has always been a producer's medium (and the few vocalists keeping their head above water are usually woman), Robert Owens became one of the figures most associated with the late-'80s golden era of Chicago house. Born in Ohio in 1961, he grew up singing in church, but was working as a DJ when he met pioneering Chicago producer Larry Heard in 1985. The pair formed Fingers Inc. with Ron Wilson, and released a few excellent singles ("You're Mine," "It's Over") and the 1988 full-length Another Side. The group dissolved soon after, though, as Heard's burgeoning solo production career (as Mr. Fingers) took over. Owens had already released tracks on his own -- "Bring Down the Walls" and "I'm Strong" for Alleviated, with production from Heard -- and he signed a solo contract with 4th & Broadway. His 1990 LP Rhythms in Me was a solid effort, though it soon disappeared within the quickly disintegrating Chicago house scene. (One of his best-known features of the late '80s, the epic house moment "Tears," appeared under the names of Frankie Knuckles and producer Satoshi Tomiie.)Following a move to London in 1993, Owens set up a personal studio and started his own label, Musical Directions, initiating it with the 1994 six-track EP The Statement and concluding it with 1997's "Love Will Find Its Way." He teamed up with Tomiie and Cevin Fisher for a track from Tomiie's Full Lick LP in 1999, and one year later he appeared on the Photek smash "Mine to Give," which topped the Billboard U.S. club chart. While the 2002 double-disc anthology Love Will Find Its Way: The Best of Robert Owens neatly capped 18 years of house classics, Owens continued to collaborate and release the occasional solo 12" throughout the decade. The full-length Night-Time Stories, released on Germany's Compost label in 2008, was a pleasant surprise, with Owens' typically impassioned vocals featured over a stylistically broad range of productions from indebted artists like Kirk Degiorgio, Ian Pooley, Charles Webster, and Wahoo. Two years later, he issued the double-disc album Art. Another Compost release, it featured productions from Larry Heard, Atjazz, and Beanfield. ~ John Bush, Rovi
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Robert Owens (musician)
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Robert Owens (born 1961) is an American contemporary R&B and house-music vocalist best known for his work with the Chicago house group Fingers Inc. in the mid-1980s.[1] As a solo artist, he has placed several songs on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, two of which hit #1: "I'll Be Your Friend" (1992), and "Mine to Give" (2000, a collaboration with Photek).[1]
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Contents
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Life and work
Though electronica has typically been a producer's medium (and the few vocalists who succeed are usually women),[1] Robert Owens became one of the people associated with the late-'80s golden era of Chicago house. Born in Ohio in 1961, Robert Owens grew up singing in church, but years later, he was working as a DJ in 1985, when he met Chicago producer Larry Heard.[1] The pair formed Fingers Inc., along with Ron Wilson, and they released a few singles ("You're Mine"/"It's Over") plus the 1988 full-length "Another Side". The group disbanded quickly, as Heard's burgeoning solo-production career (as Mr. Fingers) took priority.[1]
Robert Owens had already released recordings on his own - "Bring Down the Walls" and "I'm Strong" made for Alleviated (with production from Heard),[1] and he signed a solo contract with 4th & B'way Records. His 1990 album Rhythms in Me lost visibility soon after within the quickly disintegrating Chicago house scene. (One of his best-known features of the late 1980s, the epic house moment "Tears" appeared with the names of Frankie Knuckles and producer Satoshi Tomiie.)[1]
By 1996, he had returned to dance music with "Ordinary People": a two-part EP recording for Musical Directions. He joined up with Tomiie (again) and Cevin Fisher in 1999, to make a track from Tomiie's Full Lick LP.[1] One year later, in 2000, Robert Owens appeared on the Photek hit "Mine to Give".[1]
In 2003, he joined with Drum 'n' Bass act London Elektricity to provide the vocals for their album Billion Dollar Gravy.
He collaborated with Coldcut on their album Sound Mirrors, on the track "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" in 2006.
He collaborated with Rob Pearson on single "Escape from the Madness" which was released on Plastic City in 2007
In 2011, he collaborated with Brookes Brothers on their single entitled 'Beautiful' which is due for release on the Breakbeat-Kaos label
Later on in the same year he collaborated with Dutch Drum and Bass producer Icicle, and featured on the tracks 'Step Forward' and 'Redemption', which appeared on Icicle's debut album 'Under the Ice' released 25/04/11 on Shogun Audio.
Influences
In October 2004, “I’ll be Your Friend” appeared in the popular video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on the house-music radio station SF-UR.
Discography
Albums
- Rhythms in Me, 4th & B'way/Island/PolyGram Records, 1990
- Love Will Find its Way: The Best of Robert Owens, Unisex Records, 2002
- Night-Time Stories, Compost Records, 2008
- Art, Compost Records, 2010
Singles
- "Tears"
- "Changes"
- "Tell Me"
- "Far Away"
- "I'll Be Your Friend"
- "Ordinary People"
- "Love Will Find Its Way"
- "I'm Strong"
- "Picking Up The Pieces"
- "A Thing Called Love"
- "In Love Forever"
- "Can You Feel It"
- "Never No More Lonely"
- "After The Rain"
- "Bring Down The Walls"
- "Mine To Give"
- "Mine To Give" (David Morales Happy Mix)
- "Last Night a DJ Blew My Mind" (w/ Fab Four)
- "If"
- "A Greater Love" (w/ DJ Spen)
- "Love Someone" (w/ Atjazz)
- "I Go Back" (w/ Harry Ramero)
- "Escape from the Madness" (w/ Rob Pearson)
- "Fly Free" (w/ Ralf Gum)
Compilation albums featuring Robert Owens
- "The Original Chicago House Classics: Full Length 12-Inch Mixes from the Godfathers of House." Demon Music Group Ltd 2002
- "The Kings of House: Compiled & Mixed by Masters At Work." Rapster/BBE Records 2005
- "Renaissance: The Masters Series, Part 9" Renaissance Recordings 2007
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
Notes
References
- Robert Owens artist page, Discogs, 2008, Web page: Robert Owens artist page on Discogs.
External links
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AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists
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Mentioned in
Rhythms in Me
(1990 Album by Robert Owens)
KCL Project
(Electronica Artist, '90s)
Fingers Inc.
(Electronica Band, '80s-2000s)
Full Lick
(1999 Album by Satoshi Tomiie)
Another Side
(1988 Album by Fingers Inc.)
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