Eddie Fowlkes

Though present from the very start of Detroit techno, Eddie "Flashin" Fowlkes received far less attention than the Belleville Three—Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson—whose profiles dominated press coverage. Producers in Britain and Germany nevertheless cited his distinctive approach with surprising regularity, recognizing the influence of Detroit’s earliest innovators. Fowlkes himself labeled the approach “Black technosoul,” a futuristic blend of techno, mellow deep house, and Motown soul that appeared on one album sleeve in the form of an amusing interplanetary mix-up at birth.

Growing up with a strong affection for Motown and soul, he began mixing records while still attending high school. After a period studying business, he committed fully to a career as a DJ. Regular sets at Detroit’s celebrated Music Institute followed, and his first release arrived in 1986 with the single “Goodbye Kiss” on Juan Atkins’ Metroplex Records. Additional recordings appeared on KMS, 430 West—home to the landmark track “Inequality”—and Play It Again Sam throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. His first album, the hard and soul LP Serious Techno, Vol. 1, surfaced in 1991.

Once other Detroit artists achieved major success overseas, Fowlkes secured an album deal with Germany’s Tresor Records. Working in Berlin alongside the in-house team 3MB—Moritz Von Oswald and Thomas Fehlmann—he completed 1993’s The Birth of Technosoul. A further collection from those sessions, Deep Detroit Techno-Soul, Vol. 1, also appeared that year. He went on to record for Infonet, Back to Basics, and Peacefrog, later delivering his third Tresor album, Black Technosoul, in 1996.