Eddie Fowlkes (born December 24, 1962) is an American

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

and

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

DJ. He was influential to the early

Detroit techno Detroit techno is a type of techno music that generally includes the first techno productions by Detroit-based artists during the 1980s and early 1990s. Prominent Detroit techno artists include Juan Atkins, Eddie Fowlkes, Derrick May, Jeff Mi ...

scene.

Biography

Eddie Fowlkes was born on December 24, 1962, in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, Michigan. After attending a 1978 Charivari party with his older sisters where he saw DJ Darryl Shannon mixing records, Fowlkes requested a mixer for Christmas and later made his DJ debut in the late 70s. He was part of

Juan Atkins Juan Atkins (born September 12, 1962), also known as Model 500 and Infiniti, is an American record producer and DJ from Detroit, Michigan. ''Mixmag'' has described him as "the original pioneer of Detroit techno." He has been a member of the Belle ...

's Deep Space DJ collective which included Art Payne, Keith Martin, and Derrick May, who was also Fowlkes's roommate. In the 1980s, Fowlkes performed with three turntables, a mixer, a wah-wah pedal, and the TR-808 &

909 __NOTOC__ Year 909 ( CMIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Britain * King Edward the Elder and his sister, Princess Æthelflæd of Mercia, raid Danish East Anglia and bring back the relics o ...

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

Kevin Saunderson Kevin Maurice Saunderson (born September 5, 1964) is an American electronic dance music DJ and record producer. He is famous for being a member of a trio, along with Juan Atkins and Derrick May, who came to be known as the Belleville Three, w ...

said that seeing Fowlkes DJ at a fraternity party inspired him to get involved in the Deep Space Crew and become a better DJ. After hearing a Cybotron performance, Fowlkes moved from being interested solely in DJing to creating his own records. Borrowing equipment from Atkins, he trained his ear and taught himself to play the keyboard over a couple of months. While Fowlkes and May were roommates, Fowlkes built his studio in his bedroom and started working on his first record. His first release under his own name was issued in 1986. That release on

Metroplex Records Metroplex is an American techno record label in Detroit, Michigan, United States, founded in 1985 by techno pioneer Juan Atkins. Juan Atkins did most of his work for the label under the pseudonyms Model 500 and Infiniti, and will occasionally use s ...

, "Goodbye Kiss", helped establish what would come to be known as

. With the 1991 M.I.D. (Made In Detroit) release of Detroit Techno Soul, Fowlkes introduced the concept of techno soul because "Detroit ... is both house heads and techno heads." This was followed by the 1993

Tresor TRESOR (recursive acronym for "TRESOR Runs Encryption Securely Outside RAM", and also the German word for a safe) is a Linux kernel patch which provides encryption using only the CPU to defend against cold boot attacks on computer systems by perf ...

release ''The Birth of Technosoul'', featuring 3MB (

Moritz von Oswald Moritz von Oswald (born 1962) is a German record producer and percussionist from Hamburg and based in Berlin. He is a co-founder of the production duo and record label Basic Channel. He has collaborated with Juan Atkins, Carl Craig, and Nils Pett ...

and

Thomas Fehlmann Thomas Fehlmann (born 1957) is a Swiss composer/producer who lives in Berlin, Germany, and has been active in electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based m ...

). Fowlkes started releasing on his own label, City Boy Records, in 1993. Fowlkes also owns the Detroit Wax imprint on City Boy. Eddie Fowlkes's handprints are cemented on the

Detroit Historical Museum The Detroit Historical Museum is located at 5401 Woodward Avenue in the city's Cultural Center Historic District in Midtown Detroit. It chronicles the history of the Detroit area from cobblestone streets, 19th century stores, the auto assembl ...

's Legends Plaza as a techno-music pioneer.

Discography

* EP (12") - City Boy * Night Creepin' (12") - Simply Soul * Goodbye Kiss (12") - Metroplex (1986) * Get It Live / In The Mix (12") - Metroplex (1987) * Goodbye Kiss (12") - Macola Record Co. (1987) * Standing In The Rain (12") - Spinnin' Records (US) (1989) * Detroit Techno Soul (12") - M.I.D. Records (Made In Detroit) (1991) * Inequality (12") - 430 West (1991) * Serious Techno Vol.1 (12") - Lafayette (1991) * 3MB Featuring Eddie 'Flashin' Fowlkes (CD) -

(1992) * 3MB Featuring Eddie 'Flashin' Fowlkes (2xLP) - Tresor (1992) * Mad In Detroit! EP (12") - United Recordings (1992) * Passion (12") - Groove Kissing (1992) * The Feeling / F.F. In Crime (12") - Groove Kissing (1992) * Time To Express (12") - Lower East Side Records (1992) * Turn Me Out (12") - M.I.D. Records (Made In Detroit) (1992) * I Wanna Know (12") - Infonet (1993) * I'm A Winner Not A Loser (12") - Infonet (1993) * Music In My Head / Macro (12") - Pow Wow Records (1993) * One Dance / Stella (12") - Global Cuts (1993) * The Birth Of Technosoul (CD) - Tresor (1993) * The Birth Of Technosoul (2x12") - Tresor (1993) * The Birth Of Technosoul (CD) - Pow Wow Records (1993) * Warwick (12") - Global Cuts (1993) * EP (12") - City Boy (1994) * Let Us Pray (Limited Edition) (12") - Bold ! Soul Records (1995) * Stella 2 (12") - Peacefrog Records (1995) * The Truth EP (12") - Back To Basics (1995) * Black Technosoul (CD) - Tresor (1996) * Groovin / C.B.R (12") - Tresor (1996) * City Dub 3 (12") - City Boy (1997) * Deep Pit (CD5") - Dance Pool (1997) * Deep Pit (12") - Dance Pool (1997) * Soul Train (12") - Paper Recordings (1998) * Oh Lord (12") - Azuli Records (1999) * Angel In My Pocket (2x12") - Undaground Therapy Muzik (2000) * My Soul (Archiv #05) (12") - Tresor (2002)

Citations

Works cited

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fowlkes, Eddie 1962 births American techno musicians African-American musicians Living people Musicians from Michigan DJs from Detroit 21st-century African-American people