An Itinerant Mind

Well I'll be a Monkees Uncle

Prompt 4: With which great musician did Andre study when he was a little monkey?

Andre was lucky enough to come from a musical family and picked up all sorts of instruments from his relatives. His love of drums began when he was just six, and his favourite uncle Mickey Dolenz bought him his first drum kit. Now, now, I know what you are wondering, and yes, Andre does have an extra drumstick that he uses with his tail. Oh! That wasn't what you wanted to know? Ah, I see, well truth be told his Aunt Jemima, (the electric one), was adopted. After her divorce from Uncle Meat in 1969, she hitched up with Mickey Dolenz, thus making him Andre's uncle. All clear now? Good, we'll press on.

Uncle Micky is best known for missing out on the role of 'The Fonz' on 'Happy Days,' and as the Director of a Stage Production of 'Bugsy Malone'. When Andre was still a little monkey, Dolenz was a drummer in a band. Every Sunday he would take Andre down to Pleasant Valley, where they'd meet his friends and fellow band members, Peter Tork, Mike Nesmith and Davy Jones. Yes that Davy Jones, better known to millions as David Bowie, but this was before his breakout single 'Let's Face The Music and Dance'.

The guys would jam all day, and Micky would coax Andre and offer him much needed encouragement. "You've got to be a Believer in yourself Andre." Micky used to say this all the time, "All Day and All of the Night-time too. You can't just be a Daydream Believer."

Micky liked to offer the young Andre advice, "You've got to make it on your own Andre, I'm not your stepping stone." Then he'd call people over and tell them to 'Listen to the Band.' Andre later acknowledged what a huge influence his uncle was on him. When asked about this in 1988 he said, "I was so embarrassed, I didn't know where to hide my face." Apparently he'd thought they were asking him about his coke addiction, back in the 80's, he could get through almost two 500ml bottles of cola a day.

It was through Dolenz's connections with Micheal Nesmith, who owned Pacific Arts, that Andre made his first music video. Covering the classic 'Wipe Out' by the Surfaris, Andre's drumming was intercut with shots of stampeding shoppers in the Greyish Thursday sales. It became a cult classic after the video was used in a Brazilian safety film about the dangers of hot wax.

Word Count: 410