Two weeks ago, somewhere way out there, beyond the Final Frontier, the stars got a little brighter. The luminescent glow shining above this Earthling Soup known as humanity grew exponentially with the arrival of Andre “Alien Andre” Bosseau.
On Oct. 29, Bosseau, a DJ at WMSE 91.7 FM and champion of local and “interstellar” music for over 40 years, died from cancer. He was 72. Known as DJ Alien Andre, the adored Milwaukeean beamed music in intergalactic shifts of six hours every midnight through 6 a.m. Sunday morning.
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“For 42 years, Andre brought his extraordinary imagination, love of music, and unmistakable spirit to WMSE,” said station manager Tom Crawford. “He joined the station in October 1984, making the Saturday overnight hours – from midnight to 6 a.m. – a universe entirely his own. Through [his radio shows] The Cultural Revolution, The Final Frontier, and Earthling Soup, he welcomed listeners into musical adventures filled with discovery, humor and creativity.
“Like countless WMSE volunteers over the last five decades, I was fortunate to chat with Andre in between DJ shifts, answering phones and various other duties around the station. Though I knew him only as the legend Alien Andre, he was relentlessly kind and supportive to me, always offering positive feedback about my DJ sets. His eyes smiled moments before he spoke as he invariably shared an insightful note about music; I left our conversations feeling lighter, brighter.
He added: “Please read the following love letters to Andre ‘Alien Andre’ Bosseau from those who shared the mic, the music and their lives with him.”
Tim Kallas, WMSE DJ
“You know those very rare people … whose personalities light up a room, who treat everyone like their new best friend? That was Andre Bosseau. He had this amazing quality to connect with people at the soul level from the jump that you don’t find too often in this world. An amazing human … he will always remind me of how I can be better toward my fellow humans.
“Jeff Duris (also, rest in power) once told me, ‘Andre has forgotten more music than he remembers!’ as a testament to the sheer volume of his musical knowledge. After Andre’s diagnosis, when I told him that I had started a music podcast, he encouraged me and was interested as to what kind of music I was doing on it. And this was the essence of Andre: thinking of others and offering support to them, even in his own darkest hour. The heavens and the stars just got a little brighter.”
Paul Host, WMSE DJ since 1981
“Andre and I used to talk as much about truck driving as we did about the radio station. Because he was a truck driver, too – him and his brother. Whenever you saw Andre, it was always good. Always an easygoing guy to talk to, always engaged with other people. I can’t think of anything but positive things about Andre. Just an amazing person. It was a long time that he was on Milwaukee radio. Just a pleasure to be with, a wonderful guy.”
Tom Crawford
“We both started at WMSE the same year, in 1984. Eventually, Andre and I became thick as thieves. He was the best man at my wedding. He would say ‘It’s your brother, from the same mother.’ He meant Earth mother, cuz we’re both from Earth. Andre played music that was artistic and of high value … impactful cultural creativity. He played Mother’s Finest, Sun Ra, Bad Brains, hard bop, old-school rap, and foundational music. He declared The Cultural Revolution, in the year 2000: Every show was a societal lesson tempered with highly pointed constructive critical thinking to make you think about your own reality, how music can change people, engage people and enrage people. It was just total love.
“The Final Frontier was Andre playing from A to Z: One day he said, ‘I’m gonna open the drawer, marked A, and I’m gonna play the whole motherfucking library, and when I’m done, I’m gonna quit.’ And when he passed, he had just reached the back end of the letter T. And whatever letter he was on, he would play a good set of corresponding local music. One of the last things Andre said to me, before he passed on, was this: ‘I’m gonna be out there on this intergalactic journey. I know I’m going to run into my alien space brother Sun Ra, and we’re gonna make some music, me and Ra.’”
WMSE will host a celebration of life for Andre Bosseau at The Cooperage on Nov. 22. You can listen to Bosseau’s archived broadcasts on WMSE’s website.
