B I O G R A P H Y


JANUARY 2020

Delve into Neil's history via press cutttings, photographs and promotional posters.

A massive THANK YOU to Angela Cousins for the Euphoria press cuttings xx

NEIL'S INTERNET 'VIRAL' SUCCESS + MORE...
...coming soon!

1980's

EARLY YEARS


Neil realised his passion for singing at an early age, initially inspired by his favourite group ABBA.
He became part of the school choir and in 1982, aged 14, made his stage debut in the annual concert - proudly being their first ever solo male singer.
He performed I Write The Songs, Bermuda Triangle, and One Of Us backed by the school orchestra.

1986

TALENT CONTEST


In 1986 Neil won first place in a talent contest at Birmingham's Nightingale Club which led to a mini tour throughout Birmingham's clubs & pubs.
Click to Enlarge
He released his first recordings on a 4-track cassette which featured Love Letters, Only You, As Good As New, and Is This Love? and he also got the chance to perform live supporting Hazell Dean who was enjoying chart success at that time.

THE BIZ - 1991 & 1992

In 1991 Neil became a member of seven piece band The Biz.
After various local gigs they were chosen from over 7000 entries to represent England in the '91 Gibraltar Song Festival, where they reached 3rd place.

Incidently, 'The Biz' line-up also included keyboard player Mark Peach, with whom Neil would later join forces...
Article: 24th January 1992

EUPHORIA - 1993

Neil and former The Biz keyboardist Mark Peach began working together as duo 'Euphoria' early in 1993 and it proved to be an incredibly busy year, which the local press documented...
Article: 16th April 1993
Euphoria won the Marine public house talent competition, and their increasing profile and busy local gig schedule led to their first summer season at Great Yarmouth's Winter Gardens.

Singer Rose-Marie invited the duo to support her weekly summer shows at Yarmouth's Wellington Pier theatre too.
They also supported emerging boybands Worlds Apart and Let Loose at the Coca Cola Roadshow which visited Lowestoft in Suffolk, amongst other UK locations.
Article: 23rd July 1993
The duo also appeared at Noel Edmonds Garden Party at Haydock Park in the UK's Merseyside, and released their first ever single 'the ep' on CD and cassette, which featured the popular song Never Never.
Article: August 1993
Written by Vince Clarke of Depeche Mode, Yazoo, & Erasure , Never Never would later give Euphoria a number 1 radio hit in the former Soviet Union...

EUPHORIA - 1994

Early in 94 Neil & Mark embarked on a 5 week tour of the Ukranian capital Kiev, where they also scored a no. 1 radio hit with Never Never.
Article: 28th Jan 1994

EUPHORIA - 1995

By 1995 the duo had secured their 3rd summer season at Great Yarmouth's Winter Gardens and were also the supporting act for comedian Jim Davidson in his midnight shows throughout the summer.

NEIL - 1996

In 1996, during his continued success as part of pop duo Euphoria, Neil landed a lead role in the musical Chess, a production by The Lowestoft Players which was staged at the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft, Suffolk.

Neil played the part of Russian Chess champion Anatoly Sergievski in the musical, which was written by Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson of ABBA fame.
Article: 24th May 1996

EUPHORIA - 1997

1997 saw Euphoria continuing Live gigs around East Anglia.
Article: 1994

EUPHORIA - 2003

Euphoria were still perfoming to audiences around Norfolk, with occasional mentions in the local press:Article: 4th December 2003

EUPHORIA - 2007

Euphoria announced they would no longer perform together on the live circuit for the forseeable future...

Since mid 2007 work commitments outside of the band meant the duo were increasingly unable to gig together, so vocalist Neil began to perform as a solo act.

By late 2007 the growth in regular bookings for Neil's solo act, combined with Mark's other work commitments, meant both members of Euphoria decided the time was right to end on a high.

They offered their sincerest thanks for all the incredible support they'd received over their 14 years together.

2007

NEIL - SOLO

Neil played his first SOLO gig at The Barking Smack in Great Yarmouth using his own powerful sound System.
Barking Smack

2009

CHESS - THE MUSICAL... AGAIN!

Neil was overjoyed to return to a lead role in a local production of the musical CHESS.
Click to view poster
Written by Benny & Bjorn from ABBA fame, the show was staged by The Lowestoft Players at the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft from 19th - 23rd May 2009.
Article: 13th April 2009
Playing the part of 'The Russian' Anatoly Sergievsky, this was Neil's 2nd time in this role after impressing the critics back in 1996.

2010

BROADWAY HITS!

Neil, along with several other local soloists, joined The Chorus of St Cecilia in concerts at Gorleston Pavilion for 3 successive nights in March 2010.
Click to view poster
Amongst the hits from stage and screen Neil performed 'Anthem' & 'You and I' from Chess plus a selection from 'Miss Saigon', 'Les Miserables' and more!
Article: March 2010

2011

SOME ENCHANTED EVENING!

Neil returned to join The Chorus of St Cecilia in a special production of Broadway's most popular songs!
Amongst the hits from stage and screen, Neil also performed several solo numbers!
Click to view poster
The concerts took place at the beautiful Gorleston Pavilion on 24th, 25th and 26th March 2011.

2012

SHOWSTOPPERS!

Neil returned to join The Chorus of St Cecilia in a production of 'Showstoppers' from the hit shows of Broadway including 'My Fair Lady', 'West Side Story', 'Annie', '42nd Street', 'Mary Poppins', and more! Neil also performed several solo numbers!
Click to view poster
The concert played at Gorleston Pavilion on Thursday 22nd / Friday 23rd / Saturday 24th March 2012.

2013:

TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT!

Neil joined The Chorus of St Cecilia again in a special production of 'Tonight's The Night' from the hit shows of Broadway and the West End including 'Guys And Dolls', 'Joseph', 'Carousel', 'The Lion King' and many more!
Click to view poster
These annual concerts took place at Gorleston Pavilion on 7th, 8th and 9th March 2013.

2013

TURN BACK TIME


On 26th October 2013 Neil joined the newly-formed Turn Back Time - a dynamic cast of singers, dancers and musicians to perform the very best of popular music from the past, live in concert.

Click To Enlarge With a mixture of top 40 hits, songs from the movies and 80's West End Show tunes, the cast performed the hits of Yazoo, Cher, Irene Cara, the Pointer Sisters, ABC, Michael Jackson, Madonna and more! Click To Enlarge

2014

A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING!

Neil once again joined The Chorus of St Cecilia in a special production 'A Grand Night For Singing' from the hit shows of Broadway and the West End including 'My Fair Lady', 'Miss Saigon', 'Hello Dolly!', 'Mamma Mia!' and more!
Click to view poster
This concert was staged at Gorleston Pavilion on 20th, 21st, and 22nd March 2014.

2014

TURN BACK TIME...AGAIN


Due to public demand Neil and the Turn Back Time team returned once again to visit the party decade on Saturday 10th May 2014.
Click To Enlarge
Returning once again to the wonderfully restored St. George's Theatre in Great Yarmouth it was "A perfect evening of 80's nostalgia"

2015

SHELTER ft. NEIL FRANCIS


Neil was ecstatic to release his first single "Connected (put your hands up)".

Written and produced by SHELTER - the pop duo who had recently worked with ERASURE star ANDY BELL - writing and producing his recent solo album iPOP.
© Ministry of Pop 2015

Connected is an uplifting and hopeful song of human unity, and its lyrics echo the spirit and shared joy of Neil's phenomenally popular impromptu London tube performance.
Captured on video on Kentish Town underground station in December 2014, the footage went 'viral' - launching Neil as an internet 'Superstar'.

The official video to accompany this release was produced & directed by Ryan Lovejoy, and was filmed entirely in Great Yarmouth including St George's theatre, Britannia pier, North Quay, and Breydon Water.

2015:

TONIGHT ON BROADWAY!

In March 2015 Neil performed once again with The Chorus of St Cecilia and other soloists in a local production 'Tonight On Broadway'.Click to view poster
This annual concert continues to be a popular staple of Neil's vocal work outside of electronic music, and showcasing his love for musical theatre.

2015

NORMAL, STRANGE & FABULOUS:


Neil was delighted to join SHELTER live on stage to perform Connected (Put Your Hands Up) in London on 24th April 2015.

SHELTER also performed songs from their albums Emerge and iPOP.
Click to view poster
Electronic artist JOHNNY NORMAL also performed, and comedian/singer GARY LE STRANGE completed the lineup of this "Evening of synthetic mirth, merriment and music".

2015

'GHOST' SINGLE RELEASED:


Neil released a new solo single Ghost (I Surrender), written and recorded by his long-time friend Derrick Ryder (DEK101) and produced by Day Clifford (DAYSOUND).
Sleeve Design: Derrick Ryder  This release is still available for download from iTunes, Amazon, and all other digital music stores.

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