Dance music pioneer Patrick Adams has died at age 72 of unknown causes. His daughter Joi Sanchez announced his passing on Facebook. The musician started out as a member of The Sparks which was an R&B group that performed cover songs. By the ’70s Adams was producing classic songs for Black Ivory, Inner Life , Shades Of Love and Musique. He worked with Leroy Burgess who was the lead singer of Black Ivory and they made a series of dance hits in Adams’ various groups like The Universal Robot Band, Dazzle, Phreek, Bumble Bee Unlimited and Logg. Collaborations with Sister Sledge, Eddie Kendricks, Gladys Knight, Loleatta Holloway, Candi Staton, Herbie Mann, Narada Michael Walden would follow. His “Atmosphere Strut” as Cloud One became synonymous with the era. Adams’ music was championed in legendary spaces around New York City like Larry Levan’s dancefloor at the Paradise Garage and David Mancuso’s Loft. He was also a big force at legendary disco labels Prelude and Salsoul as a songwriter and producer. In the ’80s he worked with Eric B. & Rakim, Salt-N-Pepa, Teddy Riley and Keith Sweat. In the ’90s his influence on house music was heard in the way his work was sampled by producers like Kerri Chandler. Todd Terry covered “Keep On Jumpin'” at this time with Martha Wash and Jocelyn Brown. Storied songwriter Cathy Dennis remade “Touch Me (All Night Long)” which Adams had originally crafted for Fonda Rae with Greg Carmichael. Adams shared his beginnings in his 2013 Red Bull lecture where he shared the advice Smokey Robinson gave him regarding his music aspirations. The Harlem native ultimately earned 32 gold and platinum records during his career as a master of making people dance.
