Great New Zealand Album: Mark Williams by Mark Williams

Today, the debut album from a shy, slight young lad from Dargaville whose high school band The Face achieved some notoriety, taking third place in a national Battle of the Bands contest.  His solo career was launched on the TV show "Free Ride."  That bought him to the attention of the wider public and led to a recording contract with EMI New Zealand which, in turn, resulted in the release of his self titled first album in 1975.  It stayed n the charts for 30 weeks  became the biggest New Zealand Pop/Rock album of the 70's.

The cover of Mark’s 1975 debut designed by Kevin Dunkley with photography by Michael Baigent. Courtesy of audioculture.co.nz

A mid-1970s EMI publicity shot from the session that produced the cover of the 1977 Greatest Hits and the 1999 Best Of.

Mark Williams circa 1975

Mark Williams and Sharon O'Neill Auckland Town Hall June 1977

Mark Williams with Peter Hitchcock in the EMI Studio Lower Hutt Wellington 1976

Mark Williams Carlaw Park 1990

Mark Williams and Bruce Reid from Dragon playing the Twin Peaks venue in Kaitaia Northland 2010

Mark Williams speaks to us from Sydney this afternoon and the album's producer Alan Galbraith also joins us from Carterton.