André Cymone
| André Cymone | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Andre Simon Anderson |
| Born | June 27, 1958 (age 58) Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Genres | Rock, Funk, new wave, urban contemporary, R&B |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, record producer |
| Instruments | Bass, guitar, piano, drums |
| Labels | Columbia |
| Associated acts | Prince, Jody Watley, Adam Ant, Pebbles, Tom Jones |
André Cymone (born Andre Simon Anderson; 1958) is an American bassist, songwriter and record producer. Cymone was a bass guitarist for recording artist Prince's touring band, pre-Revolution. Cymone began a solo career in 1981. His song, "The Dance Electric" (written by Prince), reached number ten on the R&B charts. Cymone later co-wrote and produced songs for other acts, including Jody Watley's "Looking for a New Love", "Still A Thrill", and "Real Love".
Cymone was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and spent his teen years, bass in hand, along with turntable needle for replay, 'rote' learning all of the (at the time, released) recordings of Jaco Pastorius. The son of Fred Anderson, a musician, and Bernadette, a social worker, Cymone was the youngest of six children. The Anderson home soon had an additional member – a young Prince who left his own home due to conflicts with his father. Prince's cousin, Charles Smith started the band Grand Central and later invited Cymone. The band included Cymone's sister Linda and Morris Day and they later changed their name to Champagne due to being confused with the funk band Graham Central Station. Cymone's stage name comes from a variation of his middle name, Simon.
In the late 1970s, after Prince released his debut album, For You, Prince recruited Cymone as bassist for his touring band. Cymone stayed with Prince until 1981 when he quit the band over tensions with Prince.
The two later resolved their issues and Cymone went on to release 3 solo albums – Livin' in the New Wave (1982), Survivin' in the 80s (1983), and AC (1985). All were out of print for a long period of time, but all three of his solo records have been remastered, and expanded with extra tracks. His most successful single – a song written by Prince – was "The Dance Electric" from the AC album.
Cymone went on to become a record producer and is better known for producing Jody Watley (to whom he was married and shares a son). He has also produced and written songs for several other artists, including Pebbles, Jermaine Stewart and Adam Ant. In 1988, Cymone produced three tracks and co-wrote the track "Under My Skin" for Phil Thornalley's 1988 only solo album Swamp.
...
Wikipedia