Celebrity Interview - Mel Williams - Comments

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Mel Williams

Poster: 01/10/2005

He warmed up for The Beatles, the Stones and Trini Lopez at the Olympia in Paris in 1963. He enjoyed a number one hit in Argentina in 1971 with - somewhat bizarrely - Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head. He recorded the single Señorita with page three model and singer Sam Fox in 1989. Last year he performed at the Royal Albert Hall alongside Van Morrison, Joe Cocker, Roger Daltrey and Mark Knopfler, in a tribute to the life of good friend and fellow Costa del Sol resident Lonnie Donegan.
After five decades in the entertainment business, veteran musician Mel Williams might only claim to be "nearly famous" - the title of his autobiography - but he is still out there performing live at various local venue... vibrant, resilient and ever-optimistic that fame is still an attainable dream.
In fact, he is hoping it could all happen with his new CD, Hot, Hot, Hot - released under his artistic name "Tio Mel". The album includes Mel's version of Copa Cabana, a tribute to fond memories of days spent with Mary Hemingway sharing stories about her husband Ernest; Don't Touch-a Me Banana, which was one of the highlights of a pirate musical, Don Santa Cruz, he wrote and took to the American Virgin Islands; and a medley of Señorita with La Bamba. Long-time residents will, no doubt, recall that Señorita's original release coincided with Mel's live music beach parties on the Coast in the 1980s, from Bikini Beach in Fuengirola to Marbella's Banana Beach.
These days, his world travels behind him, Mel is happy to ride his cherished Harley Davidson around the white villages of Andalucía near his Alora ranch - while performing regularly at top venues in Puerto Banús. He is fond of quoting Spanish singer Miguel Bosé, "Viejos rockeros nunca mueran", and in Mel Williams' case it is certainly true that "Old rockers never die".

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