LISTEN: Paul Parker’s 1982 gay anthem was right on target
Hi-NRG music icon Patrick Cowley, and his musical stylings reflect as much. His first hit single, 1982’s “Right on Target,” was produced by Cowley and pulsates with the same electronic dance music beats that compelled many gays of the day to hit the dancefloor.
But throughout Parker’s decades-spanning music career, he has been more than “right on target.” His music has been a harbinger of big, gay, Pride season fun.
From coast to coast, “Right on Target” established Parker as a Cowley acolyte. Released on Megatone Records, the song was the first single off of Parker’s 1983 debut album, “Too Much to Dream” and stayed at #1 on the dance charts for two weeks.
In true Hi-NRG style, the beats are the main attraction over the lyrics. But the song still delivers a story that is all too familiar in the club scene about attraction, connection, and being caught up in the music. “Tell me what’s your secret/How do you know, what you know/You can see right through me/Deep into my soul,” Parker delivers the lyrics.
