Anderson was born to an
Anglo-Caribbean family and was raised in
London. 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 and
progressive rock 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
Steve Hillage, who invited Anderson to perform on two of his own albums in 1979:
Live Herald and
Open. Anderson also worked as a session drummer for
Mother Gong and
Hawkwind. 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 acts, such as
M and
Techno Twins. Smith's main band
The Cure was in the midst of revamping its lineup, as incumbent drummer
Lol Tolhurst 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. In 2012, he was briefly a member of
The Cureheads, a tribute band to The Cure, and also made a guest appearance with
Levinhurst, fronted by his former Cure bandmate Lol Tolhurst. after which he received many accolades from former bandmates and collaborators. ==Partial discography==