Toto; Joseph Williams & where did Williams family live in the 60's-70's?

[jrauman 14]

The band Toto was at the Royal Albert Hall in London last night. I watched a little video about it by their bass player.  https://twitter.com/shemvonschroeck/status/980500747392573441

 

There is a clip about halfway through where Joseph Williams (John's son) says "I used to walk by this place when I was a little boy".   And then Joseph's tweet in response says "it was my childhood home".  https://twitter.com/dashlrow/status/980734180224094208

 

Did the Williams family live in London at some point?  And how cool for Joseph to be playing Royal Albert Hall last night and his dad will be doing the same in October.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I believe Williams did have a London apartment at one point.

[Thor 7,451]

Joseph is looking more and more like his old man.

 

I didn't know they actually owned an apartment in London at the time, but I wouldn't be surprised -- given the amount of time Williams spent there. And of course, his financial ability to have homes everywhere.

[Omen II 1,235]

2 hours ago, jrauman said:

 

Did the Williams family live in London at some point?  And how cool for Joseph to be playing Royal Albert Hall last night and his dad will be doing the same in October.

 

In Jeff Eldridge's liner notes for the La-La Land Records CD release of Jane Eyre, he specifically mentions director Delbert Mann and producer Frederick Brogger visiting Williams at his Kensington residence, as well as Williams and his wife Barbara Ruick travelling up from London to Yorkshire in 1970 to get a feel for the place before shooting commenced.  His musical direction for Fiddler on the Roof also required Williams to spend "months on end" in England, so it would be reasonable to assume that he had his family with him and either bought or rented a place to live.  The score for Images was also recorded at CTS Studios in nearby Bayswater.

 

It would be interesting for purely nosiness value to know where exactly in Kensington Williams lived; if John Williams doesn't warrant a blue plaque when the time comes, nobody does!  As Joseph Williams was born in 1960, his comment ties in with this being the very late 1960s / early 1970s.

[Miguel Andrade 1,260]

Yes, I recall reading some old article mentioning that Williams spent a lot of time in England in the early 70's, working both on Jane Eyre and Fiddler on the Roof.

[jrauman 14]

That's so cool.  I've met Joe a couple times.  I try not to say anything about his dad as i'm sure that gets old.  But at one of the Toto concerts i went to in late 2015, a Toto fan asked Joe about Force Awakens and he said his dad was working on the score at that exact moment and was talking to Joe about it.  And at another concert someone asked if John Williams had listened to the new Toto album (XIV) and Joe did an impression of his dad.  He said something like "it sounds good for that particular idiom/genre".  Everyone had a good laugh.

Actually Toto has a lot of family ties with John Williams. I believe Johnny Williams played piano on some Marty Paich albums (father of David Paich who plays lead keys and sings - think Africa!).  And Joe Porcaro was a great percussionist in Hollywood (father of Jeff, Mike and Steve Porcaro) and played on many film scores including John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, etc.  

 

And of course, we wouldn't have Lapti Nek or those great SpaceCamp songs without Joe!   I love me some Toto as much as I love John Williams.  And love the connection.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

He looks like a chubby Stefan.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

He does not!

[Thor 7,451]

12 hours ago, jrauman said:

That's so cool.  I've met Joe a couple times.  I try not to say anything about his dad as i'm sure that gets old.  But at one of the Toto concerts i went to in late 2015, a Toto fan asked Joe about Force Awakens and he said his dad was working on the score at that exact moment and was talking to Joe about it.  And at another concert someone asked if John Williams had listened to the new Toto album (XIV) and Joe did an impression of his dad.  He said something like "it sounds good for that particular idiom/genre".  Everyone had a good laugh.

Actually Toto has a lot of family ties with John Williams. I believe Johnny Williams played piano on some Marty Paich albums (father of David Paich who plays lead keys and sings - think Africa!).  And Joe Porcaro was a great percussionist in Hollywood (father of Jeff, Mike and Steve Porcaro) and played on many film scores including John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, etc.  

 

And of course, we wouldn't have Lapti Nek or those great SpaceCamp songs without Joe!   I love me some Toto as much as I love John Williams.  And love the connection.

 

Yeah, I knew about these connections. But nice story about Joe mimicking his father. I would have loved to see that!

[Brundlefly 2,385]

14 hours ago, jrauman said:

And of course, we wouldn't have Lapti Nek or those great SpaceCamp songs without Joe!

...and the Biker Hounds music from A.I.!

[Miguel Andrade 1,260]

5 hours ago, Thor said:

 

Yeah, I knew about these connections. But nice story about Joe mimicking his father. I would have loved to see that!

 

There's a video interview, backstage type of thing, from the 80's, during Joseph Williams first stint with Toto, where he did an impression of his dad. I'll try to find it.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,488]

Its kind of fitting, that, with the JW connection, the best thing that Toto has ever done...is a soundtrack 

[Thor 7,451]

39 minutes ago, Richard said:

Its kind of fitting, that, with the JW connection, the best thing that Toto has ever done...is a soundtrack 

 

DUNE is a great score, no doubt, but plenty of great songs and albums as well. Like Phil Collins, the band is slowly starting to get the appreciation it deserves, after having been very 'uncool' for two decades.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Phil Collins is not a band!

 

 

[Wojo 2,453]

7 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

Phil Collins is not a band!

 

AHEM. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phil_Collins_Big_Band

[pete 902]

1 hour ago, Miguel Andrade said:

 

There's a video interview, backstage type of thing, from the 80's, during Joseph Williams first stint with Toto, where he did an impression of his dad. I'll try to find it.

 

I think this is it.. From 1:40:

 

 

[Thor 7,451]

He, he...cute. Now that I see it, I think I may have seen it before.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

He does his dad quite well LOL.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,488]

2 hours ago, Woj said:

 

AHEM. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phil_Collins_Big_Band

 

A HOT NIGHT IN PARIS, is a fantastic record, and is my second favourite PC.

[Thor 7,451]

I pride myself in being a fan of both Toto and Phil Collins from the start, and standing against all the naysayers when they were both being described as anathema to pop music (for reasons I've never been able to understand).

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Mahvelous.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

On 3-4-2018 at 8:11 PM, Thor said:

I pride myself in being a fan of both Toto and Phil Collins from the start, and standing against all the naysayers when they were both being described as anathema to pop music (for reasons I've never been able to understand).

 

Do you like Simply Red?

[Thor 7,451]

Never really explored them much.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,488]

@Thor, it's only love (doin' its thing, baby) 

 

In the UK, STARS was a phenomenal seller.

Tbh, Simply Red is slick, smooth, and can be seductive. Think ONE MORE NIGHT, or WHY CAN'T IT WAIT 'TILL MORNING? 

[Sweeping Strings 2,342]

I can't be the only one whose foot would break before he would tire of kicking Mick Hucknall in the balls, though. 

[Dzadza 90]

"Luke, are you up there again?"
lol