Single flashback

Gowan - A Criminal Mind [1985]

Lawrence (You Can Call Me Larry) Gowan was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1956.

A classically trained pianist, he kicked around the Toronto club scene in the late 70s fronting a band called Rhinegold, as well as another group FUNN with members of Klaatu.

Before long, there came a multi-album deal - this led to his self-titled debut. The initial record did not gain any traction, but during a time when labels were a little more patient he was given the chance to travel and write the follow-up.

Demos were shopped, and British producer David Tickle was enlisted, and he came to the table with many of Peter Gabriel’s recording band.

Recorded at Tittenhurst’s Startling Studios, formerly John Lennon’s estate, now in the hands of his former bandmate Ringo Starr.

The ensuing album, Strange Animal was a double platinum smash here at home but did little south of the border. And frankly, y’all are missing out!

Did you know that Gowan ranked #17 on our 80s CanCon Power Rankings?

A Criminal Mind - peaked #5, 1985 - year-end #50

Yet another in the pantheon of artists whose first single was their biggest. And that’s not to say there weren’t other hits. There were 19, in fact with four Top Tens.

Inspired by a trip to the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) and the chance for Gowan to sit in cell from our notorious Kingston Penitentiary - A Criminal Mind is a beautiful ballad at times, and a cinematic opus as well.

The song is accompanied by one of the greatest CanCon videos of all time, and coming not long after the summer ‘84 launch of MuchMusic it went into heavy rotation.

It is revealing that when Gowan was auditioning for Styx that this song was brought out. With 20/20 hindsight, it’s not hard to imagine this theatrical track on one of their albums. And, of course, Gowan got the job and plays A Criminal Mind with Styx to this day.

B-side - Keep The Tension On - did not chart

Nice to see an album track on the b-side as opposed to some filler. In fact, this tune leads off side two of the album.

Keep The Tension On offers a nice contrast to the melodrama on the a-side, with a cool synth figure and work from the rhythm section of Tony Levin and Jerry Marotta.

For me, the lyric is one of a few that Gowan penned at the time that give us a sense of the pressure an artist feels to succeed, especially when a previous project fell short of expectations. Gowan urges us to lean in.

Now for a surprise…

Criminal Mind - Maestro f/Gowan and Infinite

Did you know Gowan can make you go Boom Bap? Honestly, neither did I.

I’m delighted to say that Larry even got his roses from the CanCon hip hop community with a prominent sample in this track and an appearance in the video!

I’m here for the Law & Order tribute and our guy Maestro as a criminal defence attorney dropping bars in court.

Perfect use of the source material. No notes.

Happy to say that I’ll be seeing Gowan in a few weeks for the 40th anniversary tour of the Strange Animal LP. I know it’s going to be fantastic, and I’m confident that I’ll be hearing two of these three songs.