Ken Lockie (born 1956) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

singer-songwriter and producer, best known as the creative force behind English new wave band Cowboys International and as a sometime collaborator with John Lydon in

Public Image Ltd Public Image Ltd (abbreviated and stylized as PiL) are an English post-punk band (and incorporated limited company) formed by singer John Lydon (previously known as the singer of Sex Pistols), guitarist Keith Levene, bassist Jah Wobble, and dr ...

Early life and education

He was born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

in 1956 as Peter Dellow and changed his name to Ken Lockie by Deed poll on 8 January 1980.

Career

Cowboys International

Ken Lockie, a keyboardist for Cowboys International, was recording his first Virgin album (The Impossible) when Simple Minds signed with the label. The band took an interest in his work after hearing backing tracks, and hired its producer Steve Hillage to produce their next album (Sons And Fascination). Lockie fronted his own band Cowboys International, releasing the album '' The Original Sin'' (1979). The band recorded and played with many punk- and new wave-era musicians including: *

Terry Chimes Terence Chimes (born 5 July 1956, Stepney, London, England) is an English musician, best known as the original drummer of punk rock group The Clash. He played with them from July 1976 to November 1976, January 1977 to April 1977, and again fro ...

from the English punk-rock band

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...

* Jimmy Hughes of the English punk-rock and new-wave band

The Banned ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

and the British new-wave band Department S *

Keith Levene Julian Keith Levene (18 July 1957 – 11 November 2022) was an English musician who was a founding member of both the Clash and Public Image Ltd (PiL). While Levene was in PiL, their 1978 debut album '' Public Image: First Issue'' reached No 2 ...

from the English

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

band

Marco Pirroni Marco Francesco Andrea Pirroni (born 27 April 1959, London, England) frequently credited simply as Marco, is a British guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He has worked with Adam Ant, Sinéad O'Connor, Siouxsie and the Banshees and man ...

of the English rock band

Adam and the Ants Adam and the Ants were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. The group existed in two incarnations, both fronted by Adam Ant, over the period 1977 to 1982. The first, founded in May 1977 and known simply as The Ants until November of t ...

* Steve Shears of the English new-wave band

Ultravox Ultravox (earlier styled as Ultravox!) were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which was ...

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

of the English new-wave band

Radio Stars Radio Stars were an English new wave group formed in early 1977. They released two albums and had one UK Top 40 single. Career Radio Stars were formed by Sparks exile Martin Gordon (bass, songwriter) and also included ex-John's Children v ...

Solo career

The band toured extensively throughout the UK and in Europe in 1980, at which point Lockie pursued a solo career with

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

, releasing the album '' The Impossible'' (1981), featuring guest appearances by Shears and Simon, as well as: *

Preston Heyman Preston Heyman is a British record producer, drummer and percussionist. He is credited on the Kate Bush album ''Never for Ever''. He played Oriental percussion instruments on the track "Blood Sucking" of Mike Oldfield's soundtrack for the fil ...

of the English rock band

Tom Robinson Band Tom Robinson Band (TRB) are a British rock band, established in 1976 by singer, songwriter and bassist Tom Robinson. The band's debut single "2-4-6-8 Motorway" was a top five hit on the UK Singles Chart in 1977, and their third single, "Up A ...

Jim Kerr James Kerr (born 9 July 1959) is a Scottish singer and the lead singer of the rock band Simple Minds, becoming best known internationally for "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United States. Ot ...

of the Scottish rock band Simple Minds *

John McGeoch John Alexander McGeoch (25 August 1955 – 4 March 2004) was a Scottish musician and songwriter. He is best known as the guitarist of the rock bands Magazine (1977-1980) and Siouxsie and the Banshees (1980-1982). He has been described as one o ...

of the English punk-rock band

Magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

Nash the Slash James Jeffrey "Jeff" Plewman (March 26, 1948 – May 10, 2014), better known by his stage name Nash the Slash, was a Canadian musician. A multi-instrumentalist, he was known primarily for playing the electric violin and mandolin, as well as the h ...

Public Image Ltd

Later in 1981, Lockie went to the United States to join

(PiL) in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, New York, in 1981 in preparation for recording in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, in November of that year. His contributions to PiL stemmed back to PiL's album ''

Metal Box ''Metal Box'' is the second studio album by Public Image Ltd, released by Virgin Records on 23 November 1979. The album takes its name from the round metal canister which contained the initial pressings of the record. It was later reissued in ...

'' (1979) where he contributed and co-wrote "Radio 4" (although not officially credited). Due to complications with Virgin and funding, recording in 1981 was delayed. PiL entered into various recording sessions in New York City during this period until finally entering into Park South Studios to record what became ''

Commercial Zone ''Commercial Zone'' is an album of studio recordings by Public Image Ltd., recorded in 1982 and 1983, and released in 1984 by PiL founding guitarist Keith Levene. ''Commercial Zone'' includes five songs that were later re-recorded for PiL's f ...

'' (1984) in 1982 and 1983. At this point, Lockie was no longer a contributor to PiL.

Independent Producer

After his departure from PIL in 1982, Lockie found some success in dance music, co-producing, with Ivan Baker; and co-writing, with Stuart Agarbright, the song "Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight". Arthur Baker of Streetwise Records picked up on the single and it became a success in the spring of 1984 (number one on the

Billboard Dance Chart Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

for ten weeks). This track would later become part of the soundtrack to the American comedy film ''

Grosse Pointe Blank ''Grosse Pointe Blank'' is a 1997 American black comedy action film directed by George Armitage from a screenplay by Tom Jankiewicz, D. V. DeVincentis, Steve Pink and John Cusack. It stars Cusack, Minnie Driver, Alan Arkin and Dan Aykroyd and ...

'' (1997).Database (undated).
"Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) Soundtracks"

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

. Retrieved 30 September 2013. In 1985, CBS / Epic Records released the 12" Single "Get On Top" and "K2" under the band name Go For Your Gun, produced by Ken Lockie the single featured Stuart Argabright and Laura Lockie.

Pnuma Recordings

In 2003, he founded his own label Pnuma Recordings, and re-issued a collection of Cowboys International recordings from ''The Original Sin'' album and various singles on CD. He recorded a new Cowboys International album ''The Backwards Life of Romeo'' (2004), performing a live show at

Eyedrum Eyedrum Art & Music Gallery is a non-profit art space and venue in Atlanta, Georgia, founded by American painter Woody Cornwell and musician and journalist Marshall Avett in 1998, and focused on contemporary art and experimental music ranging fro ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, in 2005. In 2011 and continuing to 2019, Lockie began producing and releasing Techno, Tech House, Minimal, Deep House and other genres on the Pnuma Recordings label.

Discography

Cowboys International

Studio albums * 1979 '' The Original Sin'' * 2004 '' The Backwards Life of Romeo '' Compilations * 2003 '' Revisited'' Singles * 1979 "Thrash" * 1979 "Aftermath" * 1979 "Nothing Doing" * 1980 " Today Today"

Solo

Studio albums *1981 '' The Impossible'' Singles * 1981 "Dance House" * 1981 "Today"

Related releases and collaborations

* 1979 "Radio 4" by

; keyboards * 1981 ''

Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call ''Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call'' is the (double-LP) fourth album by Scottish post-punk band Simple Minds. It was released in September 1981 and was their first to reach a wide international audience. It includes the singles " The Am ...

'' by Simple Minds; backing vocals

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lockie, Ken 1956 births Living people 20th-century composers 20th-century English singers 20th-century English writers 21st-century composers 21st-century English singers 21st-century English writers English company founders English electronic musicians English expatriates in the United States English new wave musicians English male singer-songwriters English pop singers English record producers English rock keyboardists Expatriate musicians in the United States Public Image Ltd members Musicians from Newcastle upon Tyne British post-punk musicians Synth-pop singers Virgin Records artists

Early life and education

Career

Cowboys International

Solo career

Public Image Ltd

Independent Producer

Pnuma Recordings

Discography

Cowboys International

Solo

Related releases and collaborations

See also

References

External links