Singer/Songwriter
REVIEWS 2
up in 1983. Soon after, Cowen lost his job due to an eye condition called macular degeneration of the retina which made him legally blind.
"I can still see well enough to get around," he said. "But I don’t drive anymore.” “Sometimes it seems like you become a better writer when things happen to you.” Cowen is planning to record again soon. “It’s what I love and it’s what I do.”
NOTE: "The 1989 "WHILE YOU'RE YOUNG" cassette album is no longer available. Most of the songs from this project were later remastered and released on Doug Cowen's "EASY LOVE" CD available at CD BABY. In 1990 Doug released a 45-rpm vinyl record with "WHILE YOU'RE YOUNG' on Side 1 and "LITTLE PIECES" on Side A. This was the official single from the "WHILE YOU'RE YOUNG cassette album. If you would like to obtain a copy of this record, simply emai Doug at dougcowen@hotmail.com with your request. You will only be charged for shipping and packaging. This version of "WHILE YOU'RE YOUNG" is only available on this record. (The records have never been out of the sleeves) Doug recorded this song again in 2011 with "the Basics." It is track #1 on the "ROCKIN' TOWN" CD.
EASY LOVE/HEY BABY
Local artist's 'Easy Love' hangs tough on area radio
By JOHN D. MILLER Entertainment Editor 1988
One of the most requested songs on area radio stations these days can't be found on the Billboard charts - and it isn't a golden oldie. It's called "Easy Love," and it's the first single release from singer musician Doug Cowen. In distribution only a few weeks, the ballad is getting airplay on WSBT-AM, WNSN(Sunny 101.5), on WTRC in Elkhart and as far away as Terre Haute, said Cowen. WTCA, Plymouth, is spinning the record's flip side, an uptempo piece called "Hey Baby." Cowen, a Clay High School graduate who has attended Indiana University - South Bend, was a founding member of a local band called “the Basics” and remained with them until the group's 1983 breakup.
Since then, he has been a solo act and also co-founded the former Red Barn recording studio in Edwardsburg. Red Barn continues today only as the label for "Easy Love"/"Hey Baby." Cowen financed the production cost of the single, spending "$5,000 I didn't have," and also supervised the studio mix, done at Sweetwater Studios in Fort Wayne. The master recording was made at TRC, Indianapolis. He hired professional musicians for "Easy Love" so he could concentrate on the vocals. One of the musicians is Frosty Stillwell, a Terre Haute disc jockey who liked the final product so much he added "Easy Love" to his station's playlist. The author of "Easy Love" is Terry P. Smith, who once booked DOUG COWEN engagements for the Basics and played with Shadow Lane. The A-side immediately caught the attention of Jon "J.T." Thompson, the morning man at WSBT, who said he continues to get calls about "Easy Love" a few weeks after he first spinned it. "I'd have to go back to a George Fischoff record to compare listener repsonse to any local artist's music," he said, referring to the South Bend native who composed and performed several piano hits. "Easy Love," J.T. added, "fits any format beautifully and is as enjoyable as anything on the air - superstar or not." Cowen has placed the single for sale at Tracks and Nightwinds record stores and is also sending copies to radio stations and record labels, hoping it will catch the ear of a program director or record company executive.
Local Recording Artist Shows Promise
(The South Bend Penny Saver) February 29, 1988
Born and raised in South Bend, 27 year old Doug Cowen is trying hard to achieve a life-long dream of recording a hit song. His most recently released single, "Hey Baby" on one side and. "Easy Love" on the other, is doing well locally. Now it's a matter of time and national acceptance from the record companies he's sending demos to. "Easy Love" is Doug's favorite of the two songs. "It's a commercially appealing love ballad full of longevity," he says. " 'Hey Baby' is an up-tempo top 40 effort." Both of the songs have been aired on local stations such as WSBT and WTCA in Plymouth. Cowen has also been interviewed on the air with Bill Darwin and been given coverage by local newspapers. Doug says he's been playing guitar for years. When he was only 19, he was writing his own material and playing acoustic guitar with a friend at a lounge in Mishawaka called "Village Inn." Later on, he played with what he calls "garage bands," entering contests and eventually winning a trip to Nashville for his efforts. By 1981, he decided to form his own band. According to Doug, the sole purpose for the band was to cut a demo record. His concentrated efforts took the form of "I Wanna Love You" and "Girls Come Out," released in 1982. The record was given local consideration, but that was all. The. band, called "The Basics," continued playing high school dances and other functions. "Even then, 40% of the material we played was our own," says Doug. Things just never got any further than the immediate area, a source of frustration for the band, who managed to cut another demo in 1983, sending it to RCA records and other top labels in the recording industry. This time companies responded to Doug, giving him encouragement and telling him to keep on trying. But they still didn't make any commitments. Doug continued in his efforts, until he was the lead singer and the manager of the group. He was working full time and performing several nights a week when he met a booking agent named Terry Smith. Smith took over management of the band, which became moderately successful until two of the members quit. The band made an attempt to reorganize, but by then the momentum was gone. 1983 was to become one of the most traumatic years in Doug's life. Having vision problems, Doug visited a specialist who confirmed his fears. Doug had inherited a degenerative eye disease and was declared legally blind. While the. disease, a form of Macular Degeneration of the Retina, causes him to read with special glasses and a viewer, Doug still retains some of his peripheral vision. Doug feels his vision problems cause him a certain amount of inconvenience, because he isn't able to drive any longer, but other than that, it's just a matter of fact. "I'm lucky to have the vision that I do," he says. "It doesn't seem to be getting any worse. It's just there." But between his health and the problems - with the band, ~ he seemed to go through a period of "burn out" and he took time out to think matters over. Finally, Doug built an 8-track ,recording studio in Edwardsburg called Red Barn Productions. There he decided it was time to do a record on his own, using a song Smith had written. The title was his current "Easy Love," because Doug thought it would have the best chance of becoming a hit tune. He added the flip side, "Hey Baby," a song he had written, and had it mixed at his studio. Records were pressed and sent out nationwide. That's where Doug stands today. "It's hard for me to continue on my own," says Doug. "I arrange the songs, produce and distribute them and pay all the bills. I'm still not having much luck getting air-play on the top - 40 stations. They don't want to take a chance on an unknown artist. If the songs weren't any good, I could see it. But people seem to be enjoying the record. "Doug now says he needs an agent or record label to back him in his efforts. He's finding it hard to continue to finance the record himself, although this time, he isn't giving up. "I guess you could say that this is a hobby to me in a way. If anything becomes of it, I'll go for it. If not, I guess it's O.K. too. It's a great feeling to know that people are enjoying what I'm doing." But even if nothing comes of his latest effort, he'll still keep trying, just for the love of it. "After all," he says, "I don't want to be 50 years old and say I didn't give it all I had."
Listen to my pals Mike Shannon & Deb Deb at
http://stars993.com/
Call them and request
(Easy Love)
I bet they'd play it for you.
Doug Cowen's "Valentine" fills the void.
Just when you thought local music couldn't give you something new to listen to, Doug Cowen's "Valentine" fills the void. A local fixture in Michiana over the past two decades, this is by far his best outing to date. This 11 song CD of all original material was recorded using many local musicians. "I selected the rhythm section of Jon and Matt Webster along with gutarist Lee Madison," Cowen says. (All of which were former members of the popular local band known as the Kinetics.) "I also invited my former band mate guitarist Randy Simpson to play lead guitar on the title track. Cowen's musical ability is also a strong point of Valentine's feel. His soothing vocals, guitar and harmonica playing show why his talent doesn't go unnoticed. He had a local hit in the 1980' s with the song "Easy Love" which eventually went on to receive national air-play notable on the ABC radio network. The title track, "Valentine," starts the CD with a driving, yet melodic beat that gets you moving. "Lucky Day" and "Cryin My Heart Out" show his crossover potential in today's ever changing music market. "Baby Run" has a lot of energy that grooves and his familiar "Flight Envelope", once considered by Tommy James as an album cut, was the only song not written for this CD. Primarily influenced by the sounds of the sixty's, a little bit of country and the beat of rock-n-roll, this CD has something for everyone. VALENTINE is available at CD BABY.
Doug Cowen Lee Madison, Doug Cowen, Matt Webster & Bruce Bartlett Doug Cowen with sound engineer Bruce Bartlett
Bashing Fenders With The Benders by Ken Davis (1999)
Bashing fenders at the junction where rockabilly collides with country, the Benders play rock and roll with a Hoosier-twang and traditional country with teeth. The founding members of “the Benders” include musicians Tommy Thompson, Lee Madison and Doug Cowen. Though friends since childhood, Cowen and Thompson had never played together until the summer of 1996 when they began jamming regularly in Cowen’s garage. Their first gig came that same year and the band quickly gained a modest following of fans that grew year to year.
Cowen stayed with the band from 1996 - 1998. That same year he began work on his 11 song solo CD titled VALENTINE. Shortly afterwards he found himself fronting his old band "the Basics" with all four original members and playing regularly through out Michiana.
Mike Shannon & Doug Cowen
WHLY RADIO HOLLYWOOD
In 1995 Doug received a letter from resident DJ Mike Shannon informing him that he was playing his record EASY LOVE. Mile was the morning show host at WHLY
RADIO HOLLYWOOD. (A locally based and syndicated radio station that Mike established along with owner Bill Dobslaw) An acquaintance of Mike had given him a copy of Doug’s 45-rpm single that was originally released in 1987. The record was played regularly on area radio stations for several months in 1988 and was well received by the Michiana listening audience. Mike liked the song and played it one morning on his show. His audience responded by calling the station requesting to hear it played again. Mike invited Doug into the station for an interview and not long afterwards they became good friends. Doug frequently visited Mike at the studio. One particular afternoon Mike was complaining about how much money it cost to have jingles made for the show. Doug asked Mike to play him a sample of a paid jingle and after hearing it he thought to himself, "Man, I could do that." Shortly thereafter and unbeknownst to Mike, Doug wrote and recorded several WHLY jingles at his home studio. He stopped by one afternoon and handed Mike a tape. "Here… play this," Doug said. Mike listened to the tape then shouted out "wow, this is great!" "I can't believe it!" Doug responded, "Do you really like it?" "Yeah, I really like it." Doug said, “Okay, I'll do some more for you" and he went on to write, record and produce over 50 jingles for Mike at WHLY from 1995 to 1999. Below are just a few samples from that period.
Granger Day alive with sound of music thanks to Cowen
By SHARNA MARCUS - Tfibune Staff Writer - South Bend Tribune / Friday, June 9, 1995
By June, New Year's resolutions are often long forgotten. Local singer and songwriter Doug Cowen is still trying to keep his. My New Year's resolution is to play out more this year - play these type of performances like Granger Days and big summer festivals," Cowen said. "I love doing it. It gives me a happy feeling. It's kind of a fun excuse to get my feet wet again and hope there's a lot more to follow." Cowen will play from noon to 1 p.m. Saturday at Granger Day on Bittersweet Road south of Indiana 23. The festival begins at 10 a.m. and runs to 5 p.m. Cowen said he is looking forward to playing in the same festival as his older cousin, Curt Paluzzi, who performs guitar and vocals for the Mid-Life Crisis band, which will play from 2:15 to 3:15p.m. "Curt is 8 years older than me," Cowen said. "When I was a little kid I would listen to him play in his band, and he gave me a tambourine to bang on so I would stay out of the .way. I idolized him. I don't think he really knows how much of an influence he had on me as a kid." Cowen, a 1978 Clay High School graduate, has been on the local music scene for more than 15. years. In the early 1980s he performed with the Basics. The band broke up in 1983. "I was never able to put a band together like that again," Cowen said. "We had a magical aura of somne kind. People were drawn to us." In 1983 Cowen was diagnosed with a disease that affects the retina. Because of the disease he became legally blind. He could no longer drive or read, his girlfriend left him and he lost his job. "My family pulled me through," Cowen said. "Without them I don't know what would have happened. I don't want people to feel sorry for me. I worry that some may picture me as this poor, helpless, blind guy and that's not me at all. There is a big difference between being legally blind and totally blind. I'm thankful for the vision that I have." After a couple of rough years, Cowen pulled himself together and for the last 12 years has been writing, recording and performing music. He has recorded three albums; his latest was "Edge of Reality" released in 1994. His music has been played on local radio stations and his single "Girls Come Out" was performed by ex-Monkee Davey Jones. Cowen got married and has a 1- year-old son. Cowen and his wife Dawn, were hesitant about having children because his eye condition is hereditary. Cowen said his son, Stuart is OK. "He sees like an eagle," Cowen said.
Doug Cowen has low profile, but people in high places listen in
By KEN DAVIS (Tribune Music Writer) September 15, 1994
SOUTH BEND
Doug Cowen may be Michiana's best unknown musician. The 34-year-oldSouth Bend native has been writing and producing his own albums for more than 10 years. Elvis Presley and The Beatles are Cowen's biggest influences, but the local singer/songwriter has acquired his own style and a highly polished manner of presentation with his original material. In the past decade, Cowen has recorded the equivalent of three albums and gained the attention of performers, including Niles native Tommy James and former Monkee Davy Jones,
who performed Cowen's tune, "Girls Come Out," in his show during the early '90s. Cowen's single, "Easy Love," was played on local radio stations in 1988,including WSBT, WNSN, WTRC and WTCA Major record labels, including Geffen and RCA,have contacted Cowen, as have producers Chip Douglas and one-time "Archie's" singer Ron Dante, and managers associated with Bruce Hornsby and Christopher Cross. "Edge of Reality" is Cowen's latest recording on compact disc. The self-produced album was recorded in Tupelo, Miss.,with studio musicians backing Cowen on the album's six tracks. The numbers range from the moody, evocative title track to the new wave-tinged "Modern Bride" or the uptempo rock of "Get Up and Go" and "Keep on Rocken." But the local musician is now well more than $10,000 in debt in pursuit of his dream of being signed to a major label recording contract. If this most recent album doesn't do the trick, Cowen says he may well have to give up music - a decision that pains him as well as those who are familiar with his considerable talents. As Cowen put it recently, "It's great to be a dreamer, and if you don't dream, then your dreams can't come true, but I've always been convinced that you have to act upon your dreams." A talented singer and songwriter, Cowen first broke into the local music scene during the late '70s and early '80s as the leader of The Basics. The popular band frequently performed at Mishawaka's now-defunct Music Box nightclub and once opened for blues legend John Lee Hooker. Cowen appeared in December in a half-hour showcase of his original material on WNIT-TV's "Across the Dial." He was also featured on the program's Holiday Special, performing a cover of Elvis Presley's "Santa Claus is Back in Town." Making a rare live appearance, Cowen will be one of the 10 featured performers in Sunday's WNIT Family Music Fest at St. Patrick's County Park Cowen will work with several of the same musicians who backed him on "Across the Dial," including guitarist Craig Schroeder and bassist Kelly Guin, with new drummer Mark Wiegerr.
Cowen is visually impaired, but he doesn't consider himself handicapped. In fact, he serves as a stay at- home dad to his infant son in between writing songs and recording.
Cowen Knocks on Door of Success
By Jim Vogi (Penny Saver Mishawaka Times - Mishawaka, September 11, 1994)
Even with loads of talent, and piles of innovative ideas, it takes downright dogged determination to become an insider in the music industry. No one knows better than Doug Cowen, South Bend's folk blues rocker who at age 33 continues his one-man musical onslaught against the brick walls of the industry with his latest CD, "Edge of Reality." Cowen's unique style is hard to pinpoint, and perhaps, unfortunately, that's why record labels have a hard time letting him in. His new six-song effort produced independently at The Music Room, a high-tech recording studio in Auburn, Mississippi-shows Cowen is a master craftsman with diverse influences ranging from Elvis to John Cougar Mellencamp. “Edge of Reality" asserts its style right off the bat with the flamboyant "This Appetite." After a blurry rhythm guitar intro and a swaggering signal of Cowen clearing his throat, the song kicks in with Jason Palmer’s dynamic-funky drum beat, merging Weylon Michael’s spacy electric guitar riffs along with Cowen’s smooth rangy voice that all come together to mold a precious eclectic sound that sizzles with pulsating energy throughout, reminiscent of the classic "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" byThe Alan Parsons Project. The title track is equally compelling, highlighting Cowen's vocals, backed by a bubbling bass, a touch of piano by The Music Room's own Jim Whitehead and Michael Graham, backup vocals by Kim Harris, and a scintillating guitar solo sandwiched in-between. It's reflective lyrics about a de ja vu are the most impressive of the six selections. The fourth cut, "Watching You," is a warmly sedated acoustical lust song with a light country appeal. With its gentle Spanish guitar, wallowing accordion , and pattering congas, "Watching You" is a strong heart-felt love song that Cowen wrote for his pregnant wife. "Modern Bride" is a catchy top-40 tune that. reasserts his vocal mastery, while the driving chorus on "Get Up and Go" serves as a fitting anthem for Cowen. The finale, "Keep On Rocken," puts a new twist on the "rocker singing about what he does best" theme. With a vintage rock & roll harmony echoing Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" along with the soulful harmonica licks, its lyrics spell out with equal parts defiance, sarcasm, and spunk: "Just keep on rocken and you'll never grow old. That's what they tell me, and, man, they ought'to know It doesn't matter if they say it's no good, or what the latest fad is out in Hollywood. Just keep on rocken..." Doug Cowen is a die-hard musician who took up playing the guitar and singing shortly after graduating from Clay High School. His first band, the Basics, broke up in 1983, and his first solo hit, "Easy Love," came and went on the radio airwaves in 1988. Cowen, like many other starving musicians, battled frustration in his pursuit of "getting in" and nearly threw in the towel after his two previous albums "While You're Young," "This is My Life, This is My Home," received little attention. He also had a degenerative eye disease and became legally blind 10 years ago. But with "Edge of Reality," Cowen is knocking louder than ever on the giant, menacing-door of success. It could be just a matter of time before someone mighty answers.
The recording is laid back in Lee, literally.
By William Moore (Staff Writer/THE COURIER) 1994
When South Bend, Ind.-native Doug Cowen decided he was ready to record a new CD, he didn’t head for the big city. He headed for the woods of the Auburn Community. There, at the Music Room, run by Jim Whitehead and Michael Graham, Cowen recorded his latest CD, Edge of Reality in March 1994. While nine songs were recorded during the session, only six made the final cut by the meticulous singer/songwriter producer who is still looking for a recording contract from a label. “I liked all nine songs,” said Cowen, “But I felt I needed to only include those that would keep the listener’s interest. If I was an artist who was signed, I would have just filled up the album.” One of the songs that didn’t make it on the CD was a rockin’ remake of the Elvis Presley classic “All Shook Up”. Cowen said being an Elvis fan and in Tupelo, he recorded the song for fun in the laid back atmosphere of the studio and it can always go on later albums. Cowen called omitting the other two songs a “judgement call” to make sure he put his best foot forward. The songs on this CD are mostly slower ballads but, the music does pick up the pace on the last two songs “Get Up and Go” and “Keep On Rocken.” The best song of the bunch was almost never a song. All the songs were written before Cowen showed up in Tupelo with the exception of “Watching You,” a haunting tune along the line of the Police’s “Every Breath You Take.” “I wrote that one just for the recording session after I got to Tupelo,” said Cowen. “It’s a dedication to my wife. I just sat down and wrote it and all the guys just loved it. It was magical, just like it was meant to be.” This was one of the three that Cowen decided to re-mix saying he just wanted to “sweeten up a few things.” Since Cowen is an unsigned artist, this CD may be hard to find but it is well worth the search. It’s manufactured by DAC Productions with the serial number SDC5894, for those who want to order it.
Doug Cowen to appear on WNIT
By KEN DAVIS/Tribune Music Writer (PUNCH/South Bend Tribune/Friday, December 17, 1993) - SOUTH BEND -
singer and songwriter Doug Cowen will be featured on WNIT-TV's "Across the Dial" at 5:30 p.m. Saturday
and again at 11:30p.m. Jan. 3. The 30-minute showcase presents the music of area bands and musicians.
Cowen has recorded two self-released albums of his original '50s and '60s-influenced rock. His single of the song "Easy Love" was played on local radio stations in 1986,including WSBT, WNSN, WTRC and WTCA.
The nine-song cassette album, "While You're Young" came out three years ago and earned praise from Niles native Tommy James and frequent Michiana visitor Davy Jones of the Monkees.The latter performed one of
Cowen's songs. Last year's compact disc, "This is My Life, This is My Home," brought Cowen to the attention of "Across the Dial," which began production in 1990 as Music Michiana. Cowen, who sings and plays guitar, is backed up on the program by members of the band Shadow Lane, including Terry Smith on drums, Kelly Guin on bass and Craig Schroeder on guitar. "Across the Dial" will feature various local musicians, including Cowen, in a Christmas edition of the program which airs Christmas Eve at 9 p.m. and again on Christmas Day at 9 a.m.
Singer-writer Doug Cowen will have work showcased
By KEN DAVIS/Tribune Music Writer - PUNCH/South Bend Tribune/Thursday, December 23, 1993
This Christmas brings a special present for Doug Cowen. The South Bend singer/songwriter appeared Dec. 18 in a half-hour showcase of his original material on WNIT-TV's “Across the Dial.” The show will air again at 11:30p.m. Jan. 3. And Cowen is featured in the show's upcoming Holiday Special, which airs Christmas Eve at 9 p.m. and again Christmas Day at 9 a.m. "I originally wanted to write a Christmas song for the show," said Cowen in a recent phone interview. "That's something I've always wanted to do - but I didn't have enough time.
"So I picked out an old Elvis Presley song I've always liked called 'Santa Claus is Back in Town.' It's an old rocker that we slowed down a bit - we had a lot of fun with it." Cowen's featured appearance on the WNIT showcase of local musical talent includes some of his earlier songs, as well as his latest work. "I knew this would be a good opportunity for me to get out there and show case some of my material, " said Cowen." The singer/songwriter said the experience of recording the program reminded him of his former band, The Basics, which performed around Michiana during the early '80s. Backing him on the show are members of the band Shadow Lane, including guitarist Craig Schroeder, bassist Kelly Guin and drummer and long-time Cowen collaborator, Terry Smith on drums. After finishing his compact
disc project last year and getting precious little response to it. Cowen had considered giving up on his music career. "1 had gone about two months without picking up my guitar." he said. "I was getting ready lo go out one afternoon. and the phone rang and it was (WNIT) inviting me to be on their program." Since appearing on the show, Cowen has written two new songs with plans to record a new CD early next year.
Second Album for Cowen
MICHIANA NOW/November, 1989
Local recording artist Doug Cowen has released his second album. The title, "While You're Young" seems to sum up his attitude in life. Twenty-eight year old Cowen, a graduate of Clay High School, has been playing the guitar for year:s. He started writing his own material when he was nineteen. While he has performed with different area bands, Doug formed his own group,
the Basics in 1981. He said the only function of the band was to record demos. It resulted in the 1982 release of "Girls Come Out" and "I Wanna Love You." The record aired locally, but that was all. A second demo recording was produced the next year. While it received many compliments, it was still passed on by the major labels. At this time, Doug was working a full-time job, managing the group and performing several nights a week. He was experiencing problems with his eyesight, and it was confirmed that he had a degenerative eye disease. He is now legally blind. But Doug has not let his low vision become an obstacle on his road to recording music. He and his former band mate Ben Hahaj constructed an eight-track recording studio in Edwardsburg. Together with songwriter Terry Smith, he gained local success last year with "Easy Love" and the
follow-up single "Hey Baby." He began a new approach with his latest single "While You're Young." Doug has 45 rpm records made and has been distributing them to D.J.'s for play at area clubs in addition to the radio stations. Although Doug works hard to record, produce and distribute his music, he considers it a hobby. If a recording contract comes his way, it will make it worthwhile. But if not, he still enjoys his hobby and the fact that listeners in the Michiana area are enjoying his songs. "While You're Young" is the title of the latest cassette album by area recording artist Doug Cowen.
Cowen wonders; Are fans still there?
By KEN DAVIS - PUNCH/South Bend Tribune / Thursday, February 15,1990
Doug Cowen is wondering what went wrong. . Two years ago this month, his self-produced single "Easy Love" was getting heavy air-play on area radio stations - including WSBT, WNSN, WTRC in Elkhart and Plymouth's WTCA. Morning deejay Jon "J.T." Thompson was quoted in The Tribune saying that Cowen's record "fits any format," and is "as enjoyable as anything on the air - superstar or not." For two or three months in 1988, the local singer and songwriter was regularly interviewed by Michiana deejays, which helped him to move nearly 400 copies of the "Easy Love" single at local record outlets. After the initial hype died, Cowen realized he would need more than one successful local hit to impress the major record labels. So he began working on "While You're Young," his follow-up nine song cassette album. This fall when Cowen sent his new release to the same people in media who had previously encouraged him, it was ignored. During a January interview, Cowen spoke bluntly about his disappointment in the lack of local reaction to his latest recording. "I sent it out to everyone who liked 'Easy Love' but none of them got back to me this time around,” he said. I was very disappointed and couldn’t figure out what went wrong. Cowen admits it took him two years to finance and record the cassette, which includes his earlier hit "Easy Love" and eight other songs, seven of them Cowen originals. "The people who hear it really love this tape," he continued. "I had 500, and they're more than half gone and that's just by word of mouth." The guitar-afterburner kick of Cowen's "F'light Envelope" and the atmospheric Lennon tribute "In a World" display the full spectrum of the 29-year-old songwriter's creative vision. "A lot of people have commented on that song," said Cowen. "One time I heard Paul McCartney say that he didn't really write 'Yesterday,' that it was given to him. In fact, he thought it was someone else's song but it wasn't, it was just like the spirits or something gave him that song, he woke up one morning and it was there. "That's what happened with 'In a World' I was thinking of John Lennon when I wrote it, and it almost felt like I was possessed." "While You're Young" has received some recording industry response. One of the tapes Cowen sent out resulted in a talk with Fred Rice, who worked for CBS, Disney, and various performers dating back as far as BobbyDarin, during a career that spanned the rock ‘n’ roll era. During a telephone call from his Palm Springs home, Rice rated Cowen's tape as excellent and advised him to keep on writing songs and sending out demo tapes. Initially, success came easy for the 1978 Clay High School graduate. Cowen wrote his first song just a few months after learning some chords on the guitar. He won a singing contest he entered with his rendition of Elvis Presley's "Mystery Train" during the early 1980's. "My parents still tell stories about me dancing to this stereo they had in the apartment when I was a toddler," he recalled. "They would do it as entertainment, “let's get little Doug out there to dance!" The first two records Cowen owned were by the Monkee and Elvis Presley, and when his grandfather gave him a harmonica he dutifully practiced on it every night before he went to sleep. After learning to play guitar, Cowen teamed with his best friend's brother in an acoustic duo at the old Village Inn Pizza, near Town & Country Shopping Center. The duo soon split up but Cowen went right to work putting together his new band that would be called Doug Cowen & the Basics. His band recorded several Cowen originals at the former Audio Services Company Studios in Mishawaka and released a 45-rpm record titled “Girls Come Out/I wanna Love You” in 1982. The Basics played Culver's in Edwardsburg and the Music Box in Mishawaka, and once opened for John Lee Hooker, but they broke
