ARE you funky? In 1972 these three words everlastingly changed the course of musical history. And the life of a young Bermudian drummer called Andy Newmark. Mr. Newmark is widely considered one of the best drummers on the planet. He has played with a Who's Who of top music names including John Lennon, David Bowie, Sly & the Family Stone, George Harrison, RandyNewman, David Gilmour, Luther Vandross, Eric Clapton, B.B. King and Cat Stevens.

Mr. Newmark was born in 1950 in Port Chester, New York. Mr. Newmark's father was a Russian Jewish immigrant who worked in the New York District Attorney's office alongside famous gang-busting District Attorney, and 1948 Presidential candidate, Thomas Dewey.

His father met his mother, who was Bermudian, while he was vacationing on the island. The two fell in love and she soon moved to New York where the couple was married.

Mr. Newmark was raised just outside "The City That Never Sleeps" in suburban Mamaroneck, New York, part of Westchester County.

At the age of nine he was introduced to the instrument that would years later make him a superstar ¿ the drums.

"I started drum lessons when I was in grade four at age nine when all the other kids were starting to learn an instrument," said Mr. Newmark.

"My older sister had a friend whose brother went to my school and played drums. His name was Frankie Schrader and I started taking drum lessons from him at a $1.50 a lesson back in 1960."

Mr. Newmark, who now lives in the United Kingdom, remembers taking to the drums with enthusiasm: "I was doing my lessons and practiced diligently having no idea what I was going to do with this instrument I had chosen and where the path would later lead me."

Describing the watershed event that inspired him to pursue a musical career, Mr. Newmark said: "In 1963 The Beatles hit when I was 13. When I heard The Beatles for the first time I immediately realised what my mission was going to be in life and I knew the important part the drums would play in that role."

Mr. Newmark said that he is mostly a self-taught musician, learning through constant practice with other musicians and by listening to records and trying to recreate what the drummers were doing.

Mr. Newmark loves Bermuda and said as a boy he and his family would come to Bermuda every holiday. He would spend entire summers here, staying with his mother's family.

Bermuda held such a special place in Mr. Newmark's heart that in 1967, at the age of 16, he moved to the island full-time to became part of the local band The Savages.

He moved into an apartment in Spanish Point and threw himself into his work with The Savages, a popular local rock act in the 1960s who played at numerous venues.

Mr. Newmark said despite his youth, he was already focussed on a career in music when he moved to Bermuda.

"When I was 16 I was able to complete high school at the end of my junior year because I had enough credits and all I needed was two more to get my diploma.

"So during the summer holiday I went to summer school and got my English and a history credit. With those I finished high school, got my diploma and skipped out of grade 12.

"As soon as I had my diploma I moved to Bermuda and starting playing with The Savages."

Mr. Newmark enjoyed his time living in Bermuda and playing with The Savages but said he realised after two years it was time for a change.

"By the time two years had gone by I understood that this was not where I wanted to spend the rest of my life. From childhood I thought the only place I ever wanted to be was Bermuda and I needed to get that out of my system.

"But I realised within two years that the only future for me as a drummer would be playing calypso at the hotels. I clearly wanted to be a part of rock and roll so I pulled myself out of there and went back up to my parents home in New York."

At the age of 18, back-to-back tragedies struck the budding musician. First his mother died from cancer. And just a few months later his father abruptly succumbed to heart failure.

"My father essentially died of a broken heart," he said. "Without her he literally had a heart attack and went six months later."

After his parents passed away Mr. Newmark went on the road for a year with a nightclub show band called The Headliners that he had met while they were playing here in Bermuda at the Hamilton Princess.

From there he continued to play, practice and build up his network of contacts until one fateful night in 1972 when he was introduced to Sly Stone, front man for the funk-rock band Sly & the Family Stone. The introduction was made through mutual friend and saxophone legend Pat Rizzo.

This brief meeting would forever change the musician's life and the course of his musical career.

Remembering meeting Sly Stone, born Sylvester Stewart, for the first time, Mr. Newmark said: "Pat Rizzo was doing weddings and bar mitzvahs with this function band that I used to play with.

"We were all doing whatever we could do to make a buck in the music world at that time. A lot of us could put on a suit and go make money on functions on the weekends and go be rock and rollers during the week.

"Through playing with him we became friends. Our networks intertwined and we'd see each other around in New York. And then he got the gig with Sly & the Family Stone as the tenor sax player."

Mr. Newmark continued: "When the Sly & the Family Stone drummer left the band Pat said 'You know, you ought to check out my friend Andy.' He left it on me to do the hustle and to take the initiative. Pat gave me Sly's phone numbers and address in Los Angeles, California and said to call him or go seem him the next time I was in LA."

Fate smiled and Mr. Newmark found himself performing in Los Angeles not long after and he took advantage of the opportunity that had come his way. "In the winter of 1972 I was performing with Carly Simon in Los Angeles," said Mr. Newmark. "I said to myself, 'I'm going to Sly's house and am going to go knock on the door'."

There was only one problem he had to overcome in order to achieve his goal.

"I only had two hours to succeed. I was in LA performing at The Troubadour, a nightclub located in West Hollywood that opened in 1957 and was as a major hub for music in the '60's," said Mr. Newmark.

"We played a 9 p.m. set and then Cat Stevens, who was the headliner, came on at 10 and played until 11. From 11 to 12 there was an hour off and then we started the late show with Carly Simon and then Cat Stevens would come on for his late show at 1."

Working out a solution Mr. Newmark said: "I finished at 10 but didn't have to be back at the Troubadour until midnight for my second show. In those two hours I jumped in my rent-a-car and drove up to Bel Air, this very posh private area of Beverly Hills, found the house and went and knocked on the door.

"The door opened and these two big heavy duty football type security guys, who scared the heck out of me, said,'What do you want? You must be at the wrong place kid'."

Mr. Newmark knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime moment and nervously stood his ground. He replied:"Hi! Oh, I'm Andy. I'm a friend of Pat Rizzo's and I want to meet Sly because I hear he needs a drummer and I think I'm the right guy!"

The security team seemed to think it was a joke and Mr. Newmark said:

"These guys were like, 'This kid is tripping'. Then one of them said: 'Hold on a minute' and slammed the door in my face."

But his perseverence paid off. Mr. Newmark recalled that after some anxious moments on the doorstep he was finally admitted to the house: "Ten minutes later they come back to the door and say 'OK. Alright kid. Get in here. So I got ushered in and up to Sly's bedroom where he was unconscious on a waterbed. I looked around and the floors, walls and ceiling were covered in black fur. And everyone is dressed in black and red leather. It was some weird psychedelic stuff!"

After being told to sit quietly by other people in the room Mr Newmark said he was fearful Sly might not wake up before he had to go.

Mr. Newmark recalled: "Once I was sitting there I was, like, 'Uh oh, I'm running out of time here. Wow, man, I gotta get back to work!'

"Thankfully, though, Sly woke up. When he opened up his eyes he looked around the room and saw everyone.

"He recognised everyone but me."

Remembering the first meeting with the superstar musician, Mr. Newmark said: "He looked at me and said 'Who are you?'

And I said 'I'm Andy Newmark and I'm Pat Rizzo's friend.'

"Sly just looked at me for a long moment.

"Then Sly said: 'Well, that's all well and good but what are you doing in my bedroom?' and I said, 'Well, Pat said you need a drummer and I should come round to your house and play for you and I think I'm the right guy for the band.'

"Sly said back to me 'Pat Rizzo sent you?' and I said 'Yeah!' and that was like the password because someone in the inner circle of music had vouched for me."

Then came the three magic words that would forever change his life.

"Sly looked at me and said 'Are you funky?' and I said 'Well, yes, Sly, I'm really really funky."

Mr. Newmark laughed at the recollection: "He just tripped out and started laughing because he thought I was a joke. He said to me 'Oh really? Really?' and I said 'Yes, I believe I'm very very funky and am right for your band.'

"He said to me 'Hey, man, go over there and play.'

"Over in another part of the bedroom there was a practice drum set and I just thought 'Well I've got 30 seconds now to alter the course of my life.'

"I went up there, closed my eyes and played the funkiest drum beat that I could muster, or whatever I thought was funky at the age of 21."

Years of practice and dedication to his craft led up to that moment and as Mr. Newmark fondly recalled: "I went for it and when I opened my eyes he was dancing to the beat around the waterbed with a big grin on his face and he goes, 'Yeah! Yeah! Hey white boy, who are you? Who is this little funky white boy? What's your name?' And I'm, like, 'I'm Andy!' and he goes 'You're the new drummer in the band. Pat Rizzo was right, you are right for us!'"

Mr. Newmark was ecstatic at the great news and noted: "I said 'That is great! I love your music, I want to be in the band, but listen. I'm working at The Troubadour and I hate to run and be rude but I'm going to be late for work and I have to go and do my gig.' Sly goes 'O.K. just leave me your phone number cause you're the new drummer'!"

Mr. Newmark went on to play drums with Sly & the Family Stone and he was the drummer on the renowned album Fresh and toured with the band. Mr. Newmark said this was the album that put his name on the musical map.

"People started knowing his name after that. It gave me a street credibility I could never have gotten working for anyone else," said Mr. Newmark.

Building off the success of the Fresh album Mr. Newmark went on to work on some of the most acclaimed albums released from the 1970s up to the present. He has appeared on more than 30 albums and has worked with some of the greatest musicians in the last half century. Some of the albums he has appeared on include David Bowie's Young Americans, Bobby Caldwell's What You Won't Do For Love and John Lennon's last two albums, Double Fantasy and Milk and Honey.

Mr. Newmark spoke about how the opportunity to work with the former Beatle John Lennon arose and said: "I first met John Lennon when I was touring with George Harrison in 1974. He knew my work and some of the albums I had worked on.

"My name was in that mix of players who were known by all the big artists. At that time there were about 10 drummers in America doing about 95 percent of all the important big records, and I was one of them. In 1980 John Lennon and his producer hired Hugh McCracken in New York to play guitar on Double Fantasy and they asked him who he liked on drums and Hugh gave my name as one of the people who would be perfect to work on the album."

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Reminiscing about receiving the call to work with one of his childhood heroes Mr. Newmark said: "When the call came to me I was in Italy and I didn't know anything about it because I was on tour in Europe with Roxy Music. My wife called me up and said 'Andrew John Lennon's producer Jack Douglas just called and said he wants to book you on some dates in August for John Lennon's record.

"When I heard that I was so excited I just about jumped off the hotelbalcony! Thankfully the Roxy tour was ending 10 days before the firstsession, otherwise I would never have been able to do the album with John Lennon."

Mr. Newmark said he came to Bermuda to rest up before recording with the legendary Beatle and was here at the same time as Mr. Lennon, but didn't want to interfere with his vacation as he knew he'd be seeing him at The Hit Factory music studio in New York two weeks later where they would record the Double Fantasy and Milk and Honey albums.

Mr. Newmark spoke about the Bermuda connection he and John Lennon shared and said: "John Lennon loved Bermuda. He knew I had come up from there and that I was connected to Bermuda. In fact the first thing he said to me was

'Eh, I've just been in Bermuda and you've just come from there. I've just spent an amazing time there and sailed there and it is so beautiful.' He loved it."

Speaking about his experience in working on the Double Fantasy and the posthumously released Milk and Honey album Mr. Newmark said: "It was fantastic.

"I loved working with him. It was the high point of my life. I was 13 when The Beatles came out it affected my whole life. To be with him and hear Beatles stories and just being in the room with him and just him being such an amazing person, and so down to earth and so nice it was just inspiring and it didn't get any better than that."

Mr. Newmark said Mr. Lennon was clean and sober when he met him and notes: "He was so on the top of his game musically having been sober and straight for four years. He was so together when we met him and so happy about being involved in music again, he was rejuvenated and he was writing great songs again. He got straight, got his feet on the ground, readjusted and when he came back he was on form. He was really on form and making great tunes again."

Mr. Newmark said that at 40 years old John Lennon was ready to tour again and that Mr. Lennon was really happy. "The Double Fantasy record took off out of the box big. That first single, Starting Over, jumped out of the radio and was a really strong come back record. It was all go and people were flipping out that John was back.

"And then it was over on December 8." On December 8, 1980 Mark David

Chapman would shoot John Lennon four times outside Mr. Lennon's apartment

building in New York City, killing him, hours after getting his Double

Fantasy album autographed.

Following the horrific murder Mr. Newmark took a year off from music. Mr.

Newmark talked about the trying time and said: "With John's death my

spirit had been broken. I just felt everything would be a bring down after

working with John and I fell into a deep depression. The depression was

later diagnosed as clinical depression and had to be treated."

Mr. Newmark spoke about returning to the music scene and said: "I returned

to music just as a need to survive and cope financially and just knowing

that's what I love to do."

Once back in the music world Mr. Newmark found himself working with big

names such as Pink Floyd, Bryan Ferry, Eric Clapton and Seal and he has

been going strong ever since.

Mr. Newmark has some words of advice for Bermudian musicians and said: "If

you love doing it, then you must do it and go with the feeling in your

heart. If you can't make a living at music, it doesn't mean you cannot

continue to pursue it, even though you might be working another job. I

just think if you really want to go after the music thing and you really

do love it then you just have to immerse yourself in it. I'm not

encouraging people to leave Bermuda, but I knew I had to leave Bermuda or

I would just be playing calypso music at the Hamilton Princess today. If I

was into calypso that would have been fine, but it was 1968 and I was into

rock and roll and so I went to where the music was. I know it sounds

cliché, but if you really love music, follow your heart."