Title
To honor and recognize the outstanding career of gifted musician Dean E. Francis.
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WHEREAS, Dean E. Francis was born on December 21, 1951 and is the son of Judge John L. Francis , the City of Columbus' first African-American City Attorney; and
WHEREAS, as a teen, Mr. Francis studied drums and piano and served as the Head Drummer of the Tiger Marching Band at Columbus East High School; and
WHEREAS, in 1969, Mr. Francis recorded the regional hit, "Funky Disposition" with his band Dean Francis & the Soul Rockers and in 1972 he worked as a studio drummer and songwriter for Capsoul Records, writing the popular song, "Row My Boat." for the Four Mints and as a playwright, Mr. Francis composed and directed the first black rock opera "Society Line" and the musical "Kids" which were featured at Capital University and the Ohio Theatre; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Francis toured internationally with Capital recording artist Sun for three years and recorded three albums with them including "Sun Over The Universe", "Force of Nature", and "Let There Be Sun"; he also co-wrote two songs, "Reaction Satisfaction, Jam Y'all" and "Funk It Up" before leaving the band to pursue a career in media production, scoring with "I Had to Play That Number," an infectious jingle he wrote and performed for the Ohio State Lottery in 1984 which won two awards at the International Film & TV Festival in 1984; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Francis has authored three books as well as written, produced, directed and performed award winning community awareness music videos that have received commendations from state and local government officials; and
WHEREAS, while signed to the German record label, Soulciety Records- Hamburg, Mr. Francis recorded two CD albums which were distributed world-wide, followed by three subsequent CD albums on his own label, Soulhio; and
WHEREAS, recently, Mr. Francis has written a song called "Survivor's Prayer", to be narrated by "Golden Voice"...
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