Robert Owens

Though electronica has always been a producer’s medium (and the few vocalists keeping their head above water are usually woman), Robert Owens became one of the figures most associated with the late-’80s golden era of Chicago house. Born in Ohio in 1961, he grew up singing in church, but was working as a DJ when he met pioneering Chicago producer in 1985. The pair formed with Ron Wilson, and released a few excellent singles (“You’re Mine,” “It’s Over”) and the 1988 full-length Another Side. The group dissolved soon after, though, as ‘s burgeoning solo production career (as ) took over. Owens had already released tracks on his own — “Bring Down the Walls” and “I’m Strong” for , with production from — and he signed a solo contract with . His 1990 LP Rhythms in Me was a solid effort, though it soon disappeared within the quickly disintegrating Chicago house scene. (One of his best-known features of the late ’80s, the epic house moment “Tears,” appeared under the names of and producer .) Following a move to London in 1993, Owens set up a personal studio and started his own label, , initiating it with the 1994 six-track EP The Statement and concluding it with 1997’s “Love Will Find Its Way.” He teamed up with and for a track from ‘s Full Lick LP in 1999, and one year later he appeared on the smash “Mine to Give,” which topped the U.S. club chart. While the 2002 double-disc anthology Love Will Find Its Way: The Best of Robert Owens neatly capped 18 years of house classics, Owens continued to collaborate and release the occasional solo 12″ throughout the decade. The full-length Night-Time Stories, released on Germany’s label in 2008, was a pleasant surprise, with Owens’ typically impassioned vocals featured over a stylistically broad range of productions from indebted artists like , , , and . Two years later, he issued the double-disc album Art. Another release, it featured productions from , , and . ~ John Bush, Rovi