Moon Williams - About
IT ALL STARTED IN THE SIXTIES
And so back to the sixties…and, as those who were there cannot generally remember it, here are a few signposts along the way for Moon Williams’ musical journey.
His first group was Moon Alexander Drive with a memorable residency at the Piper’s Club in Rome, which was owned by actress, Elizabeth Taylor. Here he found himself supporting Ben E King and the Troggs amongst other great names from the annals of musical history. Aside from Moon Williams as vocalist the band’s guitarist was George Maine, the keyboard player was Barry ‘burger’ Torrance, the bass player was Peter ‘jiff’ Otley with Barry ‘fitzie’ Fitzgerald on drums. It was Barry who gave Moon his nickname, which has stuck through the years.
Even the members of the band have kept in touch over the years and recently did a reunion concert in north London some of which was recorded and may see the light of day before long.
Moon recalls getting to Rome “ this was a marathon and a half,” he laughs at the thought of it, “all of us crammed in a typical group wagon. No luxury tour, this one! It took several days to arrive and on the way there we were booked some stop over gigs and we also did a few on the way back. I certainly can recall the American bases in Amsterdam. I think they stand out as being a bit more luxurious.”
All in all this was not a profit-making venture and he returned broke. “Looking back, all I can say is that was a great experience. In the same way that the Beatles and other sixties bands gained experience in Germany we were picking up the same experience in other places.”
Amongst the many people Moon was beginning to meet was Tony Hall, well known in those times as a music impresario, I guess. He was very keen on Moon’s talent and told him “Moon, don’t change, don’t get sophisticated”. His advice, not to forget his rock and raw R'n'B roots, was to stand Moon in good stead over the years.
AND ALL TOO SOON - THE SEVENTIES
Moon Alexander Drive drifted apart and Moon started working with Johnny Richardson and Georgie Nash his band was now called Mahatma which consisted of Harry Hughes on drums, Tom Browne on bass and Steve Humphries on bass and an old friend Alan Murphy on guitar. Alan was to make a name for himself as a session player and ended up as Kate Bush’s guitarist before his tragically early death. “Love was all around” was the last song of Moon’s to feature Alan’s guitar talents.
Tony Hall, in the meantime, had introduced Moon to Kaplan Kaye, son of Davey Kaye, the comedian. Kaplan was a successful producer with DJM Records, the label run by Dick James, the Beatles’ publisher who had discovered Elton John. The same night Moon had the good fortune to meet Georgie Nash who he was to write songs with ever since. George now no longer lives in England but he and Moon still keep in touch.
Mahatma was a busy band. Aside from the Marquee Club they did an early gig at the Reading Festival in a line up that included Jimmy Witherspoon and Genesis. At the Marquee Club they had the ‘honour’ of supporting many acts from Jimmy Cliff, Long John Baldry (who also did a version of “A thrill’s a thrill)” Vinegar Joe (the band that included both Elkie Brooks and Robert Palmer) Steampacket (Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart were members) through to Chris Farlowe and Georgie Fame.
Looking forward to the 90s it is interesting to note that the band’s roadie was Ian Harvey whose son was to be a famous (and sometimes infamous, sadly) member of the boy band E17. Success in the public eye is not always an easy burden to bear.
ON MY OWN - SOLO MOON
Now came the decision making time. Mahatma as a band was signed to the Marquee Club and Moon was signed to DJM who wanted him to pursue a solo career. He chose to go alone mainly because things were not working out well in the band and work was taking a toll on its members. He was writing songs with Georgie Nash and hoped that he could incorporate a successful singing and writing career under the auspices of the great Dick James Organisation, which was then home to Elton John amongst others.
On a personal note that takes us on to 1973, which is when Moon married Jacqui. His Best Man was his old friend, drummer John Richardson by now with the Rubettes with whom he was to enjoy much success. John has been a long time supporter of Moon and used to have Moon Williams emblazoned on the front of his drums.
In the early seventies between leaving Mahatma and going with DJM, Moon did many sessions for the budget top of the pops albums, which were very popular around that time. They were sold mainly in Woolworth stores and used supermarket music. He lent his voice to Stevie Wonder songs, the Real Thing, KC and the Sunshine Band, Al Green, the Average White Band and Hot Chocolate. Later Mickey Most was to say to Moon that he thought his version of Hot Chocolate was better than the band! Sadly Mickey, although a great fan of Moon’s, was not able to do anything because of Moon’s contractual situation.
These budget albums were a breeding ground for talent. The backing musician’s were often the Rubettes, Tony Thorpe on guitar, Mickey Clark on bass, Johnny Richardson on drums. Other vocalists were Tom Brown (ex-Mahatma) and Billy Ocean (then singing under the name of Lesley Townsend). The recordings were done at the de Lane Lea studios in Wembley, the home to many famous hits and soundtracks. Moon Williams was moving in the right circles.
NEW FACES NEW PLACES
1974 saw the birth of Moon’s daughter, Ella, and also gave Moon a date with the talent show called New Faces. This was the equivalent of the x factor now, I guess. Panellists included Mickey Most who gave Moon 10 points, Tony Hatch who later wrote the Neighbours TV soap theme and didn’t like the song Moon had performed gave him good marks. Listen to it later as we have the recording of it – a beautiful balled simply called Excuse Me.
Sadly he came second place to Marti Caine who went on to great things after the show.
Then the contract with DJM came to an end. The truth was that they had not been able to find the right openings for Moon. Was he R n B, was he disco, was he pop?
The answer was all, none and more besides.
BIDDU STEPS IN
His next move was to record a couple of singles with Biddu, which were amongst the first release on the new UK branch of Ariola. Biddu had written songs for him before and he was the man behind Tina Charles and Kung Fu Fighting. At the time Ariola scored a big hit with Love is in the Air by John Paul Jones and consequently being a new label did not have the resources to get behind the record. Blues and Soul magazine gave it a five star review. “If Sam and Dave spilt up then Williams could be the next Dave (or Sam!)” they gushed over the first record.
Before the next release Moon secured a deal to record the theme song for a six week TV series on the World Cup. The series was called Game of the Century and the song was called Argentina Heroes. This beautiful ballad encouraged the England team to come back as Argentina Heroes – sadly the England team never got the chance to go, let alone return. They failed to qualify. The record company failed to get the single out for week one of the series and thus missed a golden opportunity to chart. It finally drifted out in week 5 of the series and went straight to no 67 and then the series ended. Coupled together with the failure of England to qualify no one, except Moon and his management, saw any point in continuing the push. Interesting to note that this song has appeared on several compilations since and may still even yet have its day.
Ariola failed to do anything with Moon’s follow up disc record so Moon then recorded, with Loose Records, a version of Joy Divisions Love will tear us Apart. Sales of the 12-inch were good and a Music Week review praised the vocals and production and expected to see a high chart placing. This time the distribution company were beginning to go out of business and the record company, being a small independent, were unable to retrieve the situation. The record remains a classic and still sounds good today.
MOON GETS HEAVY
Moon’s next move would surprise his R n B followers as he joined Xero, an up and coming band on the London scene who were fore runners in what was to be termed the NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal). He co-wrote songs with the band’s guitarist. The first single entered the Heavy Metal charts but did not translate into the main charts. The guitarist who had helped form the band couldn’t decide where to go and what to do with the band. There were few gigs on hand so the band drifted apart leaving the remnants of a very promising album. One day it will see the light of day and folks will wonder why the band were unable to fulfil their early praise. Oddly enough the bass guitarist in the early line up was none other than Boon Gould, who joined his brothers in Level 42, which was the beginning of the end for Xero.
They had songs on various compilations and were favourites of the late great Tommy Vance who could never understand why the band made no progress after all the support he gave them.
AS XERO HIT ZERO MOON GOES SOLO AGAIN
Moon settled back to singing solo in clubs and pubs around the London area. His voice always earned him return visits and many plaudits. A house and garage track he wrote and sang on in the late 90s scored No 1 in Denmark but because of contractual problems never saw the light of day in the UK.
In 1998 he has to fly back from a Florida holiday to take part in the finals of a talent contest to find The Black Voice of ’98. He easily won the contest, which was supposed to give him a recording contract and studio time. The contest was won but the prize proved as elusive as national recognition has of the talent of Moon Williams.
Now he is back with a new EP on CD called Man of the World, the old Fleetwood Mac hit. His voice is still sounding as powerful as ever. The gigs are still regular so make sure you catch him live or on CD. A first hearing will make you want more and more of Moon Williams.