Neil Conti (born 12 February 1959) is an English drummer and music producer best known as a member of the English pop band

Prefab Sprout Prefab Sprout are an English pop band from Witton Gilbert, County Durham who rose to fame during the 1980s. Formed in 1978 by brothers Paddy and Martin McAloon and joined by vocalist, guitarist and keyboard player Wendy Smith in 1982, they r ...

(1983–1993, 2000). As an in-demand session drummer, he has collaborated with acts such as

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

Annie Lennox Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the New wave music, new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician D ...

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

Level 42 Level 42 is an English jazz-funk band formed on the Isle of Wight in 1979. They had a number of UK and worldwide hits during the 1980s and 1990s. Their highest-charting single in the UK was " Lessons in Love", which reached number three on the ...

Laurie Anderson Laurel Philips Anderson (born June 5, 1947), known as Laurie Anderson, is an American avant-garde artist, composer, musician, and film director whose work spans performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and ...

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his disti ...

Paul Young Paul Antony Young (born 17 January 1956) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Formerly the frontman of the short-lived bands Kat Kool & the Kool Cats, Streetband and Q-Tips, he became a teen idol with his solo success in the 1980s. ...

Youssou N'dour Youssou N'Dour (, wo, Yuusu Nduur; also known as Youssou Madjiguène Ndour; born 1 October 1959) is a Senegalese singer, songwriter, musician, composer, occasional actor, businessman, and politician. In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine describe ...

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

, Robert Palmer,

Deep Forest Deep Forest is a French musical group originally consisting of two French musicians, Michel Sanchez and Éric Mouquet. They compose a style of world music, sometimes called ethnic electronica, mixing ethnic with electronic sounds and dance ...

and

Will Young William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is a British singer-songwriter and actor who came to prominence after winning the 2002 Pop Idol (series 1), inaugural series of the ITV (TV network), ITV talent contest ''Pop Idol'', making him the f ...

Early career

Born to musically-orientated parents, the six-year-old Conti was trained as a classical pianist at their encouragement. He became interested in performing after seeing his cousin

Morgan Fisher Stephen Morgan Fisher (born 1 January 1950) is an English keyboard player and composer, and is most known as a member of Mott the Hoople in the early 1970s. However, his career has covered a wide range of musical activities, and he is still ac ...

onstage as

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

ist for

Mott the Hoople Mott the Hoople were an English rock band formed in Herefordshire. Originally known as the Doc Thomas Group, the group changed their name after signing with Island Records in 1969. The band released albums throughout the early 1970s but fail ...

, feeling it looked like "much more fun than doing four hours of piano scales every day". Twelve years old at the time and inspired by the band's drummer,

Dale Griffin Terence Dale "Buffin" Griffin (24 October 1948 – 17 January 2016) was an English drummer and a founding member of 1970s rock band Mott the Hoople. Later, he worked as a producer, and produced many of the BBC Radio 1 John Peel sessions from 19 ...

, he started playing drums and, over the next few years, gained some drumming experience with numerous local rock bands while showing an interest in jazz and soul music. After completing a diploma in graphic design, he moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where his musical apprenticeship included a range of styles such as

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

, calypso and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

. Among the early bands in which he drummed were

Linx Linx or LINX may refer to: * Linx Cargo Care Group, Australian logistics company * Linx (railway company), a now defunct Norwegian-Swedish railway company * Linx (software house), a Brazilian business management software company * LINX (IPC), an ...

, Tropicana Steel Band, Kokomo and Combo Passe as well as various recording sessions with such artists such as

Pauline Black Belinda Magnus (born 23 October 1953), better known as Pauline Black (), is an English singer, actress and author. In a music career spanning over 40 years, Black came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead singer of the 2 Tone ska reviva ...

and

Carl Douglas Carlton George Douglas (born 10 May 1942) is a Jamaican recording artist based in the UK who is best known for the 1974 disco single "Kung Fu Fighting". Early life Carlton George Douglas was born in Kingston, Colony of Jamaica. He later liv ...

. In a 1988 interview, he listed

Stix Hooper Stix or STIX may refer to: People * Stix Hooper (born 1938), American jazz musician * Gary Stix, American journalist * Thomas H. Stix (1924–2001), American physicist * Christine Stix-Hackl (born 1957), Austrian jurist Arts and entertainment ...

of the Crusaders and Ronnie "Diamond" Hoard of

Ohio Players Ohio Players is an American funk band, most popular in the 1970s. They are best known for their songs "Fire (Ohio Players song), Fire" and "Love Rollercoaster", and for their erotic album covers that featured nude or nearly nude women. Many of t ...

as among his drumming influences. In late 1983, Conti joined Prefab Sprout as drummer after hearing

Paddy McAloon Patrick Joseph McAloon (born 7 June 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and a founder of the band Prefab Sprout. Early life McAloon was born and grew up in Witton Gilbert in County Durham, England. He was trained to be a Catholic priest bef ...

being interviewed on Richard Skinner's show on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

and calling the office of

Kitchenware Records Kitchenware Records was an independent record label based in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, UK. It was founded in 1982 by Keith Armstrong, Paul Ludford and Phil Mitchell, and was originally part of The Soul Kitchen, an artist collective a ...

to offer his services. He remained a member of the band for the next decade and featured on their successful studio albums ''

Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1 ...

'', ''

From Langley Park to Memphis ''From Langley Park to Memphis'' is the third studio album by English pop band Prefab Sprout. It was released by Kitchenware Records on 14 March 1988. It peaked at number five on the UK Albums Chart, the highest position for any studio album relea ...

'', ''

Protest Songs A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. Among social mov ...

'' and '' Jordan: The Comeback''. With Prefab Sprout, he toured the UK and Europe and was acting as the band's live MD by 1990. Conti considered ''Protest Songs'' a personal highlight, declaring "I would also probably put it up there near the top if someone asked which drumming performances I have been happiest with. It's one of the few albums I have done where I can bear to listen without flinching from 'hearing that bit that I could've done better'". Conti did not appear on ''

Andromeda Heights ''Andromeda Heights'' is the sixth studio album by the English pop group Prefab Sprout. It was released by Kitchenware Records on 2 May 1997. It peaked at number 7 in the UK Albums Chart. " A Prisoner of the Past" and "Electric Guitars" were als ...

'' (1997), Prefab Sprout's sixth album that followed several years of inactivity, but he rejoined the band for their 2000 tour. During his tenure with Prefab Sprout, Conti also became a session musician, playing on records by many well known artists. He backed

in 1985 sessions that produced " Absolute Beginners" and "That’s Motivation". He featured on further Bowie recordings – "

Dancing in the Street "Dancing in the Street" is a song written by Marvin Gaye, William "Mickey" Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter. It first became popular in 1964 when recorded by Martha Reeves & The Vandellas whose version reached No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 ...

" with

, " Chilly Down" and " Thru' These Architects Eyes" – and played in Bowie's band for his

Live Aid Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...

set in July 1985. In late 1987, Conti performed with

on their USA tour after Phil Gould departed the band. In 1993, he released ''Funky Drums From Hell'', an album of soul grooves intended for sampling.

Backstage Club

In 1989 Neil Conti and Raye Cosbert (who later become promoter of

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. The debut Massive Attack album ''Blue Lines'' was release ...

and manager of

Amy Winehouse Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz. A membe ...

) started "Backstage", a live bi-weekly music club for artists to meet and jam together. Neil's motivation was the closing of the famous

Speakeasy Club The Speakeasy Club, also known as The Speak, was a club situated at 48 Margaret Street, London, England, and served as a late-night meeting place for the music industry from 1966 to June 1978. The club took its name and theme from the speakeasie ...

- a popular watering hole for London musicians to meet up. The club was based at the Borderline in

Charing Cross Road Charing Cross Road is a street in central London running immediately north of St Martin-in-the-Fields to St Giles Circus (the intersection with Oxford Street) and then becomes Tottenham Court Road. It leads from the north in the direction of ...

, later moving to the

Jazz Café The Jazz Cafe is a music venue in Camden Town, London. It opened in 1990 on the former premises of a branch of Barclays Bank and has had several owners throughout its history as a music venue. In 2020 the Jazz Cafe celebrates its 30th year, h ...

in Camden. The club spawned many imitations in the

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

area and became a hotbed of talent and A&R men, launching the careers of Ronnie Jordan,

Seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

Keziah Jones Keziah Jones (born Olufemi Sanyaolu on 10 January 1968) is a Nigerian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He describes his musical style as "Blufunk", which is a fusion between raw blues elements and hard, edgy funk rhythms. Also his Nigerian roo ...

Juliet Roberts Juliet Roberts (born 6 May 1962) is a British jazz, Rock music, rock, Soul music, soul and house music singer of Grenada, Grenadian descent. Career Roberts was born in London, England. She originally recorded as Julie Roberts in 1982, and per ...

and

D-Influence D'Influence (also D-Influence and D*Influence) is a British production team and acid jazz band. Formerly of The Echo Label, they founded their own label, Freakstreet Records. Original members include Kwame Kwaten, Sarah-Ann Webb, Ed Baden-Powell, ...

among others. The club was featured in an

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

documentary and recorded a live CD, sponsored by

Levi's Levi Strauss & Co. () is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's () brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, to o ...

. Neil terminated the club in 1992 due to time constraints and conflicts with his session work.

Present

Following a move to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 2001, Conti opened a recording studio in

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

, where he produces artists. Still an active drummer, he frequently travels to London to work or, alternatively, provides drum tracks by internet from his studio in France. The studio,
Minimoon
is staffed by him and recording engineer Jeff Fernandez.

Selected credits

* ''You're My Number One'' - Nils Landgren (1985) * '' Absolute Beginners: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' -

(1986) * ''

Boat to Bolivia ''Boat to Bolivia'' is the debut album from Martin Stephenson and the Daintees Martin Stephenson & the Daintees are a British rock/folk/pop band combining elements of "rockabilly, show tunes, rootsy pop, straight-ahead rock and punk". The ...

'' -

Martin Stephenson and the Daintees Martin Stephenson & the Daintees are a British rock/folk/pop band combining elements of "rockabilly, show tunes, rootsy pop, straight-ahead rock and punk". The band is fronted by songwriter/guitarist Martin Stephenson. Career The band were ...

(1986) * ''

Hello Angel ''Hello Angel'' is the seventh and final studio album by British singer Sandie Shaw, released in 1988. Album background Shaw had released a couple of singles in the late 1970s on the CBS label, but did not show a serious interest in making addi ...

'' -

Sandie Shaw Sandie may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Sandie Clair (born 1988), French professional racing cyclist * Sandie Fitzgibbon, Irish former camogie player * Sandie Jones (1950/1951–2019), Irish singer * Sandie Lindsay, 1st Baron Lindsay of Birker (1879 ...

(1988) * ''Surprise'' -

Syd Straw Syd Straw (born 1958) is an American rock singer and songwriter. The daughter of actor Jack Straw (''The Pajama Game''), she began her career singing backup for Pat Benatar, then took her distinct voice to the indie/alternative scene and joined ...

(1989) * ''

Trading Secrets with the Moon ''Trading Secrets with the Moon'' is the third studio album by rock band The Adventures, released in 1989. It failed to capitalise on the previous album's success and contained no hit singles. The album itself reached #64 on the UK Albums Cha ...

'' -

The Adventures The Adventures were a Northern Irish rock/pop band, formed in Belfast in 1984 who had a number of hits during the 1980s and early 1990s. The band moved to London where they signed to Chrysalis Records and released their first single in 198 ...

(1989) * ''The Same Sky'' -

Horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

(1990) * '' Uncertain Pleasures'' - Mary Coughlan (1990) * '' Other Voices'' -

(1990) * ''Dreamworld'' - Steve Booker (1990) * '' Hoodoo'' -

Alison Moyet Geneviève Alison Jane Ballard ( ; born 18 June 1961) is an English singer noted for her powerful bluesy contralto voice. She came to prominence as half of the duo Yazoo (also known as Yaz), but has since mainly worked as a solo artist. Her ...

(1991) * ''Le Manteau de pluie'' -

Jean-Louis Murat Jean-Louis Murat (born 28 January 1952) is the pseudonym of the French singer/songwriter Jean-Louis Bergheaud. He spent much of his childhood with his grandparents in Murat-le-Quaire from which he got his pseudonym. Biography Jean-Louis Berghea ...

(1991) * ''Ser de Agua'' -

Presuntos Implicados Presuntos Implicados was a Spanish pop band, created in March 1983 in Yecla, Murcia. The band was originally composed of the siblings Sole Giménez and Juan Luis Giménez, and their friend Pablo Gómez. In the same year 1983, they won a radio ...

(1991) * ''

Whaler A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...

'' - Sophie B. Hawkins (1994) * ''

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...

'' -

(1995) * '' Feeler'' -

Marcella Detroit Marcella Levy (born June 21, 1952), known professionally as Marcy Levy and (later in her career) Marcella Detroit, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She co-wrote the 1977 Eric Clapton hit "Lay Down Sally" and released her debut al ...

(1996) * ''Elena'' -

Maggie Reilly Maggie Reilly (born 15 September 1956) is a Scottish singer best known for her collaborations with the composer and instrumentalist Mike Oldfield. Most notably, she performed lead vocals on the Oldfield songs " Family Man", "Moonlight Shadow", ...

(1996) * '' Am I the Kinda Girl?'' -

Cathy Dennis Catherine Roseanne Dennis (born 25 March 1969)Gregory, Andy (2002) ''International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002'', Europa; , p. 133 is a British singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. She was the vocalist for D Mob, which had the su ...

(1996) * ''

Comparsa A comparsa is a group of singers, musicians and dancers that take part in carnivals and other festivities in Spain and Latin America. Its precise meaning depends on the specific regional celebration. The most famous comparsas are those that parti ...

'' - Deep Forest III (1998) * ''

Live the Life ''Live the Life'' is an album by Michael W. Smith. One notable song on this album was "In My Arms Again," which Michael W. Smith wrote for the film ''Titanic''. There were 26 songs written and completed for the album, whose release date was push ...

'' -

Michael W. Smith Michael Whitaker Smith (born October 7, 1957) is an American musician who has charted in both contemporary Christian and mainstream charts. His biggest success in mainstream music was in 1991 when " Place in This World" hit No. 6 on the '' ...

(1998) * '' Friday's Child'' -

(2003) * ''

Keep On ''Keep On'' is the third studio album by English singer Will Young. It was released on 21 November 2005, debuting at number 2 on the albums chart in the United Kingdom, as the album sold 107,318 copies in its first week. However, its biggest sal ...

'' -

(2005) * '' Future Past'' -

Duncan James Duncan James (born Duncan Inglis, 7 April 1978) is an English singer and actor. He became widely known in 2001 as a member of the boy band Blue (English group), Blue and later for playing Ryan Knight (Hollyoaks), Ryan Knight in the British soap ...

(2006) * ''

Moon Landing A Moon landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. This includes both crewed and robotic missions. The first human-made object to touch the Moon was the Soviet Union's Luna 2, on 13 September 1959. The United St ...

'' -

James Blunt James Blunt (born James Hillier Blount; 22 February 1974) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. A former reconnaissance officer in the Life Guards regiment of the British Army, he served under NATO during the 1999 Kosovo War. After l ...

(2013) * '' 8'' -

Luis Fonsi Luis Alfonso Rodríguez López-Cepero (born April 15, 1978), known by his stage name Luis Fonsi (), is a Puerto Rican singer. He is known for multiple songs, one of them being "Despacito" featuring rapper Daddy Yankee. Fonsi received his first ...

(2015)

References

External links

Minimoon Recording StudioNeil Conti on ''Discogs.com''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conti, Neil British percussionists English rock drummers English record producers 1959 births Musicians from London Living people