Clifford Leon "Andy" Anderson (30 January 1951 – 26 February 2019) was a British drummer, best known for his work with

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

and

Steve Hillage Stephen Simpson Hillage (born 2 August 1951) is an English musician, best known as a guitarist. He is associated with the Canterbury scene and has worked in experimental domains since the late 1960s. Besides his solo sound recording and reprodu ...

, as well as a lengthy session career.

Biography

Anderson was born to an

Anglo-Caribbean The Commonwealth Caribbean refers to a group of English-speaking sovereign states in the Caribbean, including both island states and mainland countries in the Americas, that are members of the Commonwealth of Nations and were once part of the ...

family and was raised in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. His father was a part-time jazz drummer, and he first gained work as a drummer in recording sessions for television commercial jingles. He played live with a variety of

space rock Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...

and

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

bands starting in the mid-1970s, and his first studio album appearance was on '' Xitintoday'' by Nik Turner's Sphynx in 1978 (under the name Android Anderson). That album was produced by

, who invited Anderson to perform on two of his own albums in 1979: '' Live Herald'' and ''

Open Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gerd Dudek, Buschi Niebergall, and Edward Vesala album), 1979 * ''Open'' (Go ...

''. Anderson also worked as a session drummer for Mother Gong and

Hawkwind Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard ...

. In the early 1980s, Anderson expanded his palette by performing as a session and live drummer for a variety of new wave and

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

acts, such as M and Techno Twins. In 1983 he was recruited by Robert Smith and Steve Severin to play on the album '' Blue Sunshine'' by their side project

The Glove The Glove was a 1983 English musical collaboration and recording project by the Cure's Robert Smith and Siouxsie and the Banshees' Steven Severin. They released one studio album, '' Blue Sunshine'', in 1983 as part of Severin's solo deal with ...

. Smith's main band

was in the midst of revamping its lineup, as incumbent drummer

Lol Tolhurst Laurence Andrew Tolhurst (born 3 February 1959) is an English musician, songwriter, producer, and author. He was a founding member of the Cure, for which he first played drums before switching to keyboards. He stayed a member of the Cure until ...

had switched to keyboards. Smith invited Anderson to play on the Cure single " The Love Cats", after which he became a full-time member of the band. Anderson was the sole drummer on the 1984 album '' The Top''. While touring with the Cure in France in 1984, Anderson was accosted by a security guard in a racially-motivated incident, and then destroyed a hotel room out of frustration. His behavior became increasingly erratic as the world tour progressed, culminating in an altercation with his bandmates and their road crew after a show in Japan. Anderson was fired from the Cure in October 1984. Anderson then returned to session drumming and enjoyed a successful career as an in-demand collaborator for acts including

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

, Edwyn Collins,

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, songwriter, composer, and actor. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records in the 1960s, serving as an in-house songwr ...

, and

Mike Oldfield Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953) is an English retired musician, songwriter and producer best known for his debut studio album ''Tubular Bells'' (1973), which became an unexpected critical and commercial success. Though primarily a gu ...

. He also explored electronic music in a project called Prime Data, and another called Front and Centre. He was briefly a member of a Cure

tribute band A tribute act, tribute band, tribute group or tribute artist is a Musical ensemble, music group, Singing, singer, or musician who specifically plays the music of a well-known music act. Tribute acts include individual performers who mimic the so ...

called the Cureheads in 2012, and made a guest appearance with

Levinhurst Levinhurst is an English electronic band formed by keyboardist/drummer Lol Tolhurst, a founding member of the Cure, and his wife Cindy Levinson on vocals. The band's name is a portmanteau of their surnames. To date, Levinhurst has released thre ...

, fronted by his former Cure bandmate Lol Tolhurst. Anderson died from cancer at age 68 on 26 February 2019, after which he received many accolades from former bandmates and collaborators.

Partial discography

Nik Turner's Sphynx *'' Xitintoday'' (1978)

*'' Live Herald'' (1979) *''

'' (1979) *''

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

'' (2007 edition, appears on two bonus tracks) The Glove * '' Blue Sunshine'' (1983) The Cure * '' Japanese Whispers'' (1983) * '' The Top'' (1984) * ''

Concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

'' (1984) * '' The Cure Live In Japan'' (1984) VHS * '' Standing on a Beach'' (1986) * ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

'' (2001)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Andy 1951 births 2019 deaths Deaths from cancer in England Hawkwind members People from West Ham The Cure members The Glove members Black British rock musicians New wave drummers