Marc Charles Williams, higher often called Mars Williams, the front-and-center saxophonist of ’80s New Wave bands The Waitresses and The Psychedelic Furs, died Nov. 20 of the uncommon and aggressive ampullary most cancers in a Chicago hospice facility. He was 68.
His dying was introduced by his household on a GoFundMe web page final month, however has extra just lately gained widespread consideration. His brother Paul R. Williams confirmed the reason for dying to The New York Occasions for an obituary posted immediately.
Following his preliminary stints within the Waitresses and Psychedelic Furs – each bands have been early MTV favorites with movies usually spotlighting the playful Williams, and he would reunite with the Furs all through his life – the saxophonist went on to steer his personal jazz ensembles together with the influential, Grammy-nominated acid jazz group Liquid Soul within the Nineties.
An announcement posted by his household on the GoFundMe web page reads, partially, “Till the top, Mars’ inexhaustible humor and power, and his love for music, pushed him ahead. Because it turned clear in late summer season that his remedy choices have been coming to an finish, he selected to spend six weeks of the time he had left dwelling as he had since he was a teen – out on the street performing evening after evening. These final performances with the Psychedelic Furs will stay on with all the different unimaginable contributions that Mars has made as an individual, and as a musician, and that boundless power will proceed to encourage.”
Born Could 29, 1955, in Elmhurst, Illinois, Williams had performed on the CBGB-downtown New York music scene earlier than coming to widespread public consideration as a member of the short-lived The Waitresses, the 1980-83 band fronted by singer Patty Donahue, whose deliberately blasé vocals distinguished the bands hits “I Know What Boys Like” and “Christmas Wrapping.” The band offered the theme music to the now-beloved single-season highschool sitcom Sq. Pegs, which starred a younger Sarah Jessica Parker and Jami Gertz.
In Waitress music movies, Williams would usually be given a second within the highlight, taking part in his sax and dancing or joshing with Donahue.
After the break-up of The Waitresses, Williams signed on full-time with the Furs, whereas additionally lending his sax sounds to performances by Billy Idol, the Energy Station and The Band’s Rick Danko. For a time, he was an everyday at Blues Bar, the afterhours TriBeCa membership of Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi.
By the point he joined the Furs, the band had already had a 1982 MTV hit with “Love My Means,” and whereas Williams’ made important contributions to the band starting with the 1984 album Mirror Strikes, he was not featured with the core trio of singer Richard Butler, guitarists John Ashton and bassist Tim Butler within the widespread music movies “Heaven” and “The Ghost In You.”
Williams remained with the Furs till 1989, then rejoined the band in 2005, touring till he was bodily unable to take action.
Dave Rempis, the good friend and fellow saxophonist who organized the GoFundMe web page for Williams, instructed the Occasions, “Being on a grueling bus tour can be exhausting for anybody. By the top, he was sitting in a dressing room with blankets and heaters throughout him. He may barely transfer. However he would nonetheless exit onstage and play as onerous as ever. He simply needed to be again onstage the place he felt most alive.”
In an Instagram submit depicting a photograph of a saxophone on a lone stage in an empty theater, the band wrote merely, “We’re heartbroken. Goodbye to the nice Mars Williams. Relaxation properly.”
Williams is survived by brother Paul R. Williams, his mom, and sisters Michele Williams-Piotrowski and Suzy Williams. He was predeceased by sister Valerie Williams and brother Jack Williams.
