In the spring of 1985, the day seemed to drag on when the final school bell rang within my school hallways. Another day of learning was checked off on the old locker door calendar, goodbyes were said to friends and the endless ride home on the yellow school bus soon began. I could not wait to get my daily music video fix from the television. First, there was 4 O'clock Rock and at four thirty, Video Hits with Samantha Taylor. "…now here's a video by Gowan called A Criminal Mind…" Samantha stated. This 14-year-old girl was not prepared for what she was about to watch. Who was this charismatic musician who danced across my TV screen and wooed my young artist? His music, voice, dancing and the fact that there was an animated comic used within his short illustrative story captured my attention. Music videos were very new to the world and A Criminal Mind was a rhythmically pictorial candy store for all of my senses.
It wasn't long before I was the proud owner of the 45 for A Criminal Mind where it spun like no other vinyl had previously been played on my turntable, until I got the Strange Animal Album, that is. I was fortunate enough to have been watching Much Music when Gowan had stopped by to share his gold album and to watch the world premiere of his Strange Animal video. I was gob smacked while watching his latest and greatest video. What an incredible mixture of music, dance, story animation and costume. WHAT a costume indeed! It didn't take long for my whole school to find out my fascination with Gowan. I was turning Corey Hart fans into Gowan fans and soon the understanding became known in my school.
In early June of 1985, Gowan began a promotional tour for his fabulous new album, where my hometown was on his list to visit. I went with two of my girlfriends and the boy I had a mad crush on went with a few of his friends. We patiently waited to be let into the concert when screams came from amongst the mass group of loyal fans. Gowan had just walked by me. Before my mind could process what had just happened, I blinked and he was gone. He was wearing his Strange Animal costume for his performance! I was in the front row where I was squished amongst my friends and the large speaker in front of me. To be able to watch Gowan LIVE was an experience that no one should deprive themselves of. The euphoria meter went off its charts from the fantastical high-energy performance that Gowan gave. Everybody sang and danced in unison with Gowan. Towards the end of the concert Gowan gave his thanks, grabbed a towel to dry himself off and threw it in my direction. The bundle of white terry cloth cinematically slowed down in motion as it hurdled towards me, my arms went up in the air and contact was made. The towel was mine, but not for long. Soon there were three other girls holding onto the towel and no one was letting go. It became a four-way tug-of-war. Hands were cramping. Sweats were broken. Wills were strong. In the end, we agreed to cut the towel into four pieces. Everybody got a bit of Gowan's towel that night. My best friend ended up taking my piece so it could be divided up between the three of us who attended, even though I was the one who went to battle for it. A few months later I saw my best friend's piece, she had kept the largest piece and had given me one of the smaller ones. I was not impressed. No wonder she had hid it from me.
Halloween was quickly approaching in the fall of 1985 and I was now one year older. I decided to dress up as Gowan's Strange Animal and spent two weeks observing and sewing the costume. It was a fantastic creation and one that would be worn more than once. I purchased a can of black hairspray and off I went to school dressed as Gowan. I was in elemental bliss on all hallows eve.
When was Gowan's new album going to be released? When was he going to tour next? It would be two years before I would watch Gowan on stage again. In May of 1987 I attended my second Gowan concert with my sister. I was armed with a camera this time, where I visually documented my exhilarated energetic experience with Gowan. There were twice as many people to watch him perform that night; the word had spread about Gowan's talents. While riding on the energy from the concert, my school was having an air guitar contest. I begged my friends to be apart of my band (they had stage fright), as I wanted to perform Gowan's Strange Animal. I stayed late after school for the next two weeks to practice my moves. I was ready. I grabbed another can of black hairspray and off I went to perform the best interpretation of the whole contest. Had the teachers, who were judging the contest, known who I was, I would have won. In the end, I caught the bone that I had worried about missing and my classmates enjoyed my performance, which was the key thing.
Towards the end of 1987, I joined Gowan's fan club. I wanted to be kept informed of his next adventures using his creative mind. I spent the majority of the 90's feeding my studious artist in University, where sadly I had missed out on a few of Gowan's performances. I have a lot of great memories growing up with Gowan. I still have the Strange Animal costume as well as a photo hanging on my wall. I even have a doll that I made as well as a huge drawing of mine. There's even a Gowan poster and a scarf. I promise I will take photos of these aforementioned items. For those wondering, yes I still have that piece of towel somewhere. LOL, I've kept everything.
Gowan was a true inspiration for my young artist and still is. I wanted to share my teenage stories because they put a smile on my face and make me chuckle with the fun that I had.
There are a lot of rare Gowan Goodies that I have and wanted to share them with his fans via this website. I am also curious to know if there was anyone else out there who dressed up like him on Halloween or performed in air guitar skits. I would love to showcase the photos on the site.
I haven't met Gowan but I had a friend who had played street hockey with him. My friend either grew up down the street from Gowan, or his friend did. I cannot remember. He had nice things to say about him. I will say that Gowan was a part of my inspiration for when I trained as an animator, amongst other things. I've been meaning to put this website online for the last few years for his fans. I hope Larry gets a good chuckle out of this as well. I've had fun making it!
Thank you, Larry Gowan for being true to yourself, for being the unique artist that you are and for being a genuine inspiration. You deserve the best!
