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Artist
Gowan
12+ albums
rockCanadianclassic rock80spop
about
Lawrence Gowan is a Canadian musician, born in Glasgow, Scotland on November 22, 1956. Gowan was a solo artist for over fifteen years prior to becoming the keyboardist and vocalist for Styx. His musical style is often classified in the category of progressive rock, as well as singer-songwriter Pop. His career: At the age of nineteen, he earned an ARCT in classical piano performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music, in Toronto. Upon graduation, he enjoyed modest local success with the band Rhinegold in 1976. After Rhinegold broke up in 1981, Lawrence Gowan began a successful solo career under his surname, "Gowan", releasing his self titled debut on Columbia Records in 1982. This album Gowan contained his first singles "Victory" and "Keep Up The Fight". His 1985 album Strange Animal was his first real Canadian commercial breakthrough, spawning the hit singles "A Criminal Mind", "(You're A) Strange Animal" and "Cosmetics". The album was produced by David Tickle (Prince, Split Enz, Sting, U2 ) and featured Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel) on bass / Chapman stick, and Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel) on drums. His 1987 follow up Great Dirty World was also produced by Tickle and again featured Tony Levin on bass but had session percussionist Nigel Olsson (Elton John) on drums. This album's arrangements were assisted by Bob Ezrin (Alice Cooper, Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel) and gave him another breaking hit single, "Moonlight Desires," which featured Jon Anderson (Yes) on
