Mickey Curry
Encyclopedia
Michael Timothy Curry is an American
drummer
. He is best known for his long-term collaboration with the singer-songwriter Bryan Adams
, although he has also worked with Hall & Oates
, Cher
, Tina Turner
, Alice Cooper
, David Bowie
, Elvis Costello
, Sam Phillips
, Tom Waits
, The Cult
, Steve Jones
and other musicians.
, U.S.
. He started playing drums at 11 when he had lessons at school with a man named Nick Forte. When he was 13, he and two of his brothers formed a band called The Rack. When he was 17, he joined the Scratch Band in Connecticut.
who also managed Hall & Oates
. Impressed by Curry's work, Mottola asked him to record with Hall & Oates on their album Private Eyes
.
who had just begun working with a young Bryan Adams
. Soon after this, Curry was playing on Adams' second album, You Want It You Got It
. It was at this time that Curry started gaining prominence. He toured with Hall & Oates for several years and recorded with many successful artists. Curry toured with Hall & Oates until 1986 at which time he began touring full time with Bryan Adams. It is with Adams that Curry has achieved most of his success and fame and still tours full time with him today. Curry appears on almost all of Adams' albums.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
. He is best known for his long-term collaboration with the singer-songwriter Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
, although he has also worked with Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates are an American musical duo composed of Daryl Hall and John Oates. They achieved their greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. Both sing and play instruments. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul."...
, Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
, Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
, Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, Sam Phillips
Sam Phillips (singer)
Leslie Ann Phillips, aka Sam Phillips is an American singer and a songwriter.-Biography:Phillips was born in Glendale, California. She began her musical career as a vocalist in the early 1980s, singing background parts for Christian artists Mark Heard, Randy Stonehill and others...
, Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
, The Cult
The Cult
The Cult are a British rock band that was formed in 1983. They gained a dedicated following in Britain in the mid 1980s as a post-punk band with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love...
, Steve Jones
Steve Jones (musician)
Stephen Philip "Steve" Jones is an English rock guitarist, singer and actor, best known as guitarist and founding member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols.-Childhood:...
and other musicians.
Early life
Mickey Curry was born in New Haven, ConnecticutConnecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He started playing drums at 11 when he had lessons at school with a man named Nick Forte. When he was 13, he and two of his brothers formed a band called The Rack. When he was 17, he joined the Scratch Band in Connecticut.
Early career
He played in many local bands in Connecticut until around 1980, when he started working in studios in New York. While working in Manhattan, he joined a band called Tom Dickie and the Desires. They were managed by Tommy MottolaTommy Mottola
Thomas Daniel "Tommy" Mottola is an American music executive, co-owner of Casablanca Records in a joint venture with the Universal Music Group. He is the ex-husband of Mariah Carey and is married to Mexican singer Thalía...
who also managed Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates are an American musical duo composed of Daryl Hall and John Oates. They achieved their greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. Both sing and play instruments. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul."...
. Impressed by Curry's work, Mottola asked him to record with Hall & Oates on their album Private Eyes
Private Eyes (Hall & Oates album)
Private Eyes is the tenth studio album from blue-eyed soul duo Daryl Hall and John Oates, released in 1981. A hit, it stands not only as a definitive album for the duo, but as a notable album for the music of the decade, combining pop, rock, R&B and soul genres.The album includes 2 Number one...
.
Bryan Adams
Around the same time he was working with Hall & Oates, Curry met producer Bob ClearmountainBob Clearmountain
Bob Clearmountain is an award-winning American music engineer, mixer and producer. He has worked with many prominent names in music including Bruce Springsteen , The Rolling Stones , Bryan Adams , Robbie Williams Bob Clearmountain is an award-winning American music engineer, mixer and producer. He...
who had just begun working with a young Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
. Soon after this, Curry was playing on Adams' second album, You Want It You Got It
You Want It You Got It
You Want It, You Got It is Bryan Adams's second solo album, and was released in 1981 . This was the album that established the sound that Adams has retained throughout his recording career. Unlike the debut album where Adams and Vallance played most of the instruments themselves, You Want It You...
. It was at this time that Curry started gaining prominence. He toured with Hall & Oates for several years and recorded with many successful artists. Curry toured with Hall & Oates until 1986 at which time he began touring full time with Bryan Adams. It is with Adams that Curry has achieved most of his success and fame and still tours full time with him today. Curry appears on almost all of Adams' albums.
Personal life
He is married to his high school sweetheart Susan and they live in southern Connecticut, where both were born and raised, and maintain, in Curry's words, 'a ridiculously low-key, non-rock 'n' roll lifestyle that involves a lot of baseball games and riding my lawn tractor.'Musical style and preferences
- Mickey Curry exclusively uses Yamaha DrumsYamaha DrumsYamaha Drums is a subsidiary of the Yamaha Corporation founded in 1967. The company manufactures acoustic and electronic drum kits as well as percussion instruments, marching band equipment, and drum hardware.-Production:...
and has endorsed the brand for many years. - Curry's influences include Ringo StarrRingo StarrRichard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
, John BonhamJohn BonhamJohn Henry Bonham was an English musician and songwriter, best known as the drummer of Led Zeppelin. Bonham was esteemed for his speed, power, fast right foot, distinctive sound, and "feel" for the groove...
, Jeff PorcaroJeff PorcaroJeffrey Thomas "Jeff" Porcaro was an American session drummer and a founding member of the Grammy Award winning band Toto. Porcaro was one of the most recorded drummers in history, working on hundreds of albums and thousands of sessions...
, Steve GaddSteve GaddSteve Gadd is an American session and studio drummer, notable for his work with popular musicians from a wide range of genres.-Biography:...
, Marvin GayeMarvin GayeMarvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
and Jim GordonJim Gordon (musician)James Beck "Jim" Gordon is an American recording artist, musician and songwriter. The Grammy Award winner was one of the most requested session drummers in the late 1960s and 1970s, recording albums with many well-known musicians of the time, and was the drummer in the blues-rock supergroup Derek...
.