Patrick Adams was a Harlem native who became one of the most influential dance music producers, arrangers, and composers of the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s. His hands touched some of the most abiding dance classics from Black Ivory, Inner Life, Phreek, Cloud One, Christine Wiltshire, Fonda Rae, Donna McGhee, Bumblebee Unlimited, Loleatta Holloway, Sister Sledge, Eddie Kendricks, Gladys Knight, Keith Sweat, and The Main Ingredient. Adams also worked on early rap records from Salt-N-Pepa, Eric. B, and Rakim. He started his music career as a teenager, playing with a band called The Sparks. By the early ’70s, he became Black Ivory’s manager, and he wrote their first hit record, “Don’t Turn Around.” Adams had another big project with the studio group Musique. Their 1979 album, Keep On Jumpin’, only had four songs but was one of the biggest disco albums ever. The music he made with Greg Carmichael, whom he owned P&P Records with, is still being discovered. Adams stayed revelant after the famous disco backlash in Chicago, where people blew up disco records in Comiskey Park.
By the time of the disco revolt, Adams’ legacy was already made, and songs like “Atmosphere Strut” by Cloud One were a precursor to house. Adams proved to be proficient in disco, R&B, and hip-hop and stayed active well into the 2000s. He worked with Louie Vega and reconnected with Leroy Burgess of Black Ivory in 2019 for the single “Barely Breaking Even.” Adams passed in 2022, leaving behind music that still rocks dancefloors and continues to be sampled by numerous artists.
