MONKEYPOX's long, strange story really began when Johnson Jackson, already a solo singing sensation in Guinea, met Junior Bevel at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. Bevel was competing as a member of the first Arubian bobsled team, whose triumph is well documented in the film "Cold Running's". The two became great friends and wrote a book together. The book was a smash success, but tragically the two were kidnapped by a group of French radicals while on a European press junket for the book. One of the radicals, an orphan named Maurier Debbouze, took pity on the celebrities and helped orchestrate their escape. This put the Frenchman at odds with the radicals, and a price is on his head to this day. In order to stay afloat and under the radar, the trio traveled the European countryside performing as a mariachi band.

    Sometime in 1999 a Spaniard overheard the group and approached them. His name was Santiago Sanchez. At the time, his English was not good, so when he asked if he could join in on a harmony, he was not understood and politely ignored. Despite this rejection, Sanchez followed the band across Europe for several months until they decided to put him behind a drum kit. Thus, MONKEYPOX was born.

    Honing their skills, first as a Rockabilly act, then as a New Age, studio-only group, and finally settling on a hybrid of Country, House, Bachata and the Blues, the group was discovered by Father Bloopy of Dippy Records and signed immediately. Their debut album, "Hey, That's MY Wife! Get Your Own!", went Platinum in 13 countries and heralded the birth of Poxmania. The follow up album, "For Lovers Only", did the debut one better, introducing the banjo styling of Red Redding. It sold 57 million copies in the U.S. alone, making MONKEYPOX the best selling musical group of all time. The band has spent the years fast becoming the premier live act all over the world, and in the Summer of 2004, began it's AAAHHH!!! Tour, which was the most elaborately staged concert of all time. Costing 250 million dollars to put together, the production included elephants, pyrotechnics, motorcycle jumps, a troupe of singing mice, cotton candy and floating platforms for the band to play on that circle around the arena.

   In 2005, the band began preparations to re-release their debut album as a 5th anniversary celebration. Unfortunately, the band could not secure the original masters, and instead opted to re-record the debut and add a few surprises. The band was dealt a cruel blow, however, when their drummer Santiago Sanchez was murdered in cold blood by a french radical who mistook Sanchez for Monkeypox guitarist Maurier Debbouze. A huge wake was held in Spain for the slain musician, and during this time, Junior Bevel encountered a Saudi Arabian reporter by the name of Ahmed Imo-Tep covering the story. He overheard the reporter tapping on his notepad with a pen, and his remarkable sense of rhythm struck Bevel in a very weird way. Imo-Tep was immediately recruited as the new drummer for Monkeypox. This new outfit decided to fulfill their promise to remake the album, and history was made. Plans are now set to re-record "For Lovers Only", as well as work on their upcoming third album, "Impressivo".

But sadly, the third album never came to fruit and Monkeypox was not meant to be. The group decided to take a split after filming their motion picture In Limbo resulted in their drummer Ahmed Imo-Tep missing. In fact, the part of Ahmed Imo-Tep was played by the movies costume designer Frank MacBride the Third who convincingly looked very much like Ahmed Imo-Tep until the end.

A surprise and brief reunion (albeit, with drummer Alvarez Sanchez, Santiago's cousin) took place during 2006's Dippy Fest to the shock and aww of the crowd.

MONKEYPOX TIMELINE

1971: Santiago Sanchez born in Madrid, Spain. (July 4)

1973: Johnson Jackson born in Conakry, Guinea. (February 20)

Junior Bevel born in the Bronx, NYC U.S.A. (August 26)

1974: Ahmed Imo-Tep born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (April 20)

1980: Maurier Debbouze born in Bergen, Norway. (December 25)

Johnson Jackson runs away from home at age 7.

1983: Johnson Jackson appears in his first film role as a paperboy in the German comedy, "Schauen Sie Mich Mag nicht An, Dass Oder Sonst ich Sie Töten Werde. " (Don't Look At Me Like That Or Else I'll Kill You). He is only on camera for 2.65 seconds. He would also appear in three other films this year. Two of those appearances were uncredited and his name was misspelled in the credits of the other film.

1984: Johnson Jackson appears in the biggest role of his acting career as Kid #3 in the first and only Communist Erotic Comedy "Слушать" (Listen). He is on screen for 3 minutes and 48 seconds.

Junior Bevel tries but fails at competing in the Summer Olympics as a runner. He receives fairly positive scores at tryouts but fails largely because of "funny looks" he allegedly made at a female judge.

1985: Maurier Debbouze attempts suicide for the first time at the age of 5. He drinks a gallon bottle of bleach but it strangely has no effect on him.

1986: Ahmed Imo-Tep hears the Bon Jovi single, "Livin On A Prayer" and immediately attempts to persuade his parents to get him a drum set.

Johnson Jackson writes his first songs. Some of the titles included:
"Je Déteste Agir" (I Hate Acting)"Il n'y a pas d'Endroit Comme là-bas" (There's No Place Like Over There)"Je suis Très Triste" (I'm Very Sad)
"Cela est UN Poisson" (That's A Fish)"Est-Cela Votre Mère ?" (Is That Your Mother?)

Johnson's first single, "Sucer Mes Balles" (Suck My Balls) w/ B-side "Donner Lui Soutient" (Give It Back) is released and becomes a number 3 hit in Guinea. It charts at number 28 in France and number 52 in New Zealand. All of Johnson's compositions as a solo artist are released by the Republic of Guinea's government run music program, which is the only existing "record label" in Guinea.

1987: Maurier Debbouze attempts suicide once again by hijacking a trolley and running it into oncoming traffic. 5 were killed, 10 were badly injured. Maurier, much to his own dismay was unharmed.

Johnson Jackson once again charts in Guinea at number 9 with the single “Ne pas Faire Telles Accusations" (Don’t Make Such Accusations) w/ B-side "Ce n'est pas O K. c'Est O Gai." (It's Not OK, It's O-Gay). Later in the year he scores with the number 6 single “J'Aime les Cerf-volants" (I Like Kites) w/ B-side "Me dire quelque chose je ne Sais pas" (Tell Me Something I Don't Know).

Junior Bevel begins training with the members of what would come to be known as the first bobsled team from Aruba.

1988: Junior Bevel competes in the Winter Olympic Games in Calgary and does not do well. Aruba finishes second to last place, but only because the Jamaican team fails to finish the race. Johnson Jackson manages to appear at the games to sing the Guinea National Anthem, "Liberté" (Liberty), as well as his current single “Ma mère n'est pas votre ami" (My Mother Is Not Your Friend). Johnson meets Junior Bevel at a portable food vendor and invites Bevel to Guinea with promises of willing women and untold riches.

Ahmed Imo-Tep frames his mother for arson and causes a minor controversy in world news. The judge becomes aware of the young man's plot but sentences Ahmed's mother anyway, citing "...the impeccable planning and precision of the framing." in his judgement. Ahmed becomes interested in journalism after being questioned by reporters.

1989: Johnson and Junior begin to work on what would become "A Trace of Evil" 5 years later.

Maurier gives up suicide altogether, preferring to kill other people.

1993: After a five year hiatus, Johnson Jackson returns to recording with his most successful solo single to date, "Je suis Ecrivain Si Pourquoi je Devrait Maintenant Est Chantant Même Cette espèce de Chanson ? " (I'm A Writer Now So Why Should I Even Be Singing This F*****g Song?) w/ B-side "La musique Suce" (Music Sucks). It charts at number 2 in Guinea. It also makes a showing on the UK charts at number 98.

1994: Ahmed Imo-Tep begins his studies in investigative and entertainment journalism at Wash U in Washington.

Maurier Debbouze joins the small French radical group Le gouvernement Suce l'Ane (Government Sucks Ass). His first assignment is to assassinate two French politicians. Instead, he kills 24 senior citizens in a completely different location.

"A Trace Of Evil" is released to public and critical acclaim. It rises to the top of the New York Times Best-Sellers List for four weeks.

1995: Johnson Jackson and Junior Bevel are kidnapped by Le Gouvernement Suce l'Ane and held hostage for 20 days while the world holds it's collective breath. Maurier orchestrates their escape and publicly renounces his affiliation with the group. A price is put on his head. To this day the price is undisclosed. The three go under the radar for the protection of Maurier and wear disguises as a traveling mariachi band in order to survive. They continue to perform in this fashion for 4 years.

1998: Ahmed Imo-Tep completes his studies with honors and returns home to find his mother released from prison. He immediately frames her for a bank robbery.

...to be continued