Mark Williams
Since the laissez-faire underground press of the late '60s when web-offset printing and computer typesetting began displacing hot-metal and letterpress, Mark Williams has spent his entire career in publishing. A respected, if sometimes controversial journalist and columnist in the disparate fields of rock music, film and automotive media, he also conceived, launched and/or edited several successful magazines and newspapers which included Strange Days, Bike (still the UK's best selling motorcycle title), Which Bike?, New Music News, Bicycle Buyers Guide and Jalopy.
In the '90s, after a spell editing and successfully re-launching (with two editions) a weekly newspaper in Mid-Wales, Williams joined the Pearson Group in time to help negotiate their purchase of Future Publishing and then went on to establish Future's hugely successful international division which embraced licensing, joint ventures and wholly owned overseas subsidiaries.
Thanks to unrivaled experience in virtually every aspect of print media, come the millennium Williams became sought after as a consultant working with publishers both large and small. (Confidentiality deters him from detailing these on this website). In recent years he's handled foreign licensing and M&A deals, supervised business plan development, launches and re-launches and advised on every element of the publishing process which now of course includes multi-platform projects. He is also retained as p.r. advisor for a number of companies and charities.
And throughout his career in publishing management, Williams has continued to write highly regarded columns and features for a broad range of titles including Rolling Stone, Melody Maker, Top Gear, Motorcycle Rider, Time Out, Conde Nast Traveller, Italia!, TrailBike Magazine, the Guardian, London Evening Standard, Daily Telegraph and Used Car Buyer. He has also produced a number of books on film, music and motorcycling topics, plus two anthologies of material from The Week.
Outside of publishing, Williams has curated a number of art and photographic exhibitions and been involved in running several musical events, most notably Sheep Music the annual world music festival in Mid-Wales.
69 articles
List of articles in the library
Country Joe & The Fish: Country Joe: Fish Head
Interview by Mark Williams, International Times, 11 April 1969
INTERVIEWING COUNTRY Joe McDonald was an escapade I embarked on with fear in my heart, butterflies in my stomach and a copy of How to ...
Interview by Mark Williams, International Times, 11 April 1969
IT'S NOT hard to suss that Led Zeppelin are well on the way to becoming a 'Supergroup', in the best tradition. ...
Leonard Cohen: Songs From A Room (CBS 9767 import)
Review by Mark Williams, International Times, 11 April 1969
LEONARD COHEN is not the world's greatest singer, his voice has a raspy edge to it and one often gets the impression that he's singing ...
Report by Mark Williams, International Times, 9 May 1969
JANIS WAS WANDERING round rapping and goofing with her band when I ventured onstage during her pre-concert rehearsal at the Albert Hall. She was obviously ...
Interview by Mark Williams, International Times, 9 May 1969
A VERY WELL respected record producer recently informed me that Led Zepplin were the ONLY band that we're going to elevate themselves to the ranks ...
King Crimson King Crimson King Crimson King Crimson
Interview by Mark Williams, International Times, 13 June 1969
[NOTE: The first two paragraphs of this piece – along with one or two others – appear to bear no relation whatsoever to Mark's piece... ...
Report by Mark Williams, International Times, 13 June 1969
IN AN ARTICLE in the dreaded Melody Maker (7/6/69), Tony Wilson points out that, 'At last the underground seems to be coming to terms with ...
Roy Harper: Waiting for the Bullets to Fly
Profile and Interview by Mark Williams, Rolling Stone, 14 June 1969
"I'M NEVER going to be a music industry hype. If they ever tried to make me into that I'd go round to what are considered ...
Blossom Toes: If Only For A Moment (Marmalade)
Review by Mark Williams, International Times, 4 July 1969
BLOSSOM TOES. Now there IS a band. Amazing people, a gas to be with, group looners of the old school but as music makers they've ...
Creedence Clearwater Revival: Bayou Country (Liberty)
Review by Mark Williams, International Times, 4 July 1969
HOORAY FOR this bopping, rhythm muslc! What more can a groover of a leaper ask for than to be socked endlessly by the compulsive unpretentious ...
Interview by Mark Williams, International Times, 4 July 1969
THE FAMILY used to scare me a bit. Onstage they seemed to perform with a mixture of super coolness, a nonchalance that sometimes gave me ...
The Rolling Stones: Jagger Rap/Stoned Earful
Interview by Mark Williams, International Times, 4 July 1969
FEELING RATHER like a tin can on a conveyor belt, moving along waiting to be filled with fruit salad or spaghetti, I went along to ...
Profile and Interview by Mark Williams, International Times, 18 July 1969
WHILST STARVING in Birmingham, trying to make ends meet, the dreary winter days were claeered up a little by an album called We Are Ever ...
Review by Mark Williams, International Times, 18 July 1969
THE ONLY OTHER record I possess on English Monument, is Ray Steven's single, 'Mr Businessman', which is beautiful and so is this album by Mr ...
Nick Drake: Five Leaves Left (Island)
Review by Mark Williams, International Times, 18 July 1969
I DON'T think I've been so impressed by an unknown singer/songwriter since I got the Duncan Browne album on Immediate, eighteen months ago, (why don't ...
Review by Mark Williams, International Times, 18 July 1969
WRITING REVIEWS of records made by people I'm happy to regard as good friends, always makes me feel a little guilty. What if my opinions ...
Blossom Toes: If Only For A Moment (Marmalade 608 010)
Review by Mark Williams, Rolling Stone, 26 July 1969
IN THESE days of repressive mass media and a pop press that still bases the bulk of its criticism and coverage on what is happening ...
The Nice: Nice Work If You Can Get It
Profile by Mark Williams, Rolling Stone, 26 July 1969
THE NICE are the most successful British group to have achieved fame without a single in the top ten. The future is surer for them, ...
Review by Mark Williams, Rolling Stone, 26 July 1969
THE BRITISH END of the Atlantic Recording Company's operations rarely signs up this country's groups and when it does, they have to be exceedingly good ...
Report by Mark Williams, uncredited writer, International Times, 1 August 1969
FREE CONCERTS constitute a threat to the established promotional ethos. An opportunity for music to be played without the encroachments of contractual stipulations, of advertising ...
Crosby Stills and Nash: Crosby, Stills & Nash: Crosby, Stills & Nash (Atlantic 588 189)
Review by Mark Williams, International Times, 15 August 1969
LATE LAST summer Dave Crosby was preparing his first solo album after having left the Byrds, Graham Nash was in America having a rest from ...
Jethro Tull: Stand Up (Island I LPS 9103)
Review by Mark Williams, International Times, 15 August 1969
SOME CLEVER bastard is going to remark that the cover is the best part of this album, which would be a drag for him. Nevertheless ...
The Action, Mighty Baby: Mighty Baby: The Five Year Pregnancy
Interview by Mark Williams, International Times, 15 August 1969
ROGER TELLS the story with the quiet resignation of someone who has been fucked about so much that it really doesn't matter any more. ...
Crazy Horse, Neil Young: Neil Young with Crazy Horse: Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (Reprise)
Review by Mark Williams, International Times, 15 August 1969
THE AFFECTION one feels for Neil Young is already immense because of his contribution to Buffalo Springfield, and the many beautiful things he wrote and ...
Bonzo Dog Band: The Bonzo Dog Band: Tadpoles (Liberty)
Review by Mark Williams, International Times, 29 August 1969
LIBERTY RECORDS have gone to an almost unusual amount of trouble to supply record reviewers, deejays and other assorted irks with a copious, track-by-thrusting-track run ...
Review by Mark Williams, International Times, 29 August 1969
THE NICE just keep escalating from strength to strength, their reputation solidifying as their incorporation of classical phraseology (sometimes admittedly borrowed wholesale) becomes even more ...
Interview by Mark Williams, International Times, 29 August 1969
THE THIRD Ear Band, in its various forms, has been with us for over a year and will hopefully exist for many moons to come. ...
Tea & Symphony: Rock In The Sticks: Tea & Symphony
Interview by Mark Williams, International Times, 12 September 1969
THE MOST INTERESTING group in this article, from an historical point of view, is Tea & Symphony. They have had almost as many changes in ...
Interview by Mark Williams, International Times, 26 September 1969
I'D NEVER seen Mick Abrahams in a suit before. In fact, he'd confessed to me that he'd never bought a suit in his life. He'd ...
Interview by Mark Williams, International Times, 26 September 1969
AS ALL OF us who diligently study the music press will know, Graham Bond is back in Britain after nearly 2 years in America and ...
Deep Purple with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Mark Williams, International Times, 10 October 1969
THE ALBERT Hall Concert on Wednesday September 24th, featuring Deep Purple in concert with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, was possibly the most important musical event ...
Mott the Hoople: Hoopling Furiously
Interview by Mark Williams, International Times, 10 October 1969
GUY STEVENS is a man one should learn to trust. Every musical entity, record, group, or individual performer he's ever recommended me to, has turned ...
Mighty Baby: Mighty Baby (HOLS 6002 Head Records)
Review by Mark Williams, International Times, 6 November 1969
MIGHTY BABY are unique In having, over a period of five years, transmuted from a good Moddy (Skinhead)?) soul/pop group into a brilliant electric contemporary ...
Jerry Yester, Judy Henske: Judy Henske & Jerry Yester: Farewell Aldebaran (Straight)
Review by Mark Williams, International Times, 21 November 1969
JUDY HENSKE'S magnificent, almost butch voice makes this album memorable. Jerry Yester's vocals, arrangements and production (shared with ex-Lovln' Spoonful man Zal Yanovsky,) don't. ...
Mountain: Leslie West: Mountain (Bell)
Review by Mark Williams, International Times, 21 November 1969
LESLIE WEST is a large American who sings a bit like a white Buddy Miles (or a black Terry Reld) and plays guitar just like ...
The Youngbloods: Elephant Mountain (RCA)
Review by Mark Williams, International Times, 21 November 1969
THIS ALBUM is one of the essential records one would possess if a broad cross-sectlon of Rock is the ultimate zenith of one's collecting habits. ...
Neil Young: After The Gold Rush
Review by Mark Williams, Oz, 1970
To start with Nell Young ain't tryin' anything flashy – he does what he knows and he does it with the perfection of a trained ...
The Rolling Stones: Let It Bleed (Decca)
Review by Mark Williams, International Times, 28 January 1970
IT'S ONLY after deliberately listening to the complete Stone's recorded output (9 albums, umpteen singles, 1 promotional album, 2 EPs) that one really appreciates just ...
Interview by Mark Williams, International Times, 12 February 1970
CTA, CANNED HEAT, Love & Flock are some of the more interesting American contemporary bands we've seen, or will be seeing, in Britain during the ...
Black Sabbath: Black Sabbath (Vertigo)
Review by Mark Williams, International Times, 13 March 1970
A BLOW JOB. Just get the gear on stage and wind it up Marshall stacks nine feet high on big & harsh with an edge ...
Caravan, The Wilde Flowers: Caravan and That Lot
Profile and Interview by Mark Williams, International Times, 13 March 1970
I REMEMBER the early publicity campaign, a minor masterpiece of hip PR and, it being early 1969 when the 'Underground Group As Pop Stars' syndrome ...
Yes: Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Live Review by Mark Williams, International Times, 9 April 1970
IT HAS BEEN many months since I've seen YES and the consequent starvation of tight British progressive rock music par excellence left me eagerly awaiting ...
The Sound of the Seventies and The Pop Proms: It's All a Put On
Report by Mark Williams, International Times, 8 May 1970
Pop Proms, Rock machine & the penis of promoting. ...
Comment by Mark Williams, Strange Days, 25 September 1970
THE DAY after Judy Garland was found dead, a West End cinema began screening some of her old films. It was as predictable as it ...
Interview by Mark Williams, Strange Days, 9 October 1970
ERIC BURDON is back in town; talking with the old passion, drinking with the same cats and the same thirst as of old and generally ...
Reggae: The Real Underground Music
Report and Interview by Mark Williams, Strange Days, 23 October 1970
FORGET YOUR Edgar Broughtons and your Pink Floyds and your three million other 'underground' groups, ('underground' that is, until they start selling lottsa albums, when ...
John Cale: The Academy In Peril (Reprise)
Review by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 7 October 1972
WITH THIS album, John Cale continues to present a tantalising artistic persona, defying critical attempts to put his work into any concrete perspective. Vintage Violence ...
Rockpile: Rock Around With Philip Marlowe
Interview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 16 December 1978
THE TROPICANA MOTEL sits disconsolately on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, an area that looks uncomfortable sandwiched in between the clinical sky-scrapers of Century ...
The Pretenders: Say a Prayer for the Pretenders
Interview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 17 February 1979
The way tongues are wagging, though, they might not need them. Mark Williams profiles a Next Big Thing who actually look like delivering. ...
MC5, Wayne Kramer: Wayne Kramer Forgets The Motor City
Interview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 17 March 1979
"SOMETIMES we used to pass the Milan jail when the MC5 were driving to gigs outside of Detroit, and I used to look up at ...
Bill Nelson: The Sound Of Household Appliances
Interview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 24 March 1979
From frayed denim through guitar heroics to novorock, Bill Nelson's career has been plagued by accusations of plagiarism. MARK WILLIAMS listens to the disclaimers. ...
New Barbarians: The Forum, Los Angeles
Live Review by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 26 March 1979
IN THE foyer of LA's vast concrete amphitheatre, you could buy T-shirts promising "nothing less than ear-to-ear violence" in lettering supposed to resemble dripping blood. ...
The Who: The Mod Revival, Yes…
Live Review by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 12 May 1979
The Who: Rainbow, London ...
Madness: Dublin Castle, London
Live Review by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 13 June 1979
THE NAME says it all. ...
Report and Interview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 16 June 1979
After a lengthy period on the ground, Paul McCartney's redesigned Wings are taking a few exploratory hops. MARK WILLIAMS' verdict: no metal fatigue. ...
Chris Rea: Up from Cleveland... England
Profile and Interview by Mark Williams, Rolling Stone, 26 July 1979
Singer/songwriter with an edge ...
Live Review by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 11 August 1979
IT'S IRONIC that Little Feat were never adjudged sufficiently commercial to have headlined a concert at Los Angeles' massive Forum, since the place was bursting ...
Overview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 20 September 1979
If Los Angeles is the future, how come its bands all sound so backdated? MARK WILLIAMS puts the case for the defence ...
Report and Interview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 29 September 1979
IAN GOMM is short, not quite stout, and has had his straw-coloured hair fashioned a la mod from the first time it was fashionable. His ...
The Eagles: The Long Run (Asylum)
Review by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 29 September 1979
THE POLITICS of pop have always been anathema to me. I cannot, and will not, shift my allegiances from an underrated or up-and-coming band when ...
The Kinks, Ray Davies: The Kinks: Low Budget (Arista)
Review by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 29 September 1979
THE TROUBLE with Ray Davies is that since he forsook the stark, three-chord spleen of 'You Really Got Me' and 'All Day & All Of ...
Report and Interview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 19 January 1980
MARK WILLIAMS explodes the 2-Tone myth with the Beat ...
Live Review by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 26 January 1980
Gunboat diplomacy ...
Report and Interview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 15 March 1980
Today the UK. Tomorrow the USA? Next week, the world? Are Madness about to get everybody up and dancing again? MARK WILLIAMS sits down and ...
The Go-Go's: Squealin' With A Feelin'
Interview by Mark Williams, L.A. Weekly, 10 April 1980
IT HARDLY seems right that five diminutive females dwarfed behind guitars and drums would be showing the door to half of Southern California's elder statesmen ...
Madness: A Brief Case History Of Madness
Book Excerpt by Mark Williams, Proteus Books, 1982
Their condition as carriers of a fast reggae hybrid, ska, was first diagnosed in 1979. This nutty sound was then transmitted to an increasingly larger ...
Parting Shot: Keith Morris 1938-2005
Obituary by Mark Williams, Guardian Unlimited, 29 July 2005
IN THE EARLY 1970s, Keith Morris was asked to do a session for the first album with an unknown singer-songwriter, Nick Drake. Keith took a ...
New Music News: My Part in IPC's Downfall
Memoir by Mark Williams, Rock's Backpages, 21 April 2009
IN RESPONSE TO an earlier blog, a generous comment from Johnny Black resurrected the ghost of a magazine I thought I'd laid to rest some ...
It's Tom Hibbert's World, And We'll Miss It
Memoir by Mark Williams, Rock's Backpages, 13 September 2011
SOMETIMES IT'S impossible not to write in clichés, and this is one of them: There have been too many deaths in my life recently and ...
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