Minneapolis music pioneer André Cymone joins Joe Kelley in this 2012 Upper Room archive from WVOF 88.5 FM.

André shares remarkable firsthand stories of growing up with Prince, living together as teenagers, woodshedding and developing their music in Minneapolis. He recalls “The Dance Electric,” touring with Prince, the night John Lennon was killed, and the musical influences that helped shape the Minneapolis Sound.

Cymone also discusses his acclaimed production work with Jody Watley, Tina Turner, Adam Ant and Tom Jones, along with his return to recording his own music with “America” and the project that became The Stone.

Originally recorded in 2012 for the Upper Room with Joe Kelley on WVOF 88.5 FM. From the Musicians Reveal archives.

We're with you till 8 this evening. It's a real honor for me. It's one of those shows where you get excited and run down to the studio because I've got a great guest coming up.

A lot of people excited to hear from him. He has a brand new single, hit single, a lot of people are talking about, and it's perfectly timed for the upcoming presidential election.

The song is called America. He is the famed musician producer for his own music, and he is also one of the founders in the Minneapolis music sound.

He has produced the likes of Jody Watley, Adam Ant, Tom Jones and more. His name is Andres Simone and we welcome Andres Simone again to the Upper Room with Joe Kelly. How you doing, Andre?

I'm doing good, man. How you doing?

I'm doing fine. And you're out in LA making music.

I'm sure you've been making music all along, but time to let some of that out and people are really excited about this. Let's talk about why you decided to break out some of that new music now and the new single America.

You know, it's mostly because I think that it's just a great time, you know, I mean, we, you know, I think we're in, you know, this is the most important election, I think, of our lifetime right now. And I really, really think we have a great president and I think that he's our best hope to really move this country in the right direction.

And, you know, I mean, there's a lot of artists that are out there and it seems like now people are starting to come together, but for a while, it didn't seem like anybody was stepping up doing, you know, kind of representing, you know, the music aspect of this.

And so I just thought, you know what, you know, I was already working on an album anyway, and I had written the song America, and I thought it would be great to take that song and, you know, put it out there and, you know, all the proceeds are going to the Obama reelection campaign.

And, you know, just try to, you know, even if I can get, you know, one, two, a thousand five hundred people, you know, to get behind it and get out there and vote, you know, I'd be doing my part.

Now, where's the best spot people can go to purchase the track and hear more about the music and what you've been doing?

Well, you can go to andresimone.bandcamp.com that's probably the best place. And then it's on itunes and Amazon, but that's probably the best place to go.

And Then, you know, it's just a dollar donation, you know, whatever you want to donate. But all the proceeds go to his re election campaign.

And it's funny, Andre, right now, as we do this interview live here in Fairfield, Connecticut, right outside the see through booths here at the studio, they have a White House photographer doing a presentation to the students and pictures of his, you know, documents all through the years at the White House. So it's pretty cool. Nice timing. Let's talk about the song America. And are you playing everything on it yourself or you brought some more people in?

Oh, no, no, I'm playing, you know, doing this record. I just, you know, decided, you know, I mean, this is one of those times because music has gone in such a strange direction.

That's another reason why I decided to just, you know, you know, get back out there. Because nobody's really doing music. Well, I shouldn't say nobody.

There's definitely some people out there, Roots and some other groups that are really out there and they've been out there for a while, but I mean, just representing sort of the rock and roll attitude of music. And I just thought that that's something that needs to be really reflected right now with the climate of music.

That kind of is probably why I decided to get out there. I mean, I'm just. I've been playing a lot and, you know, I mean, really just playing acoustic guitar and singing a lot.

But after that, I just decided I'm going to put a band together. So I put a live band together and I recorded this record in America as one of the songs from the recordings.

What's it like recruiting a new band? And any difference from the days of Woodsheding back in Minneapolis as current musicians, what do you see any changes, you know?

Yeah, definitely.

Because the way I went about this record was a little interesting because obviously people knew me from back in the day and all the different stuff that I did with Prince and different artists and things like that. And so they expected me to be, I guess, coming from that whole.

Still pulling that sound out of the closet or out of the arsenal or whatever, however you put it. But when they heard where I was coming from, because every time I brought somebody on board, all I did was sit there and I'd play the song.

I'd say, this is the song that I want you to play on. And I just played them about, know, 10, 11, 12 songs. You know, they just sat there and listened to all the songs and they were like, I'm down.

And you know, so I just approached it all like that. Just totally organic, totally acoustic and totally in performance.

So they could totally hear where I was coming from without any, you know, you know, just bra, you know.

We've got the song ready to go America, which we've been talking about here. Andres Simone, Andre Simone is with us and we're going to talk about upcoming projects and maybe dip a little bit in the past.

A lot of people are excited that Andre is on the show and like you said, you can go to andresimone.bandcamp.com and we're going to play America right now. Andres Simone right here on WVOF in the upper room. Yeah, that's a great new single from Mr. Andre Simone, America.

And although we are not affiliated, our views are stationed with anything Andre's saying or I'm saying tonight. I think people know where I my beliefs kind of lay in tune and probably along the lines of Andre. So.

But for equal time, we can't say the station has those views. But Andres, that new single.

Andresimone.bandcamp.com all the money going into Barack Obama's campaign and you know, you watched the first debate, I'm sure, or part of it. What's your feeling going into tomorrow night?

I'm really looking forward to it.

You know, I think a lot of people say that, you know, Barack Obama lost that debate and it's an interesting thing because you know, when I got young kids, you know, I got 25 year old girls and a 6 year old boy and you know, I mean, I'm thinking for them, you know, the message should be truthfulness and telling the truth. And you know, I don't know that it's a good message to send when somebody convene the truth and people say you won.

So I just, you know, I'm looking forward to, you know, hopefully some of that being challenged, rectified and straightened out this tomorrow.

Yeah, I was doing some reading and they mentioned you're a news junkie. How do you get your news specifically? And you know, what do you usually gravitate towards?

You know, a lot of things that, you know, you know, I, you know, follow a couple people's Twitter, you know, feeds and some blogs and you know, you know, I kind of watch a lot of news, I watch a lot of msnbc, a lot of cnn.

Sometimes I, you know, if I want to just see just how twisted people can get, I watch Fox if I want to see how to just how far down the rabbit hole they can go. I'm sorry, but it's just, you Know, I mean, because it's amazing how they, how they are able to get people to vote against their own best interest.

That makes absolutely no sense how, you know, they twist things around so much because for me, it's really cut and dry, you know, one, you know, side, you know, the Democrats are basically down for the people. They're who you are, they're who I am, you know, you know, for the people. The other side are pretty much for corporations. It's really simple.

And you know, the unfortunate thing, and I don't want to get too preachy about all of this, but the unfortunate thing is, and that's why this election is so important, because there's a lot of things that if Mitt Romney becomes president of the United States, you know, God forbid that, you know, there's a lot of pollution, a lot of, you know, environmental things that are going to go completely the wrong direction.

There's a lot of gains that we've made that completely will be reversed, you know, as far as it has to do with women's reproductive rights and things of that nature. So I really, it's so important that, you know, we continue on this forward progress, you know.

And one of the other things that I think, you know, I think is really important to talk about from my perspective is, you know, I think after school programs, like some of the programs that I was able to get involved with, know, in Minneapolis, you know, really helped me and helped artists, you know, that I grew up working with, like Prince and Jimmy, Jan and Terry Lewis and Morris and all those guys that came through that whole, you know, from Minneapolis. We were all involved in after school programs and music programs and things like that.

And those are all kinds of programs that Republicans have cut and gutted and are going to do even more of it if they get in power. They're going to cut all that stuff. They, they're trying to cut, you know, athletic programs.

Anything that somebody from the inner city could use to get out of their circumstances, you know, and to get, you know, to be able to get, you know, in a place where they could actually, you know, maybe make the kind of money some of those guys are making, they shut those things down. So that just goes to show that those people don't have your back.

You know, people who are trying to put programs like that in place and give people, like young kids that are coming up right now that have a dream. You talk about the American dream. That's what the American dream is all about. Having an opportunity to be able to get to that American dream.

Republicans are about trying to stop that, trying to close that opportunity and shut that opportunity down so people can stay in their place. And our place is to realize the American dream. Our place is to reach your full potential. And that's what I'm all about. And that's what I sing about.

That's what the bulk of my album is about.

If I could become the kind of artist with people's help, because it takes the power of the people to help artists like myself do the things that I want to do these days. Because now record companies, they're in a whole nother place now. Now it's in the hands of the people to give somebody like me the power.

I would just do music that would heal, that would help people and help the cause and help the world. I think about how people got behind Trayvon Martin, which I thought was a beautiful thing. People came together and they brought that man to justice.

And it just shows the power of the people when you get together and unite.

And I would love to see that happen with this little girl who was shot in Afghanistan if we could take that same power and spread it around the world. Because now we're all connected. Now we are actually a human family. I can see that power spread around the world.

And that same attitude go out and say, you know what? That's just as wrong. And I'm just as outraged about that.

And just to have people gather around and step up and do the same thing all around the world, we could see a major change in this whole world. That's kind of what I'm all about. That's, you know, kind of what my music is geared toward.

And I think anytime there's a cause, anytime I think there's some injustice, that's what I'm bringing my voice back for. And that's what I'm going to spend, you know, my energy, my time, and I'm going to push my music in that direction.

It's well said. My special guest right now, Andre Simone, and he's got a brand new single called America. You can go to andresimone.bandcamp.com get that single.

We're going to revisit from actually this from your first solo record, Kelly's Eyes. Always one of my favorite from the record. And we'll come back and speak once again with Andre Simone.

Touch on those Minneapolis days growing up and and also many things more. Andres Simone is with us live here at wvof.

This interview will be archived on our website Upper room with Joe Kelly.com later in the weekend, you can listen at your leash or tell a friend if you just joined in. This is Andre Simone, Kelly's Eyes, right here on WVOF in the upper room, 8.5 FM. And Andre Simone is with us.

And that was some of that great songs from the solo record, Kelly's Eyes. And, Andre, you want to clarify something before we get into some more other talk?

Right. Yeah, I just wanted to just make sure that. Because I think I said Pakistan. I think I said Afghanistan. I meant to say Pakistan.

Okay.

The little girl that got shot was from Pakistan. Was from Afghanistan.

Right.

Anyway.

Yeah, yeah, as a lot of our listeners know, and if you don't know, Andres Simone, one of the key figures in the Minneapolis music scene from. From way back and still goes back and plays out there. And you were born out on the Twin Cities, right?

Yeah, Minneapolis.

So, so. So let's talk about some of the. The early days. I know your mom was very influential in your upbringing and your dad was a musician. I was reading.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, you know, I mean, it depends on how, you know, how deep you want to get into it. Because, I mean, let's see.

I guess, you know, one of the things that. I guess my mom had a lot to do with me really kind of, you know, getting as deeply involved in music as I got, you know, because she was.

My mom was, you know, had kids really, really early. I think she was like 15 or something like that.

And she had to, you know, she went back to school after having kids and she was, you know, kind of doing, you know, basically she was like, you know, the movie the Help, Right. My mom was one of those women, definitely. She worked for a Jewish family, you know, when I was a kid.

And she went back to school, got an education, she moved our family from, you know, from basically the projects to an upper middle class black neighborhood. And, you know, I didn't know anybody when we got there. And I felt like a fish out of water. And I was like, wow.

Right? Yeah.

And I remember the first day of school, you know, I was going to the school called Lincoln, which was interesting because I just didn't know anybody. And they did the roll call thing and they said, you know, all right, no, go stand against the wall. I was like, okay.

And I looked, you know, at all these people, and I was like, wow, these are interesting people, especially coming from where I came from, because I was basically coming more or less from Thug Central. So I was like, okay. And I looked down the line, I saw this one little Kid. And I said, let me go stand next to him. I went stood next to him.

I said, hey, you know, my name is Andre. What's your name? He said, my name's Bruce. I said, nice to meet you, man. What are you into? He said, I'm in the music. I said, that's interesting.

So am I. I said, what do you play? He said, piano and guitar. I said, oh, cool. I played drums and bass and, you know, I was playing horns at the time.

He said, well, we should get together and jam. I said, cool. And so we went. His dad had a little one bedroom apartment. You know, we went over there and started jamming.

And you know, I mean, a dude started playing the piano and I was like, whoa, you can play. He's playing like man from uncle and you know the Peanuts theme song? I was like, you know, I was like, you better show me some of that.

So I was kind of playing a little bit. But the interesting thing is I looked on his dad's piano and there was a bunch of pictures up there. And I was like, wow, that guy looks familiar.

I said, if I didn't know better, I think that that was my dad. He said, well, you know what, My dad's going to be home in a minute. You know, when he comes home, why don't you just ask him?

Dad came home and versus dad was looking like, who's this? You know, who's this in my house? You know. Right, right. And his dad introduced me everything. And I said, excuse me, but who's that guy in the picture?

And he looked at the picture and he looked at me and he looked at the picture and he just started laughing. And I was like, why is he laughing? And he was like. And then he said, you know, you're Fred's son. And I was like, wow. I said, you know my dad.

He said, yeah, we played in a band. And you know, I know your dad real well. He said, you guys used to hang out together. You guys grew up together basically when you was kids.

And it turns out that, you know, I didn't know it, but I just randomly picked somebody that, you know, I grew up with. So, yeah, wound up being a total coincidence. So that's kind of where that, that,.

You know, came from, you guys growing up in the Twin Cities as teenagers and every.

What.

What were you guys listening to? And how did you guys move into trying to make this professional thing work?

You know, I mean, at that point in time, Minneapolis was a very interesting place because if you weren't in a band you weren't cool if you couldn't play an instrument. You know, it's just, you know, you was either then you was hustling. It was an interesting time, and it was an interesting place.

But, you know, my mom, you know, she let us practice. And, you know, like I said, I was kind of, you know, one foot in, one foot out of, you know, kind of, you know, where I grew up.

And so, you know, I wound up, you know, pulling up to Prince's house in a brand new car and, you know, I was like, maybe 14, and his mom was like, where'd you get that call from?

And I had a hard time explaining, so she didn't want him hanging around with me anymore, you know, and so that's kind of how we really got kind of tight because, you know, when she, you know, stopped him from being able to kind of hang out, you know, he came and stayed with us for a while and, you know, and spent a few years at my mom's house with our family.

And so we were able to really kind of, you know, woodshed, you know, put the band, you know, really get the band together and practice, and we just wound up playing around the city. And that's pretty much how, you know, as kids we came up. And then, you know.

So let me. Let me stop you real quickly about is this a myth or a real thing that when you guys were like, sharing.

Sharing a room prints or there was a line drawn or something, where is that a true story growing up?

You know, actually, it was a true story. We. When he first came and stayed with us, you know, we stayed in the same room. That was really, really hard because he's, you know, I mean, he's a.

He's a pretty, you know, he was a pretty organized individual at that time. Me, on the other hand, I was like, all over the map.

I was like, you know, I mean, I was into all kinds of stuff and, you know, I think he was just, you know, came from a different place. And I was used to a, you know, a certain amount of freedom. And so we just divided the room. Oh, okay. Yeah.

And then eventually he wound up, you know, having the whole basement. I wound up having the whole attic. And it was great because, you know, he'd write a song, I'd come and listen to it.

I'd be like, oh, yeah, man, that's. That's amazing. I write a song, he'd come. Man, I love that. You know, we go back and forth.

It became a really, you know, we were just tight like that and then.

You guys went on and doing stuff with Pepe Willie. Right? And then getting off.

That came a lot later. But yeah, definitely now.

Now when you guys were in those formulative years, you know, yourself, you mentioned Jimmy and Terry and Prince and, and Morris Day. But did you have any sense while you're in the midst of that? I've asked this to guys from P. Funk and people who. Really influential in music history.

Did you guys think that, hey, we're really going to be doing something or you just trying to, you know, I.

I can't speak for anybody else, but I know for myself, you know, when I was even, you know, when I was living in the projects, when I was like, you know, 9, 10, maybe even younger than that, 8. Because, you know, I was always performing. I was doing talent shows back then.

And anybody that would listen to me, I would tell them, man, I'm gonna be the baddest whatever, you know. And I would say, Michael Jackson. Jackson, Ty. They ain't nothing. Even though they were like unbelievable.

I mean, Michael Jackson to this day is the most unbelievable, talented individual I've ever seen sing, dance, you know, and perform. But at the time I just, you know, that's just. I just.

There was no doubt in my mind that one day I was going to be, you know, up there on the world stage doing whatever. And, you know, we put our band together. I was like, man, we're going to be the baddest band and blah, blah, blah, blah.

You know, we had, you know, Morris's mom was a manager. She had gotten Isaac Hayes to. He had heard our demo tape and he was going to sign us to a deal and told us we were going to have tutors.

I quit school, you know, I mean, thinking that, you know, I was going to have a tutor and all that kind of stuff. And then, you know, next thing I read, I read in jets that Isaac, hey, bankrupt, you know, I had to go get back in school. Had to make up.

Make up for them. Right. Last month. Right. Yeah, it was, you know, it was. It was a blast, I gotta say. We're.

We're getting some music and. And this is just, you know, this song just. My wife loves this song from, from years back as well as I do it. And the video is cool.

Andre Simone and Prince. The dance electric. And what? You know, the video's cool because you remember Louis from Soul Train, right?

Oh, yeah, yeah.

He's in there making the appearance and Louis still doing his thing out your way.

Yeah, he's cool. Yeah.

So give us A brief synopsis about this track. Getting together and all these years. And have you heard Prince. I think Prince even did something in tour rehearsal with this song too, recently.

Yeah, yeah, he played in Chicago and I heard. He just completely tore it up.

And I, you know, I think my sister was at the show and she said, he gave me a little shout out, which I really appreciate. You know, the song came together.

He had, you know, had, you know, basically a lot of success on, you know, I think Purple Rain and Doing the Time and Vanity and all the different groups. And, you know, I was completely detached from all of that. I was doing my little sort of, you know, space, you know, live new wave kind of thing.

Just trying to do something that was totally different than all of that. And I think that, you know, he wanted to just, you know, reach out and maybe do something together. And, you know, I thought, okay, cool.

You know, and so when he called and he said, let's, you know, let's do this thing, I was like, okay, let's do it. We wound up doing a dance with Lecture.

Yeah. This is a really powerful song from Andre Simone. And I gotta say, I. I got the 12 inch record because I bought the 12 inch record when it was out.

Red Light, Another great song when the B sides were. Were really good stuff back then.

Thank you, man. I appreciate that.

This is Andre Simone. Andre Simone is with us here at WVOF 88.5 in Fairfield.

Musicians who grew up there and made the music like Andre Simone and Prince and the time and everything, they say there's a certain way they fall funk in Minneapolis, St. Paul and they. They can tell when people are faking or just don't have it. Are you able to tell me? Yeah, yeah. When you see other musicians. Yeah.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. Yeah. It's a whole different kind of. A whole different kind of song. But, you know, I mean, I think it comes from.

And just in all honesty, it comes from, you know, from some of the, you know, people that used to song back in the day, like what you was playing earlier. Funkadelic, George Clinton.

Right.

The Flying, the Family Stone, Ohio Players. A lot of those groups are groups we used to do. Stevie Wonder.

I mean, you know, it's a combination of all of that because, I mean, you know, we used to be basically kind of a cover band, except we didn't cover like, you know, like some bands that were, you know, doing gigs in the city at the time. Because literally we were like, you know, 14, 15 when we were doing that stuff. Wow. You Know, I mean, we were really, really young, doing.

In fact, we would play strip clubs, and our moms had to be there, you know, as chaperones, in order for us to play some of these clubs.

That must have been interesting car. Car ride conversations, right?

It was. I mean, because, you know, basically they had to, you know, because we were always looking under the curtain. They was like, come on, guys.

You know, like, it's really. It was really. I mean, when I think back on some of that stuff, because it was really, really an unbelievable time. You know, just.

I mean, we had so much fun growing up doing, being able to play music in some of those places.

You know, you talked. We were talking offline about, you know, New York, and you still come out to New York often and do things out here.

But, you know, one of the stories you were mentioned, you were on tour and the night John Lennon died right out here and how it affected you. And what was that like?

You know, it was a trip because we played at the Bottom Line. And I remember I was a little under the weather and I wasn't feeling good, but I think I was on my way to the hotel.

And I'm a big Beatles fan, definitely a big John Lennon fan. And I was walking past the Dakota, and, you know, my manager was like, yeah, this is where John Lennon lives.

And I remember going by and there's people standing around, standing outside, hearing things. I said, wow. And I stood around for a while. But then, you know, I went back to the hotel and, you know, like, I said, I was under the weather.

And so I was just crashing, trying to get some sleep, because I think either we had just did the show or we were getting ready to do the show that night or something. And then the news was on and I heard this guy come on, and he was, like, completely just discombobulated. It was just frantic.

And he was like, before he even said it, he's like, I can't believe it. I can't believe it. And I was like, you know, I thought I was dreaming. He said, john Lennon's been shot. And I was like, what?

And I think I called Prince. I was like, man, you got to turn on the news, turn on the news. I mean, it was crazy. And so, yeah, that was when we were. You know.

And the trick about that was, like, you know, we were like. I mean, it was such an amazing gig in New York because, I mean, everybody was there. I mean, people from kiz, you know, I mean.

I mean, the group Kiss, like, Gene Simmons and, you know, all the makeup and all that. I mean, and, you know, for us coming from Minneapolis to see people like that and then Chic, the group Sheik.

Oh, yeah. Now Roger, he lives right down the road from here.

Yeah, yeah, they were all there. You know, in fact, we wound up hanging out with the girls from Sheikh I probably should have rejected, but we wound up hanging out afterwards.

Just, just kicking it and hanging out, man. We just. It was just a great, it was a great time.

And it was unbelievable seeing people, you know, that we respected in the music business that were out there in the audience coming to this show because they had, you know, heard about what we were trying to do.

And yeah, our special guest right now is Mr. Andre Simone and he has a brand new single and it's just recently released. It's called America and you can go and download it. And the money that you pay for it will be donated to the campaign of Barack Obama.

And you have gotten Huffington posted a nice write up on you. That was recent. I saw that online.

Thank you. Yeah, they did a great job. We're trying to get it out to as many people as we can.

And I really appreciate you guys giving me the opportunity to reach people and get the word out.

We, you know, we were talking.

I told Andre that you, you actually were the first musician I ever interviewed 30 years ago, back when I was on WNAB and you were on tour in New York doing a solo tour. But I can remember that day, Owen Husney, your former manager, calling up and saying, are you ready to do the interview?

And I, you know, I was some nervous 19 year old guy and ran over to the studio and recorded it. But you said those days are like yesterday, right, for yourself?

Yeah, it seems like yesterday, man, because not a whole lot has really changed. I mean, that's probably when I stopped. Right around the time when I stopped doing music for myself at least. So it's kind of.

I'm just sort of picking up where I left off.

I mean, I stopped for a while to help other people sort of realize their thing because, I mean, I've been really blessed as far as music is concerned. I've been able to do just about anything I've wanted to do.

I mean, you know, I played as a kid in an unbelievable local band and everybody in the city and our neighborhood was totally behind us, totally backed us up. And then, you know, obviously, you know, we were able to get out of Minneapolis and Prince's whole thing kind of blew up.

Well, I was kind of there before it blew up. I mean, the first three albums were the things that I. Were the albums I was involved with.

And so I was there when it was rough, you know, when people, you know, we would go out. In fact, when we were open for Rick James, people literally would be booing us and yelling, you know, screaming at us, calling us names.

You know, I don't even want to repeat some of the names. They would be yelling at us for about the first three songs.

After about the third or fourth song, the yelling stopped, and they were like, these guys are good. And about the fourth or fifth song, they were trying to climb on stage. By the time we finished our set, you know, we had won them over.

And, you know, it was interesting because, you know, that let me know. That just showed me that the power of music and the power of persuasion. If you're really good at what you do and you're convicted, you know, I saw.

I seen how music can change, and people can go from just totally being into one thing and getting into something else. And that's why I feel so strongly about the album that I'm working on right now. The music that I'm doing, because I'm really.

My heart and soul is into this. And I'm in a different place because I think I was saying during the break, now I can sit down. This is something I couldn't do before.

I can sit down, pull out my guitar and play 12, 13, 14, 15 songs just like that without really having to do anything. Just pick them up, play them. Don't need a band. If I have a band, that's great, but, you know, I can just go and do whatever I want.

There's a freedom in that, and there's an art in that that I just think is something that, you know, is rare these days, you know, and it's something that I want to embrace, and it's something that I want to give back, you know, for, you know, for all the blessings that I've been given and the gift that I've been given to even be able to do this. I think I owe it to, you know, to myself, and I owe it to, you know, I think people who are, you know, who love music to give that to them.

So. So let's talk musician talk, because we get a lot of musicians checking out our show. What. What are you playing bass wise? And how about guitar wise?

What.

What kind of things you bringing into the studio?

You know, I have. I still have my bass from back in the day, you know, from, you know, all the.

You know, all the Pictures you see with me with the print thing and all that, that's my jazz. I've had that since. God, man. Since we had our local band, since we were at Grand Central. So I still have that.

And I'm playing that on a lot of the tracks from the song. I got some black nylon strings on it. That's the difference. And it sounds funky.

I have a Motion B, you know, a Yamaha Motion B, you know, I have an Ibanez bass, you know, not a whole lot. I mean, because actually, I didn't play a lot of bass on this particular record. I actually put a band together. And so the keyboard player.

I was lucky to get these guys because they're really unbelievable, the keyboard players. Out on tour right now with Madonna. His name is Ricky Peugeot. Unbelievable. Keyboard player, bass player is out on tour with Macy Gray.

Guitar player is out on tour with Rufus Wainwright. You know, it's just. I just was blessed to get some really unbelievable musicians. So, you know, you know, I play bass as far as guitar is concerned.

Amplifone, you know, Stratocaster, you know, I have a telly that I play on a couple of things. Oh, Gibson. I mean, I was, again, I was lucky, you know, to get. There's a little place here. The Gibson people allowed me to just use their guitars.

They just have a little shop where, you know, musicians can come in town. And, you know, if you're doing something in the city, you know, you come down there and you talk to them.

And, you know, if what you're doing is something that they feel like they can get behind, they'll get behind it. And they allowed me to come in there and use some guitars and use some amps. So we were able to use that stuff for the recording.

And so all the sessions were live, and it was just, you know, it was great.

Yeah, we look forward to all that new music coming out. And we're gonna go back in time just a bit and then come back and wrap it up with. Talk about the current stuff.

But people are such a fan, including myself, of some of the great production work you did when you put your solo work a little bit to the side. But how was it? We're gonna play something from Jody Watley. Still a thrill, but getting into production mode. What's that like?

And, of course, Jody Wiley went on to big fame, that you were integral part of that. What was it like working with all these great artists and putting your spin with them?

It was amazing. I mean, I think Jody Wiley, for one thing, she's One of the most underrated singers out there.

I mean, because she's got an unbelievably pure, clear, crisp voice. I mean, you hear it in some of the Shalimar songs, you know. I mean, whenever you hear it, there's a distinctive sound.

And I think her voice is, you know, is that sound, you know. So, I mean, it was beautiful working with her. I think she's really talented and underrated, I think. You know, obviously, Adam Knight is just.

I mean, that was, I think, the most fun I've ever had, you know, just recording and just feeling music. Because he's just. Him and his guitar player. I mean, they had me in stitches.

I had tears rolling out of my eyes most of the time while we were doing the recording.

Where did you record that record?

We recorded here in la.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, yeah. Tom Jones was. I mean, that. That dude is just.

I mean, I've just been blessed because, you know, even working with him was just something that was surreal. I mean, it was surreal working with that guy. I mean, because he's Tom Jones, for one thing. You got Andre Elliot. Oh, I mean, him. Tina Turner.

Tina Turner's thing was interesting because I wound up doing it because she was in Germany and I. I couldn't leave. I was supposed to. I couldn't leave the country because I was supposed to be working on my own album at the time. And I was.

I just signed to MCA and so they wouldn't allow me to, you know, to, you know, they were like, I couldn't do it. So I had to produce her over the phone, which was unbelievable. So I had to go through, you know, the engineer and her and her manager and back to me.

And that was a strange one, but it was still fun, you know. And then just, you know, I mean, I've done a lot of other artists and, you know, I mean, Jermaine Stewart was fun. Yeah.

Rest in peace on Jermaine.

Yeah, yeah, he was really fun.

He was a blast and a great record. I interrupt you real quickly. The Girls, which. I bought that record. Yeah, that was that Minneapolis funk right there.

Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, that was. You know, it's. You know, that was pre Janet Jackson. So, you know, there was a lot of.

There was a lot of interesting, you know, connections because, I mean, you know, the girls were. I mean, those girls can sing that to this day, they still can sing. And, you know, I mean, that. That record probably should be re.

Released or somebody should do something with that.

You know, some people reached out to me and asked me if I was interested and I said, look, anything I can do to help you because those girls are talented.

Right? Right.

Yeah.

So let's get into this song right now. Jody, Wildly written, produced by my special guest right now and has been for the last hour.

Mr. Andre Simone will come back and talk one more segment with Andre and definitely check out his latest and greatest song. Just a tip of the iceberg on what's going to be coming out from Andre. You can go to andresimone bandcamp.com the track is called America.

And this is Jody Watley, still a thrill right here on the Upper room with Joe Kelly and wbo. Of course, that is Jody Wy Still a thrill. And we were talking off air, Andre and said that was a funky track. Still is, right?

Yeah. I forgot how funky that track was.

That's right, yeah. I mean, you've made some great records, produced great records. And let's talk about, you know, we've got about, you know, about six minutes to go.

We want to. We want to play America again from Andres Simone. But, yeah, some of the.

Some of the tours that you've done, both with Prince and solo tours, you have some memorable venues that you love playing at. I'm sure there's some ones you never want to revisit again.

But, yeah, you know, honestly, for the most part, it was pure fun. I mean, you know, those.

A few things that got to be a little interesting on the tour because, you know, you know, I'm one of those kind of people that really, really take what I do serious, you know, and when it comes to performing, when I go up there, I just, you know, I give it 100, you know, 80, 90, 100, 200%, you know, so a lot of times that would get, you know, get in the way. People would think that I was cocky, you know, because I'd come off stage and I wouldn't be wanting to chat and things like that.

So, you know, the other bands would think, oh, you know, they think they're all cocky. Blah, blah, blah, blah. It wasn't even like that.

So there were some things like that, but other than that, it was just fun, you know, I mean, you know, there's lots of places we played that are memorable.

I remember in Denver, we did a gig that was the first time we did a gig with where, you know, we got mobbed, you know, and, you know, I mean, I had a little bit of that before, you know, but not to this degree where, you know, we all, you know, we got mobbed where it was like they Were trying to tip the whole. You know, I think our dressing room was in some kind of an RV or something, but they were tipping it. They were like.

I mean, I thought it was literally going to tip over. And so they had to get us out of there. And they put us in a limousine, and then we raced, and actually somebody got hit by the limousine.

And There was like 10 cars following us. And then we got to an intersection, and our tour manager jumped out and tried to stop one of the cars from following us.

And the next thing I know, they take off with him. Half. They stick it out the window. It was like. It was insane. I was like, you know, I mean, and then it just. That got to be kind of, you know, normal.

Right? You know, but that was like the first experience with all of that to that degree.

We had, you know, obviously, in Minneapolis, we had a little bit of that, but it was just, you know, you know, because we didn't, you know, we had maybe a few too many girlfriends that, you know, you're playing in a little town, and they're all waiting by the side of the stage, and then you're trying to figure out your escape route. Little interesting. But, you know, it was all fun. I mean, music. Music is fun.

Oh, yeah.

Ultimately, it's just a fun thing if you really love what you're doing and you really, you know, if you take the time and really learn what you're doing, it's just one of those things that's just rewarding and, you know, I think you make people happy, and that's what it's really all about.

Andre Simone has been our guest. Really always an honor to have Andre, and he's got a brand new record coming out. You're talking sometime early next year, right?

Yeah, first of the year. It's gonna be out, and it's called the Stone.

Oh, the Stone.

Yeah.

Okay, cool. And that means you got to revisit because I. I can't. I can't wait another 30 years to have you on, you know, Wait. Way too much time in between.

No, no.

We'll both be in nursing home mode in 30 years probably.

I don't know. Speak for yourself.

Okay.

I hope. I got a long way to go. Yeah, I got. I got some little. Little ones. Oh, yeah, that's right around the orange tree right now.

So I. I got a little dog that. That's what keeps me going. So cool, man. Yeah. So, yeah, we got to remind people, Andre's newest single called America Getting a lot of great words.

And we've been playing it since it came out. It's called America.

And people can go right now to andresimone a n d r e c y m o e n e.bandcamp.com and if you purchase it, the money goes to Reelect Barack Obama. And I mentioned before, it's not affiliated with WVOF or, you know, it's Andre's choice, and we commend him on that.

And I gotta say, anytime Jesse Johnson is in the White House playing guitar, we gotta keep a rock in the White House.

There you go. There you go.

Yeah, when I turned it on, I saw. Saw Jesse playing there. That was something.

So that's cool.

Yeah. So, hey, thanks again, brother.

And my pleasure, man. I appreciate it.

And hold on. We're gonna give people a listen of America by Andres Simone.

If you missed out on this interview and want to hear it in its entirety, we'll be re airing at upper room with jokelly.com in the archive section in a little while shortly this week. So thanks so much, Andre.

Thank you, man. I appreciate it.

All right, America.