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. 

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. 

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings are known for their vintage soul sound that’s rooted in the ’60s but they were not afraid to explore other eras. Today, their acknowledgment of disco comes with their cover of Musique’s “In The Bush.” They match Patrick Adam’s studio band’s original upbeat energy and optimism that was always associated with the genre. “In The Bush” will appear on the group’s Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Rendition Was In album coming out tomorrow. The band’s second posthumous release is a collection of songs made famous by other artists given their own touch. Soul Of A Woman came out in 2017 one year after Sharon Jone’s passing from cancer.