Robert Owens

In the producer-driven world of electronica, where surviving vocalists have tended to be women, Robert Owens stood out as a central presence during Chicago house's late-1980s peak. Born in Ohio in 1961, he sang in church as a child and was already working as a DJ when he crossed paths with pioneering Chicago producer Larry Heard in 1985. Together with Ron Wilson they formed Fingers Inc., issuing the singles "You're Mine" and "It's Over" plus the 1988 album Another Side before the group split as Heard's solo work under the Mr. Fingers name gained momentum. Owens had meanwhile cut his own tracks "Bring Down the Walls" and "I'm Strong" for Alleviated with Heard supplying the productions, and he next signed a solo deal with 4th & Broadway. The resulting 1990 album Rhythms in Me proved sturdy yet quickly faded as the Chicago house scene unraveled; one of his most memorable late-'80s appearances, the expansive house track "Tears," surfaced under the names of Frankie Knuckles and Satoshi Tomiie.

After moving to London in 1993 he built a home studio and started his own label, Musical Directions, which opened with the six-track EP The Statement in 1994 and closed with the 1997 single "Love Will Find Its Way." He joined Tomiie and Cevin Fisher on a cut from Tomiie's 1999 album Full Lick, then appeared the following year on Photek's hit "Mine to Give," which reached the top of the Billboard U.S. club chart. The 2002 double-disc anthology Love Will Find Its Way: The Best of Robert Owens summed up eighteen years of house recordings, yet Owens kept collaborating and issuing occasional solo 12-inch singles through the decade. His 2008 album Night-Time Stories, released on Germany's Compost label, arrived as a welcome surprise, placing his characteristically passionate vocals across a wide stylistic range of productions from artists such as Kirk Degiorgio, Ian Pooley, Charles Webster, and Wahoo. Two years later Compost issued the double-disc set Art, which featured contributions from Larry Heard, Atjazz, and Beanfield.