The Seventies was my era...I grew up with some great music playing. It is basically the soundtrack of my life. So it was more than exciting for me to have the opportunity to do an interview with award-winning songwriter Paul Williams, responsible for hits like Rainy Days and Mondays, We've Only Just Begun and the Oscar winning Evergreen (Theme from A Star Is Born).
This guy has done it all. We have all heard his music and it is timeless. Whether we have heard Kermit the Frog singing The Rainbow Connection or Three Dog Night emoting Just An Old Fashioned Love Song or Helen Reddy lamenting the haunting You and Me Against the World. And for you current music listeners, you have probably heard his work as he has collaborated with Scissor Sisters on their album Ta-Dah.
Williams is an Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe winning Hall of Fame songwriter. He is a recipient of The National Music Publishers President's Award and is President and Chairman of the Board of ASCAP(the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers). Recognized as one of America's most prolific and gifted lyricists and composers, Paul's standards have been recorded by such diverse musical icons as Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, David Bowie, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughn, Johnny Mathis, The Carpenters, Luther Vandross, REM, Mel Torme, Anne Murray, Diana Krall, Gladys Knight and Diana Ross.
"The Rainbow Connection", from the children's classic The Muppet Movie, is one of two Paul Williams' songs that grace the American Film Institute's list of the top movie songs of all time; the second, "Evergreen," is from the award winning Streisand/Kristofferson remake of A Star Is Born. Additional song scores include the cult favorites Phantom of the Paradise and Ishtar, as well as The Muppet Christmas Carol, Bugsy Malone, and Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas, the latter of which has now been adapted for the stage. His recent work has remained wonderfully diverse, from creating and writing the songs and story for Disney's A Muppets Christmas: Letters To Santa, to writing with the Scissor Sisters, to penning the music and lyrics for Garry Marshall's theatrical sensation Happy Days.
But he's not just a songwriter, folks. His TV and film acting credits include Battle For the Planet of the Apes, Phantom of the Paradise and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. And who doesn't know the theme for The Love Boat? Like I said, we all know his talent in some medium and appreciate it.
Publicly lauded for his work as a songwriter, performer, actor and humanitarian, Paul predicts he'll be remembered for playing Little Enos in the Smokey and the Bandit trilogy and for his lyrics to "The Love Boat" theme, although it is the lyrics from Bugsy Malone, recast for a recent Coke commercial, that aptly sum up his philosophy: "You give a little love and it all comes back to you; You're gonna' be remembered for the things that you say and do". As a devoted husband to writer Mariana Williams and proud father, Paul considers his son Cole, and daughter Sarah, to be his best work.
Talking with Williams was, as he put it, "like hanging with an old friend". So, having said that....
TJ: First thing I have to admit to you, I grew up in the seventies and am a big fan of your music.
WILLIAMS: Thank you so much! It's been a good life and I'm loving it as much today as ever.
