Chris Neal (songwriter)

Christopher Hugh Neal (born 1946) is an Australian musician, songwriter, record producer and television and film music composer.[1] He is regarded as one of Australia's most successful screen composers. Some of his most notable scores include Buddies, Bodyline, The Shiralee, Turtle Beach and Farscape. He has also scored and written songs for numerous well-known children's series including Johnson and Friends, Lift-Off, Crash Zone and Noah and Saskia.

For other people with similar names, see Chris Neal (disambiguation).
Chris Neal
Born
Christopher Hugh Neal

1946 (age 73)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Other namesSirclo (stage name)
EducationNorth Sydney Boys High School Sydney University
OccupationMusician, songwriter, television and film composer
Years active1963-present
Board member ofAPRA
Spouse(s)Mary Neal
ChildrenBraedy Neal (son)
Toby Neal (son)
RelativesElizabeth Neal (daughter-in-law)
Henry Neal (grandson)
Alexander Neal (grandson)
Reuben Neal (grandson)

Neal has won several AGSC and APRA awards for his work and was awarded Best Original Music Score at the 1985 AFI Awards for his contribution to the film score for 'Rebel'. Some of Neal's frequent collaborators have included his son - Braedy Neal, Denny Lawrence, Bob Ellis, George Ogilvie, Matt Carroll, Patricia Edgar, Ross Matthews, Richard Brennan and many others.

Early life and career

Neal was born in 1946 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He studied AMEB grades in classical piano and music theory to the age of sixteen. He attended North Sydney Boys High School and in 1964, began an arts degree at Sydney University with majors in music and Indonesian/Malayan studies. During his Uni years, he gigged around Sydney with rock bands - The Showmen and The Powerhouse.

In 1968, he worked extensively on the soundtrack of the Anglo/Australian feature film, Age of Consent with Peter Sculthorpe, writing and producing the majority of the incidental score.

On the eve of completing his degree, Neal suffered a skull fracture during a game of rugby. The resultant Inertia and Tinnitus caused massive hearing loss and sleeplessness which prevented him sitting his final exams. Following a brief convalescence, he joined "The Alpha-Omega Revue" and headed off to the Vietnam War zone, entertaining US troops for several months in 1968-9.

While in Vietnam, he began writing what was intended to be the world's first rock musical, "Man-Child". However, by the time he had returned to Australia, the American show 'Hair' was already in the headlines.

Nevertheless, he packaged the show and presented it at the Sydney Showground in the world's first "bubble" air-inflated theatre (financed by his brother, developer James Neal). The season was cut short when a freak storm picked up a design fault in the plastic theatre and destroyed it. So the whole company (25 people in all) set off on a national capital city tour.

The tour was successful, breaking box office records in several cities and a "Man-Child" soundtrack album was recorded for the then fledgling M7 record company. This caused Neal to turn his attentions for a time to the development of his skills as a record producer and sound engineer, while continuing to work as a songwriter and composer.

In 1974, he recorded his second album, an instrumental rock LP called Winds of Isis. This record created widespread interest and is a highly sought after collector's item today. The album peaked at number 74 in Australia.[2] The multi-layered keyboard and guitar instrumentation was composed, performed and arranged by Neal. Following this, he worked the Sydney scene as a session keyboardist and performed on literally hundreds of advertising and film soundtracks.

In 1978, Neal composed a complete score for Fritz Lang's silent movie masterpiece, Metropolis. The score was created using the massive Roland System-700 and MC-8 data entry device. (The MC-8 was the world's first fully functioning digital music sequencer). The score was performed live with the movie around several venues in Sydney. A cinema release with synchronised score was in development when Giorgio Moroder announced the release of his version and the local movie producer withdrew, cancelling the project.

In 1980, Neal again used the Roland system to create an electronic soundtrack for the feature film - Crosstalk. The score was released on vinyl and is still available today.

As a record producer

During the seventies Neal produced records for the likes of the Marshall Brothers Band, the Nick Boston band, John Currie, Slim De Grey, Frankie Davidson and Lester Coombs.

He produced Bob Hudson's smash hit "The Newcastle Song" and Maureen Elkner's hit single "Rak Off Normie", (co-written by Hudson and Neal).

As a screen composer

Neal's screen composer credits date from the late 1970s and include The Shiralee, Bodyline, Buddies, Rebel, Archer, Shadow of The Cobra and Emerald City.

During the 1980s, Neal scored several films from the "Winners" series of telemovies, produced by Patricia Edgar of the Australian Children's Television Foundation. Five Times Dizzy, produced by Tom Jeffrey followed soon after. These projects kickstarted what would be a recurring part of his career; scoring and writing songs for children's television dramas including the timeless Johnson and Friends, Lift-Off, Kaboodle, Li'l Elvis and the Truckstoppers and more. Neal's songs and music were also featured in stage shows based on "Johnson and Friends", and in 1995-1996, Neal wrote the music for "Lift Off Live"; a stage musical based on the "Lift-Off" television series.

Feature film and television projects continued through the 1990s and 2000s, including Pacific Drive, Foreign Exchange and many more.

Personal life and current activities

In 1971, Neal met his future wife Mary, who was to become a member of the Man-Child cast. They married in 1974 and have two sons; Braedy and Toby, who are themselves accomplished musicians with successful careers in the business. Chris and Braedy collaborated on many projects for many years including Jim Henson's Farscape.

Neal has worked frequently with Bob Ellis and Denny Lawrence on several musicals throughout the 1990s and 2000s. These include "Neon Street" (also known as "Man - The Musical" and "The Big Smoke") and "High Time", a story about the 1979 Sydney Ghost Train fire at Luna Park. Both of these shows were written as vehicles for the acclaimed performer Philip Quast, who has lent his voice to many of the songs. These recordings still exist as unpublished demonstration tracks.

In 2018, Neal donated his music archive to independent historian and archivist Joseph Marshall, who Neal has mentored for many years. Marshall has taken up the responsibility of preserving and digitising Chris Neal's vast catalogue. Marshall has also sourced many of Neal's early screen works for a planned future YouTube Channel.

Recently, Neal has taken a step back from film scoring to write and release his own, independent rock-based songs under the pseudonym Sirclo. the first of these projects, "Songs for an Empty Street", was released digitally in 2018. Two follow-up albums are due for release in 2021 - "High Time - Songs From The Musical" and "70s Unreleased" (a re-mastering of a dozen songs written and recorded in the 70s).

Film and television credits

Discography
  • "Man-Child" (1972) - musical cast recording.
  • "Winds of Isis" (1974) - solo progressive rock album.
  • "The Newcastle Song" (1974) (Bob Hudson) [as Producer]
  • "Darwin Opera House Appeal" (1975) [as co producer]
  • "The Marshall Bros." (1975) [as Producer]
  • "Benny and the Jets" (1975) [as Producer]
  • "Rak Off Normie" (1975) (Maureen Elkner) [as Producer and writer]
  • "The Word Was Gough" (1975) [as Producer and writer]
  • "Tasmanian Military Tattoo" (1976) [as Producer]
  • "Picnic at Hanging Rock" (1976) (Nolan/Buddle Quartet) [as Producer]
  • "Steph. 'n' Us" 1977 (Stéphane Grappelli) [as Producer]
  • "Great Hits of Scotland" (1977) (John McDonald) [as Producer]
  • "Francis Butler" (1978) [as Producer]
  • "Hokum Ensemble" (1978) [as Producer]
  • "Rod Boucher" (1980) [as Producer]
  • "Crosstalk" (1981) - movie soundtrack.
  • "Buddies" (1984) - movie soundtrack.
  • "Turtle Beach" (1991) - movie soundtrack.
  • "An Afternoon with Johnson and Friends" (1992) - children's album based on a popular television series.
  • Seven soundtrack recordings for "Lift Off" ranging from 1992-1995 - children's television soundtracks.
  • "Heartland" (1994) - television soundtrack.
  • "Johnson and Friends - Making Music" (1994) - children's television soundtrack.
  • "Lift-Off Live - Songs from the Musical" (1995) - children's musical cast recording.
  • "Songs from Li'l Elvis Jones and the Truckstoppers" (1998) - children's television soundtrack.
  • "Farscape" (2001) - television soundtrack.
  • "Themes" (2005) - a compilation of popular movie and television themes.
  • "Cooling Pond" (2008) - independent project, co written with fellow composer Ian Davidson.
  • "Songs For an Empty Street" (2018) - alternative/indie rock album under the name Sirclo.

References
  1. Sounds Australian: Australian Music Centre Journal 1990 INTERVIEW From Midi to 80-Piece Orchestras: Chris Neal, Film Composer Michael Atherton "Chris Neal is a leading feature film composer. He studied classical piano and theory, jazz and orchestration"
  2. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 213. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
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