The Mars Williams Archive

Photo by me.

On April 22 I received an email from GoFundMe and it was an update from Dave Rempis, who created the GoFundMe for Mars Williams two years ago. Here is what Dave wrote:

"Dear friends, Our beloved friend Mars Williams was a legend of the Chicago music world for decades, a musician and bandleader whose impact stretched across the globe. His passing at the end of 2023 left a hole across many lives and musical scenes. To celebrate what would have been Mars' 70th birthday on May 29th, and to launch the Mars Williams Archive now being hosted at Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago, we're planning a series of concerts and events on May 24th and 25th at Constellation, The May Chapel, Experimental Sound Studio, and The Hungry Brain. Tickets for all of these events are on sale now at the respective venue websites, and all proceeds from these concerts will go towards supporting the Mars Williams Archive. If you can't make it, but would like to help support the archive, please follow this link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=KHAAJ2FNV3KG4 WE HOPE YOU CAN JOIN US FOR THIS CELEBRATION!!"

If you would like to donate to and support the Mars Williams Archive, please go to the link above.

May 29: In Remembrance

Remembering Mars Williams on his birthday today and he would have been 69 years old.

Even after all these months I still can't believe he's gone. And although Mars is sadly not here anymore, his music will always be with us to keep his memory alive forever.

We all love and miss you Mars. <3

In Loving Memory: Mars Williams

Photo by me.

It has been three days now and to me it doesn't even feel like it actually happened. I'm still trying to come to terms with it but it just feels so unreal to me. I feel like I'm in a bad dream but unfortunately I am not. On November 20, Mars Williams, the great saxophonist of The Psychedelic Furs, sadly passed away after a year-long battle with cancer.

When I first heard the news I was devastated, heartbroken, and I cried a lot. I didn't even want to go to work that night because I was too overcome with grief. I arrived at work anyway, but I was depressed while being there and when I got home in the morning, I went to bed and cried again.

I remember I was in tears when David Bowie passed but the death of Mars Williams hurts me even more. He played on the music which made an impact on my life for nine years, and getting to see him perform at the five PFurs concerts I went to was spectacular. But the heartbreaking thing is that I last saw him in concert just a month ago.

Looking back on the night I saw The Psychedelic Furs for the fifth time it never entered my head that it would be my final time seeing Mars Williams perform with The Furs in person. I found out from reading on the latest update on his GoFundMe that in late Summer Mars' treatment options were coming to an end, and so he decided to join The Furs on the Fall tour with the time he had left. I believe in my heart that that was his way of saying goodbye and thank you to the fans, and I'm happy he got the chance to be with the band and doing what he loved one last time.

There will never be another saxophonist who can capture the same sound that Mars had. Every note, every solo, was filled with pure magic, both studio and live, and they always leave me in awe. The Psychedelic Furs songs Mars performed on were wonderful, like "Heartbeat", "Like A Stranger", the rerecording of "Pretty In Pink", "Heartbreak Beat", "Shock", "Angels Don't Cry", "The Boy That Invented Rock & Roll", "This'll Never Be Like Love", and many more. Live, Mars was so amazing, and I feel honored to have seen him in action five times. Mars added his own style to the earlier songs and performed outstanding solos, and he would get cheers from the audience every time he did that. On my blog post about last month's concert I wrote that Mars Williams was part of what made The Psychedelic Furs' music so great and I couldn't imagine a concert without him, one of the key ingredients to The Furs. And sadly, now that Mars is gone, it will never be the same like it was before.

Even though I am sad about what happened, I am glad that Mars is free from the pain at last. I'm glad he doesn't have to deal with his illness anymore and I pray that he is in a better place now. My love, sympathy, and thoughts go out to the band, to Mars' family and friends, and to everyone who had worked with him.

Rest in peace Mars Williams. Thank you for everything you did for The Psychedelic Furs. Your music and legacy will live on forever. <3

{May 29, 1955 – November 20, 2023}

Photo: Matthew Reeves

Update on Mars Williams #2

Photo: Matthew Reeves

Here is another update about Mars Williams. His GoFundMe page has reached its goal!! Yesterday Dave Rempis, who organized the page, had posted an update and here's what he wrote:

"Dear friends,

We wanted to post another update on Mars Williams GoFundMe campaign to share some good news. Last night we hit the goal of the campaign!! Thanks to your incredible generosity, we've been able to ensure that Mars can have some time and space while undergoing chemo to not have to worry about the medical bills, or being out of work for close to a year. (That's not to say you shouldn't encourage friends to donate, so please feel free if you're so inclined! Everything helps and will have a great impact.)

Mars will be continuing treatment for a few more months. And as anyone knows who's been through this, or had close friends and family going through this, CANCER SUCKS. It's a major drag any way about it. But Mars is continuing to navigate his way through it, and even practicing his horns or having coffee with friends when he has enough energy to do so. As always, he's making everyone around him laugh even when it's tough to get out of bed. And he's hoping to be back onstage this fall.

We had coffee yesterday, and he asked me to pass along his regards and gratitude for the support you've all shown in ways both big and small. And he looks forward to seeing you again onstage asap!!!

Thanks so much to all of you, and with my utmost appreciation,

Dave"

I'm so happy that Mars Williams got the help, and I hope he will get better enough to join the rest of The Psychedelic Furs for the Autumn tour. Wishing all the best for Mars. <3

Update on Mars Williams

Photo: Matthew Reeves

Today I got an email from GoFundMe and it was a thank you note from Dave Rempis, who made the GoFundMe page for Mars Williams and is a friend of Mars. Dave sent this note to everyone who had contributed, and here's what he wrote:

"Dear friends,

I wanted to send out a most sincere note of gratitude to all who have supported this gofundme on behalf of Mars Williams. The number of folks who have contributed (almost 800 now!!!) and your generosity, has been truly extraordinary. Since the campaign launched one week ago, we've now reached 80% of the goal!

I saw Mars in person on Friday, and spoke more with him today, and he was beyond moved by the outpouring of support. Flabbergasted is perhaps the best word for it. I know that generosity and love is going to help him fight this disease as hard as he can, and it's also going to help remove one major cause of stress over the next months.

Thank you all again for your kindness and support, and please continue to spread the word! Let's hit that goal!!

All the best,

Dave Rempis"

It was absolutely nice of Dave sending this note to all of us who donated and it made me happy to hear how Mars felt about all this.

To Dave Rempis, if you see this post, I want to say thank you so much for your kind words and for everything you're doing to help Mars. I hope we will hit that goal as soon as possible, and that Mars will get all the help he needs. I hope he's still doing okay.

If this is the first time you heard about this GoFundMe and want to know what it's all about, I shared the link on my previous blog post. We must continue to spread the word and if you are able to help, please donate and share. 

Here's the link to my post that has the page: https://ontomorrowspages.blogspot.com/2023/05/for-mars-williams.html

For Mars Williams

Photo: Matthew Reeves

Recently The Psychedelic Furs started touring and people were posting photos of the first two shows on the Facebook fan page "For Fans of The Psychedelic Furs." I looked at the pictures and I noticed there was something missing. Mars Williams wasn't at those shows and I wondered if he was going to join them later during the tour. But sadly I heard some awful news today. I went on my Instagram and the first post to appear was from Rich Good. Rich posted a few pictures of him and Mars Williams together and Rich wrote that Mars is dealing with cancer... There was a link to a GoFundMe page although unfortunately Instagram doesn't allow you to click on links to websites. But The Psychedelic Furs had posted the link on their Twitter and Facebook accounts, and the GoFundMe is for Mars and was written by one of his friends in the music community. The friend wrote that last December Mars was diagnosed with ampullary cancer, a rare one in which a tumor develops near the bile duct and pancreas. In January he had major surgery and stayed three weeks at the hospital to recover, and in March started a six-month course of chemotherapy.

I am shocked and saddened to hear this because I admire Mars Williams for everything he did for The Psychedelic Furs, and to me he is the best saxophonist of all time. I love his work on Mirror Moves, Midnight To Midnight, and Made Of Rain, and I am glad I had the honor to see him in action when I saw The Furs live four times. My thoughts and prayers go out to Mars and I hope he will get all the help he needs to get better. Sending all my love and best wishes to him.

Here's the link to the GoFundMe page. Please share, donate, do everything you can to help Mars. https://www.gofundme.com/f/marswilliams?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_content=undefined&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer&utm_term=undefined

Here's one of my favorite photos that I took of Mars Williams and Rich Good back in 2016.

Photo by me.

Edit: Since I am working now I donated to Mars' GoFundMe. I'm glad I was able to help him. <3

5/8/2023 Update: I published a follow-up to this post: https://ontomorrowspages.blogspot.com/2023/05/update-on-mars-williams.html

6/23/2023 Update: Here's the second update about Mars: https://ontomorrowspages.blogspot.com/2023/06/update-on-mars-williams-2.html

Tim Butler's Lineup Ranking

I thought this was interesting but here's how Tim Butler ranked The Psychedelic Furs lineups from an interview with the Chicago Tribune back in 2014.

1. The current version*: "The best that has ever toured."

Left to right: Paul Garisto, Rich Good, Mars Williams, Richard Butler, Tim Butler, Amanda Kramer. Photo by Reed Davis.

2. The first version: "Usually we were not sober, to be honest."

Left to right: Duncan Kilburn, Vince Ely, Richard Butler, John Ashton, Roger Morris, Tim Butler. Photo by Tom Sheehan.

3. The version that toured in support of the band's smash Midnight To Midnight album: "Very polished."

Left to right: Mars Williams, John Ashton, Paul Garisto, Tim Butler, Richard Butler. Photo by Henry Diltz.

Marty Williamson: Backup guitarist for the Midnight tour.

Roger O'Donnell: Keyboardist for the Midnight tour.

4. The rest of the '80s versions: "Very keyboard-y, a very big sort of stadium sound." (This one is pretty much a tie)

*Nowadays the lineup is still mostly the same but this time Zachary Alford is on the drums. He's very good and I would love to see him play with the band live someday.

Left to right: Tim Butler, Mars Williams, Zachary Alford, Richard Butler, Rich Good, Amanda Kramer. Photo by Matthew Reeves.

Mars Williams' Profile

Psychedelic Furs saxophonist Mars Williams' profile from the Midnight To Midnight tour programme.

Name: Mars Williams

Date and place of birth: 5-29-55, Chicago, Illinois

Favorite color, number and vice: Black and blue, 5, girls

Favorite food and favorite drink: The Worm, tequila

Favorite film and/or director: Blade Runner

Favorite book and/or author: Delacorte

Most memorable occasion: Playing for a deaf mute audience who then told me I sucked

What's the worst job you've ever had: Playing the New York City Perverts Club

Favorite artist and/or work of art: Dali, Harley Davidson

Favorite clothes designer: Me

Favorite club: Riviera Club, Chicago

Favorite single and album: "Tequila" - Champs, Remain In Light - Talking Heads

First record you ever bought: Ummagumma - Pink Floyd

Last record you bought: Blah Blah Blah - Iggy Pop

Favorite musician: Albert Ayler

Favorite songwriter: Iggy Pop

Favorite guitar solo of all time: Steve Stevens on "I Pity The Fool"

Band you would least like to be in: Barry Manilow

Best and worst gig ever seen: Best - Iggy Pop, New York; worst - AC/DC, Meadowlands

Favorite actor and actress: Michael Caine, Linda Lovelace