WHENEVER Geoffrey Williams would hear the songs from Michael Jackson’s Off The Wall record in the early 1980s, he would put on his dancing shoes and go wild.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Little did he know that 20-odd years later, his own song Whatever Happens would feature on another of the King of Pop’s albums.
The Ballarat musician had written the song while sitting in an old car in front of a hospital in the UK, but he never thought anything would come of it.
After combining the lyrics with a backing track his friend had created, the song was sent off and picked up by Michael Jackson years later.
“It was the most amazing thing to hear someone who I had revered and been dancing to for decades sing those words I had wrote in that old car,” Williams said.
“I still put the record on today and think, ‘oh my God’. It’s so exciting to have him actually sing those words. It’s still unbelievable to me.”
Williams will share his blues and reggae-influenced tunes with the rest of the city this weekend as part of the City of Ballarat’s free Summer Sundays event.
The afternoon will also feature the funk and latino sounds of Melbourne-based act Gypsy Brown and fruit salad and cream from Cafe Lekker.
The event starts at 5pm on Sunday at the Ballarat Botanical Gardens.
