Robert Owens

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 <a href="spotify:artist:3j7teie3p6UnbA8nW51Trz">Larry Heard</a> in 1985. The pair formed <a href="spotify:artist:7DbXdVqrretuCKPkTeX8Kk">Fingers Inc.</a> 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 <a href="spotify:artist:3j7teie3p6UnbA8nW51Trz">Heard</a>'s burgeoning solo production career (as <a href="spotify:artist:0dRiUTGvNV17AMIULRYsvn">Mr. Fingers</a>) took over. Owens had already released tracks on his own -- "Bring Down the Walls" and "I'm Strong" for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Alleviated%22">Alleviated</a>, with production from <a href="spotify:artist:3j7teie3p6UnbA8nW51Trz">Heard</a> -- and he signed a solo contract with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%224th+%26+Broadway%22">4th & Broadway</a>. 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 <a href="spotify:artist:63yl9nDNrHpiAYGlNJxxjc">Frankie Knuckles</a> and producer <a href="spotify:artist:3TrAOZvW0MzZeKZRFnU7Ul">Satoshi Tomiie</a>.)

Following a move to London in 1993, Owens set up a personal studio and started his own label, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Musical+Directions%22">Musical Directions</a>, 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 <a href="spotify:artist:3TrAOZvW0MzZeKZRFnU7Ul">Tomiie</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2KKgW6x86NOhIJnMlxFD1u">Cevin Fisher</a> for a track from <a href="spotify:artist:3TrAOZvW0MzZeKZRFnU7Ul">Tomiie</a>'s Full Lick LP in 1999, and one year later he appeared on the <a href="spotify:artist:3hXDMlrPegHRO0zUvBsRSI">Photek</a> smash "Mine to Give," which topped the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Billboard%22">Billboard</a> 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 <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Compost%22">Compost</a> label in 2008, was a pleasant surprise, with Owens' typically impassioned vocals featured over a stylistically broad range of productions from indebted artists like <a href="spotify:artist:2Dcqwokizs4vSMXCVFqfQs">Kirk Degiorgio</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1m4GViPjIy4T8Pd0Iz6hRS">Ian Pooley</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4zMgFVljBxMaPn1U0SXGOh">Charles Webster</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2O4uakzY2C83hUwX7n3wu7">Wahoo</a>. Two years later, he issued the double-disc album Art. Another <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Compost%22">Compost</a> release, it featured productions from <a href="spotify:artist:3j7teie3p6UnbA8nW51Trz">Larry Heard</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5E1HWPplEsztsh2zh1c9mH">Atjazz</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:66pwO4VzpMLwntaQ9DPLvH">Beanfield</a>. ~ John Bush, Rovi