Milestone year for established Costa funk and soul band Monkey Tennis

Tony Bryant

Fuengirola

Friday, 4 October 2024, 11:33

The Costa del Sol has gained an admirable reputation over the years for the number of talented expat bands and musicians who have chosen the area to live and work. Although bands come and go, some stay the course and build a reputation for their incredible musicianship and their enduring staying power. One such band is Monkey Tennis, one of the Costa del Sol's most established rock bands who are celebrating their silver anniversary this month with a special concert that will bring together the original members of the lineup for the first time in almost two decades. Although the lineup has changed several times over the years, one of the band's co-founders, Michael Dickinson, is still at the forefront of the group.

Michael, an avid Billy Joel fan, did not make a living with music in the UK (he worked in a hospital), although he began performing regularly in Spain after a trip around Europe looking for "something different".

"I didn't play regularly in the UK like I have ended up doing here. I always had itchy feet to get away and try something new, so I ended up hitching to Spain. I got a lift in an articulated lorry. It was a ridiculous thing to do. It was around this time that I met Stuart Pennington, who is from Liverpool, and this is when we decided to start performing together," Michael tells SUR in English.

Michael, born in Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland in 1978, and Stuart formed Monkey Tennis in Fuengirola in 1999, a time when the town was becoming the centre of the Costa's expat music scene, boasting numerous well-known venues, although, as Michael points out, "not as many bands as there are today".

The two musicians' first instrument was the piano, but at that time they only had guitars, so they decided to form an acoustic duo playing Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Simon and Garfunkel songs.

One year later, the duo discovered British musician Aaron Lowe and he soon joined the band on acoustic bass. At this stage, the three musicians decided to rent a flat together and needed another flatmate to occupy a spare room, which is when drummer Ole Gregersen from Copenhagen moved in and became the band's percussionist.

The group began performing at venues along the coast, including Biddy Mulligans (La Cala de Mijas), Sharkey's (Estepona) and The London Pub and Moochers Jazz Café (Fuengirola), among others, and quickly began to build a reputation as one of the most professional bands on the circuit.

In 2001, Spanish guitarist José Huelga joined and the band began to change style, incorporating electric guitars and keyboards for the first time (and piano when a venue provided one), and also expanding their repertoire to include the music of U2, Pink Floyd and Paul Weller.

The lineup would change on a number of occasions between 2001 and 2010, but the current lineup have remained together for the last 14 years. Today's six-piece band comprises Carl Parry (guitar), Luis Rivas (bass), Bas van de Sant (drums), Chinchi (trumpet), Stefano Tomaselli (sax) and Michael (piano and vocals).

"I would say the style of music of the six-piece band has veered more towards soul and funk in recent years and includes numbers by KC and the Sunshine Band and Stevie Wonder. We also perform as a piano trio playing Billy Joel, Paul Weller and James Taylor," Michael explains.

Although the members have changed, the band has always kept the original name, even though Michael, who has retained a distinctive Northumberland accent, says he has questioned his decision to give the group such an unusual name.

"Monkey Tennis comes from a scene from I'm Alan Partridge, where he is desperately trying to come up with ideas for programmes in order to save his job as presenter on the BBC. Both myself and Stuart had a fondness for Partridge and decided that should be the name. I've regretted it occasionally, but it stuck," he says, laughing.

One of the problems the six-piece band has encountered is finding suitable gigs at small venues, which forced them to switch their focus with regards to live performances.

"We tend to do a lot of weddings these days, because it's difficult to find gigs in bars that pay enough for a full band."

At the moment, Michael is focused on the 25th anniversary concert at Pogs (Fuengirola) on Sunday 13 October.

"The original members are coming over for the weekend. I decided it would be nice to mark 25 years by inviting every musician that has been part of the band over the years to come and play a few numbers. The gig will be a chronological journey through the music and different stages of the band, through the acoustic years up to where we are now. It will be quite nostalgic to be performing with these guys again after all these years," Michael concludes.