Welcome to Mel, Mel & Julian’s website!

MEL MILLER Lead Vocals, Upright Bass & Very-very Funny Comedian
MEL GREEN  Rhythm Guitar, Harmony Vocals, Harmonica & Straight-Man
JULIAN LAXTON Lead Guitarist extraordinaire & Pokerface

  (L to R:)  Julian Laxton, Mel Miller & Mel Green

Mel, Mel & Julian were a famous Johannesburg-based, mid-60s South African folk-comedy group, who rose quickly to national prominence during residencies in Durban and Cape Town. After their first recording prompted Mel & Mel to invite Julian to join the band...  they became a welcome attraction in the various cities they played and were a guarantee for a good night out. Their popularity at The Edward Hotel in Durban was such that they had repeat long-term residencies there from 1964 till 1967, and they also had residencies at Deal's Hotel in East London, as well as at Cape Town's Grand Hotel. During the rather short period of time they were together, they recorded three LPs for Columbia Records (South Africa)...of which, their last LP "Miscellanea" was voted one of the Top 10 South African Folk Albums. The group disbanded at the end of 1967, after making a considerable contribution to a contemporary folk music sound and even early folk-rock in South Africa!

How the band started... the short version:  Mel Green transferred from the University of Cape Town to do his final year at the Johannesburg School of Art, where he met Mel Miller, the school comedian... they snagged a Wednesday night gig at the Troubadour Coffeehouse, which became quite a draw, attracting audiences rapidly. Mel & Mel were among the few who performed at the very first Johannesburg Folk Festival concert with their pal Louis Meyer backing them on banjo. An LP was recorded, after which the record companies were quick to sign up every folksinger in sight, Mel and Mel among them.

     

After a year they were doing quite well, but also working day jobs... the record companies demanded a first "real" recording from the duo, a 45 backed up by a blues band... and then the second folk festival rolled around, after which their manager, Billy Forrest invited Don Hughes, a booking agent, to come and see the duo perform. He offered them a contract shortly afterwards at The Edward Hotel, Durban's only 5-star establishment. The duo gave up their day jobs and plunged into a 6-night a week job, and after 4 months returned to Johannesburg to fulfill their record company's demand for their first album of songs.

    

Enter Julian... he was recruited to add lead guitar to their first LP ("Songs about mines, people, places and one train") and his musical talent exceeded all expectations. Mel & Mel were offered another contract at The Edward Hotel in Durban and they negotiated with their agent to have Julian join them and as his rock group had recently broken up the rest was easy. His contribution as lead guitarist to the band turned  the local scene on it's head, because no other folk group was making "folk" music like they were. Another string of hotel residency contracts soon followed and Mel, Mel &Julian were on their way.... making a huge contribution to the local entertainment scene in South Africa. A night out at a Mel, Mel & Julian show included musical interludes, broken up by hilarious story telling by "Big" Mel Miller, who had audiences rolling in the aisles, and he used "Little" Mel Green and Julian as his "straight" men to good effect.

Now, read on to get the inside story and details about the guys, the band and their career!

 Little Mel 
Mel Green grew up in Mayfair, in Johannesburg's southern suburbs. After matriculating high school at Queen's College, he spent two years at the Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town, and in 1964, transferred as a third-year student to the Johannesburg School of Art... where he and (taller, bigger) look-alike namesake, Big Mel Miller eventually got together at lunch breaks to sing and tell stories for their fellow classmates.“One day in my classroom, I was playing guitar and singing a folk song, and out of nowhere I was aware of this great voice harmonizing with me, I turned around to see that funny guy who he'd seen entertaining fellow students in the art school common room — (that’s how I met Mel Miller.)” Little Mel was a regular of Johannesburg’s famed Troubadour coffeehouse and during a singalong, Gary Bryden, (of We Three) stopped right in the middle of a song and asked him to come up on stage to sing with him. A pivotal moment for Mel, who eventually persuaded Big Mel to come to the Troubadour to “do a few songs”...

 Big Mel
Mel Miller was raised in Yeoville, a suburb north of Johannesburg. After his high school years at King Edward, he studied Industrial Design at the Johannesburg School of Art. A natural comedian, he entertained his fellow students during lunch breaks. He heard about some other guy  also called Mel entertaining his class mates during their lunch break upstairs in the Graphic Design Department... which was where he found his namesake and spontaneously began harmonizing with him one day. 

 Mel and Mel and sudden popularity Little Mel eventually persuaded Big Mel to come to the Troubadour one night, and he asked folk singer Keith Blundell, one of the managers if they could have an opportunity to sing. They did, and Keith immediately offered them a regular Wednesday night gig! (They only knew three songs at the time, but Big Mel told Keith they knew 30... before Little Mel could stammer out "Th-th-three!")

So, for the next month they "played hooky" from art school and learned 16 new songs, not quite enough material for a 4-hour night of songs ... so, on the night of their first gig, Big Mel filled up the time between songs with his hilarious jokes and convoluted stories, thus setting the format for their future stage act.

 News of a new attraction began to get around and soon the previously quiet Wednesday nights at the Troubadour were filling up and selling out, as Mel & Mel’s reputation as a first class folk-comedy act grew ... and grew... until they were doing weekend sets on the same nights as the more established folkies, like Des & Keith and Leon & Mike, holding their own and becoming contenders for top spots at the club. The reputation he and Little Mel were establishing in folk music at The Troubadour Steak- and Coffee house had not quite "sunken in" yet...

They spent some Sunday afternoons during their first summer together with their banjo playing friend, Louis Meyer, traveling around the Witwatersrand to perform at open talent shows, which served as great training for facing large audiences who were not folk fans. Significantly, Mel, Mel & Louis were invited to perform at the very first Johannesburg Folk Festival in 1964, which was recorded, by CBS ... and they had the distinction of having 3 of the tracks on that LP... And, they were also the first South African group to attempt to play Bluegrass.

Their Rock & Roll and Blues friends Johnny Kongos and John E. Sharpe had established recording careers at the time, and Sharpe's manager, Billy Forrest, (the reigning king of South African Country & Western music, hit making recording artist producer, and an aficionado of music in general, and manager / mentor to other young singers on the South African music scene)... was introduced to the Mel's at the Troubadour after seeing the Mel & Mel duo in action one evening in 1965. He was very impressed with their talent and thought their folk / comedy act could go far, with an attentive manager, a booking agent and their own recording contract ... he promptly offered to become their manager... and so the momentum of their career began...

By the end of 1965 Mel and Mel had established themselves as a sure thing for a good night's entertainment at the Troubadour. Both were happily occupied in their respective day jobs - Big Mel as an Interior Designer and Little Mel as an Assistant Advertising Visualizer/Art Director. They continued building their repertoire, and were quite content with their successful regular Wednesday night gig at the Troubadour, which had grown to such an extent that the size of their audiences were rivaling Des Lindberg's and Keith Blundell's Saturday night shows!

With Billy Forrest as their new manager, a real recording contract was negotiated for them with Columbia, where they recorded their first single; Hedy West's “500 Miles”, with “Sorrow & Pain” (supposedly ghost written by Lennon & McCartney and recorded by Unit 4 + 2, on the flip side. Their very first recording session at the famous Gallo Studios in Johannesburg had them backed up by their friends Johnny Sharpe and the Squires, the popular R&B group. (These cuts were recently remastered and are on the "One More Town" CD as bonus tracks!)

The Mel's were grooming themselves as a “Peter & Gordon” type duo, wearing black turtlenecks, blue jeans, Cuban heel boots and Dylan caps. Of course the Beatles had just taken the pop music world by storm, coinciding with the ongoing Folk Boom in the USA, which was dominated by singer-songwriters in particular. Mel and Mel were incorporating these new folk songs into their act, getting advice on repertoire from their friends Brenda Newfield and David Sapire...

After that their fame grew even more.  The second Fest was held in'65 and at the party afterwards at the Troubadour, Billy Forrest introduced the Mel's to agent Don Hughes, who was very impressed by their dynamic act, and on Billy Forrest's recommendation, he returned the following Wednesday evening to see them do their multi-set show, comedy, music and all. He left that evening with the boast that he would soon have a full-time gig for them at one of the top hotels in the country... both Mel's were skeptical at the time, and weren't even considering music as a full-time career.

Don Hughes was true to his word, and when he returned from Durban, he offered them a 3-month gig at The Edward Hotel, and another 1-month residency at Deal's Hotel in East London. Mel & Mel were faced with making a major decision ... to leave their new found day jobs. After heart-searching discussions with their employers, relatives and friends, and with much encouragement ...

Mel & Mel took the plunge, and were soon on their way to Durban as professionals, their first three-month residency in their own cabaret room at Durban's 5-star Edward Hotel, which the management not-so-imaginatively dubbed "The Troubadour Room". Soon they were filling up the 100-seat room nearly every night of their 6 day week! And before long they established long-standing friendships with many of the rock groups and entertainers playing at the other hotels in this premier coastal resort city.

 And Julian
When they returned to Johannesburg 4 months after their first two long-term gigs in Durban and East London, Mel & Mel were asked to make their first album. After a well-earned break, they started to rehearse their favourite songs for the LP. They asked their music fanatic friend and ”sounding board", David Sapire, for assistance and advice on the repertoire for the LP... David advised Mel & Mel to “improve their sound”....By adding a lead guitarist to the group, at very least for the recording, as Little Mel was a relatively rudimentary folk guitarist at that time, and an album featuring his sole guitar accompaniment was not in the duo’s best interests for a debut album, so ...David recommended his brother, Julian Laxton, who was an out-of-work Rock & Roll guitarist at the time, as his last group "Them" had just broken up. Big Mel was a bit skeptical, and Little Mel went to meet Julian and run through some tunes...

 He returned from that eye-opening meeting and jam and convinced Big Mel that Julian was versatile enough to adapt to any kind of music. After hearing Julian for himself, Mel Miller eventually agreed that he was just the guy to improve their group sound! Julian was a quick study and could play anything, eventually adding his terrific acoustic lead guitar work to 11 of the 12 songs on that first LP, the caliber of which eventually set a South African folk music standard. His uncanny knack for adding innovative rhythmic and lead parts, really helped establish the group's unique sound. And so Mel & Mel were so impressed by Julian they asked him to join the group, and needing a job, he agreed to join the group immediately … which quite naturally became known as Mel, Mel & Julian...

During and after the whirlwind of recording their first album, and along the way, they were introduced to and played for international music stars who were passing through South Africa on their own tours... amongst them: Theodore Bikel, The New Christy Minstrels and later, the Everly Brothers from the USA, the Ivy League from the UK, The Seekers from Australia and Geula Gill from Israel. They also met fellow Columbia recording artists, The Byrds.

Because their first contract at The Edward had been such a great success, Don Hughes contacted Mel & Mel to let them know they had been offered a 6-month contract to return to the Edward Hotel in Durban, followed by a return engagement at Deal's in East London. The Edward Hotel contract was to begin in a month .... so they persuaded their agent who persuaded the hotel management to include Julian in the new contract. Ultimately this proved to be a brilliant move, because advance publicity was changed to announce the addition of Julian, and the anticipation about the now stronger trio set them up for what proved to be an immediate success...

Fresh from their recording session they continued to rehearse with Julian for the rest of that month adding to the repertoire and which Julian augmented brilliantly, and the newly expanded group drove down to Durban and were set up in a larger “Troubadour Room” at the Edward. Their contract ran right through the busy July winter holiday season, and word of their reputation for a great night of entertainment spread quickly, and they were soon filling every show to capacity!

 Durban Nightlife and the new act to watch
What became quickly apparent was that the various quirky personalities of the group enhanced their entertainment value... Mel Miller's rubber face and natural talent as a comedian, and talented lead singer, made him a huge draw. And what was was previously offset by Little Mel's "straight man" roll and guitar playing and harmony singing was, with the addition of Julian's deadpan reactions as a foil to the comedy, and especially his fleet-fingered lead guitar playing, irresistible to the group's audience appeal.

Julian was soon establishing a name for himself as a prime lead guitarist, and his reputation grew among the many musicians and bands playing professionally in Durban. His innovative musicianship added stature to the group's fame, and he became a huge influence on both Mel and Mel ... Their daily rehearsals included guitar lessons for Little Mel, who credits Julian as his most important guitar and music teacher... and he also encouraged Big Mel to take up double-bass to augment the group's already innovative acoustic sound.

M,M&J in the Future... In 1969 Mel Green signed on to become a member of the Dream Merchants, (with Billy Forrest and Billy Andrews), but they too broke up before anything came of that group as a trio, (maybe he was too short, or they were both way over 6'!) Mel moved to the United States in 1970, and has lived there ever since. He is a songwriter these days and plays around New England as a solo act, as well as with his folk-rock quintet "The Maple Street Project". He recently released his first CD of his own songs called "I'm Taking My Time"... catch up with Mel at www.melgreensings.com and on Facebook. 

To this day Mel Miller is a major star on the South African & International comedy circuit. There has been talk of a Mel, Mel & Julian reunion, which hope will become a reality in the not too distant future. Recently Mel was awarded A Lifetime Achievement Award for Comedy in South Africa in 2010, and he goes from strength to strength, recently selling out the Sydney Opera House in 2011!

Julian Laxton went on to make innovative music with Freedom's Children, Hawk and other famous South African Rock bands and with his self-named band. He is still a major force in the South African popular music scene to this day, still gigging and still making wonderful music, recordings, award-winning commercials and soundtracks for South African movies. You can catch Julian at gigs these days around Johannesburg.

If you are interested in booking Mel, Mel and Julian, you could hire the group for a concert appearance .... Please contact Mel Green at mel_green_1@hotmail.com or Mel Miller or Julian Laxton in South Africa.

 

Mel Miller 

  Before my kids remove life support, it should be known that... I started my show business career in August 1963. Together with Mel Green we formed a folk group called Mel & Mel (original hey). We were both at Art School and did gigs on an amateur basis. One night the audience just weren’t listening to the music, so I decided to tell a joke - AND THEY LAUGHED! *

A whole new world opened to me, so I started to combine jokes with the folk music and all of a sudden we became the most popular folk group in town. At the time there weren’t too many venues available to us, so we worked mainly at Des Lindberg's club - The Troubadour for the princely sum of R5.00 a night for a four hour gig, (plus a meal - as long as it was Spaghetti Bolognaise). 
We were spotted one night by an agent - Don Hughes who offered us a professional gig at the Edward Hotel in Durban for three months. The gig was four hours a night, six nights week for R300.00 a month. This was big money, so we dropped out of art school and turned pro. (The best decision I’ve ever made). The hotel gave us great publicity and we soon became a household name there. 
We returned to Jo’burg to cut our first LP and were joined by Julian Laxton as a backing guitarist. The LP was recorded in one day and released, and lo and behold we were offered another three month contract at the Edward. This time we went as Mel, Mel & Julian - the contract was extended and we played there periodically over the next two years and believe it or not, we played to packed houses for the whole run. On occasiona return visits home to Jo'burg we recorded two more LPs. 
We also went to Cape Town and appeared at the Coral Lounge in the Grand Hotel, Deals Hotel in East London, and returned to the Edward until I left for Israel in 1967 as a volunteer (which was when the band broke up.) I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Mel and Julian for allowing me the space to develop my comedy. 
I carried on my with my folk music/comedy act in Israel at a club in Eilat called ‘The End Of The World’. 
My first night on stage at ‘The End Of The World’ I made grammatical error in Hebrew and the audience laughed and from that night on I did all my comedy as a new immigrant using all the grammatical errors and slang I could lay my hands on. 
I returned to South Africa in 1970 and continued with the folk music/comedy thing. (Mel Green and I briefly reunited for a few wonderful gigs as a duo.)
A theatre owner, Adam Leslie saw me at the Nite Beat folk club and offerd me a part in his revue theatre (The Adam Leslie Theatre). The show was called ‘Hair Hair’. I think this was the most important and influencial part of my carrer, because Adam taught me stagecraft and how to think on my feet. For example - He would come to a rehearsal in the morning with a piece which he had read in the newspaper the night before. We had to write, choreograph, dress and stage a sketch on the subject that very night. 
As a member of a revue company, I was surrounded by people who had been doing this stuff for years - it was like being paid to go to school! I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the likes of Hal Orlandini, Ian Lawrence, Anthony Fridjohn, Shirley Sherman and mostly Adam Leslie. 
I was only doing small walk-ons, and when Adam had a heart attack, I was informed that the next night I was to take over all his parts (which was 90% of the show). I spent the whole night working on it and with massive amounts of coffee and Valium, managed to get the whole lot under my belt. 
It was all over the papers and the night I opened in Adam’s role, to my horror, all the critics were invited. I was lucky to get rave reviews and stayed with the Adam Leslie Theatre for three years in shows such as ‘Group Hairier’, ‘The Adam Leslie Revue’, and ‘A Tribute Cole Porter’. 
After the run with Adam Leslie, I appeared as Snoopy in the South African Production of ‘You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown’, followed by ‘What The Butler Saw’, ‘Mama Is Terry Coming Home For Good’ and ‘ A Long Days Journey Into Night’. This last production convinced me that I would never be a serious actor ( how could I play an angry young man, when all I wanted to do was make people laugh). 
By this time Hal and Ian introduced me to radio and I started doing character parts on serials for Springbok Radio - ‘The World Of Hammond Innes’, ‘Marriage Lines’, ‘Jet Jungle’ and ‘Squad Cars’ among others. 
At the same time I started doing stand-up comedy at ‘Athens By Night’ in Hillbrow (before Hillbrow became Lagos Ext.2). 
By now I had dropped the music in my act - I thought that with a voice like mine, I didn’t want to mess up too many songs. My stand-up consisted mainly of characterisations and jokes linked together the form of stories. 
But there was still something missing. I was doing comedy that people laughed at, but didn’t necessarily have to think about. 
One day I was in town and went to a record shop called The Long Player and the only comedy record I could find was of Lennie Bruce. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing - a guy telling it like it is. It was like hearing a cross between Mahatma Ghandi and Vlad The Impaler. I knew at that moment what I wanted to do - speak about issues. I started copying Lennie Bruce’s style and re-wrote some of his sketches to suit the South African situation (with only mild success). 
I then started to look at the society we lived in and suddenly another new world opened up (South Africa has always been a good country for comedic material). We have proudly bred politicians and public figures who have managed consistently to raise the standards of ineptitude to a whole new level. 
I realised that this form of comedy, in a repressive country like ours, was going to cause was bound to cause trouble for me, but what the hell - if I was going down, it would be with a bang not a whisper. 
Ten years had passed in my career, but now I had a style. 
At the time the Top Of The Carlton only hired overseas acts and when one of them fell ill, I was the first South African to be asked to fill in for a few nights. The act went down well and I was offered a contract to work there. I did four seasons, breaking attendance records every time. 
In those days, every hotel chain had a cabaret circuit, and I started to do country-wide tours. The Southern Sun, Holiday Inn and Crazy Horse circuits (and others that I’ve blocked from memory for fear of permanent trauma) taught me a lot about getting an audience on my side - and with my kind of comedy in South Africa, that wasn’t easy. 
It was quite gruelling being away from family and friends for eight months of the year, but I was finally making a name for myself nationally (TV wasn’t around at the time, so it was all word of mouth). 
In 1976 TV started and I was asked to appear in a program called ‘Potroast and Biltong’. The idea of the program was to pit South African comedians against British comedians. The adjudicator was Clark McKay. 
The program took off and at one stage we had more viewers than the BBC’s ‘World At War’. 
We were paid R35.00 a show (even then it was bad money), but for the first time a million people could see us at the push of a button. I also appeared on ‘The Everywhere Express’, ‘Us Animals and Things’ and ‘Punchline’. 
It had taken me twelve years to become an overnight success!! 
By now I was pushing the envelope even more (this was my radical period you understand), and in 1985 after a show at the Top Of The Carlton, I was picked up by the security cops, taken to the Hillbrow police station and roughed up for my anti-government comedy. My phone was bugged and my family threatened. 
For the next ten years I concentrated on corporate comedy (which was more private). In 1990 Joe Parker persuaded me to start working in clubs again and I started at O’Hagens in Dunkeld. The word got around that I was back into club gigs and I started to get back into the circuit of clubs and pubs. I think I’m the only comic of my generation who still does club gigs. 
At the begining of South Africa’s transition, Joe Parker and myself wrote a revue called ‘Nelson De Klerk and His Amazing Technicolour Country’ which played to packed house for six weeks. 
In 1995 Sam Hendricks asked me to take part in the Smirnoff Comedy Festival in Cape Town. After being out of the public eye for ten years, I was concerned that the public in Cape Town had forgotten me. They hadn’t. The reception that I received at the festival was so overwhelming, that I returned to Jo’burg, resigned my job as art director in a publishing company and returned to what I loved most. 
I subsequently appeared in nearly all the Smirnoff Comedy Festivals, co-wrote, produced and directed show with the late Shaun Griggs - ‘Things To Do In Jo’burg When You’ve Forgotten That you’re Dead’ (packed for three weeks),sold out at the Grahamstown Festival twice, toured with my own shows - ‘Captain Chaos’, ‘Captain Chaos Flies Again’, Divine Madness’, ‘Fat, Fiftyish, Pissed Off and Funny, ‘Mel Miller’s Big Fat Comedy Show’, appeared in Israel with Cyril Green and Eddy Eckstein and in London as part of the South African Comedy Festival. 
In 2011 I was awarded the Comics Choice Lifetime Achievement Award (the proudest moment of my career). 
In March 2011 I appeared at the Sydney Opera House in Australia and sold out with ‘Mel Miller’s Big Fat Comedy Show’. 
I’ve been doing this for 46 years and when it becomes work, I’ll retire. Until then, I’m unstoppable. (July, 2011)

 I'm the guy you should blame for starting the group... which actually began when I coaxed Big Mel into the Troubadour to "audition" for Keith Blundell, who was looking to fill the Wednesday night spot all those years ago. Anyway, that story is pretty much complete for your reading pleasure (and patience) above. 

About me... I've always been a singer whether I knew it or not, singing along to the radio with my mother, singing the morning hymn at school, at the rugby games and once in a while in public, badly, nervous and alone, although realization set in when I picked up a neglected guitar one Sunday night when it's owner was away at church. I taught himself a few chords, which were enough to make me an enthusiastic guitar basher while I was whiling away my spare time after doing art school homework and study. A year later I was giving concerts for the neighbours, sitting out of site on my family's apartment balcony, and occasionally getting applause from a girl in the block opposite.

After moving to Johannesburg to continue studying Graphic Design, I had by now bought my own guitar, and was an enthusiastic member of the South African Folk Music Association, getting together to play for each other, while I made good use of my nights off as a waiter at the Troubadour, all the while observing the "pros" up on that little stage, copping their guitar licks and figuring out how to fingerpick.

Big Mel and I started singing together during lunch break at art school and after Keith offered us the entire Wednesday night spot, based on our three song repertoire! We had to learn new songs fast! That's all history now... as Mel incorporated his inimitable comedy talents filling in the gaps as we slowly increased the number of songs we knew well enough to sing in public.

We both graduated form art school meanwhile and took full time jobs... he with an interior design firm, and I with a large international ad agency... we continued practicing and singing on Wednesday evenings, and sometimes at talent shows around the Reef with our friend Louis Meyer, the only 5-string banjo player in the country. We were honoured to be invited to play at the first Johannesburg Folk Festival which was recorded by Columbia... 

I had always thought that art would be the main thrust of my life, but after this surprising acknowledgement of a dream realized, I was really in two minds... which way to go: should I really pursue this music thing more seriously, or should my new career in advertising take precedence. Well, little did I know that decision would have to be made sooner than expected.

Billy Forrest, South Africa's premier C&W singer and recording artist was introduced to us, at one of the Rock clubs... our buddy Johnny Sharpe had some very nice things to say about us. So Billy came around to the Troubadour a few times and told us that he admired us and offered to become our unofficial manager. His benign influence and willingness to find out what our ambitions were and he gave us some good advice... and he got Columbia to record us again. This time we did a single, backed up by our friends, Johnny Sharpe & the Squires. 

Our image was akin to a Mutt and Jeff/Donavan look alike duo... black turtle necks, jeans, Cuban heel boots and soft black corduroy caps. By that time we had been at it for almost 2 years, and we were invited to do a short set at the second Folk Festival. Billy brought around Don Hughes the Booking Agent, who loved our act, and he boasted that he could get us a full time engagement at the Edward Hotel in Durban, which was the only 5-star hotel in South Africa at the time. 

He did just that. The big decision had to be made and being close to my family, I asked their opinion, as well as that of my boss, Barry Crystal, of Afamal Advertising, where I had a Junior Visualizer job.  My parents were skeptical, but Barry gave me the best advice of all. He said "Do it, you can always come back for a job in advertising if the life doesn't suit you." Mel's folks also gave their blessing, and soon time came to drive down to Durban to take  our first job in Residence for three months at the Edward Hotel! That was followed by a month doing a Happy Hour cabaret spot at Deal's Hotel in East London... during those four months we increased our repertoire, and worked very hard at the next step.

When we returned to Johannesburg for  two months, our record company demanded an LP from us, and we were happy to oblige.  Although we had enough good songs for a record, we soon realized how sparse our sound really was. OK for a live show, but not for a recording. A good friend, David Sapire recommended his half-brother, Julian Laxton to play lead guitar on our tunes. Mel also realized we needed another guitarist to boost and improve our sound... truthfully, I was a very basic folk guitarist, and knew it. And so I drove to see Julian at his home, and auditioned him. In truth, I played a few of the songs and Julian just jammed with me. I was intimidated and very impressed by his skill and quick take of the tunes. Mel was too, and so the three of us, plus a bass player went into the main studio at Gallo Afica Ltd. and put down twelve songs in a little under seven hours! It was a terrific recording session, and our rehearsal time with Julian had paid of nicely. 

Our first LP was called "Songs about mines, people, places and one train" (my title) and it soon set the folk scene on it's ear, because no other folkie had a lead guitarist at the time!  SHortly, the Don Hughes Organization offered us another residency at the Edward... six months this time, with a three-month stint to follow at Deal's in East London. It was a great reassurance to us to know that we had contracts for almost a year.  Before we left for Durban we played at the Troubadour frequently and soon had a nice buzz going, our reputation was growing by the day, and by the time we got to Durban we were filling our own little "club" at the Edward almost every night!

I am really a very modest person, and so I was not prepared for the reputation I had as part of what was becoming a famous entertainment trio.  I love to sing and that showed, my ego was non-existant at the time so I had no problem taking a back-seat to Mel or Julian... I suppose I was being "myself". Just enjoying life in my naive way. The show-biz life is essentially a lonely one, and when we were just beginning I was still quite shy... not having it any easier with the ladies as I would have in everyday life. Let it suffice to say, that Mel Miller's girlfriend at the time was kind enough to notice my "state, and introduced me to one of her friends, and soon I had a steady girlfriend of my own, who did not seem to mind coming to our shows two or three times a week to sit alone at a table or with Mel's girlfriend. Life was good and it helped me to grow up somewhat secure in the knowledge that my very unusual life was quite pleasant.

My days in Durban were a delight: breakfast at the staff dining room followed by the beach, which was only a hundred yards or so right across from the hotel. I'd shed my T-shirt and flip-flops and go for a daily two-mile walk up or down North Beach. Lunch with Mel and Julian to plan our afternoon rehearsal and discuss general "business". BAck to the beach for a swim, and then dinner at the hotel, followed by a quick bath, get dressed in the "uniform" of the day, and get down to our "Troubadour Room" to set up, tune up and be on stage by 8:15pm for four-sets of comedy and song unti midnight. 

Julian Laxton has been active in the music industry for many years. He made a name for himself as a guitarist with "Mel, Mel and Julian" (1963 to 1967), and after they broke up, made his name with innovative rock bands such as "Freedom's Children", "Hawk" and the "Julian Laxton Band" with which he penned such hit songs as 'Celebrate The Rain', 'Blue Waters' and 'Johannesburg'. (The Julian Laxton Collection).

Over the years his formidable talent on the production side of the music industry, has won him a "Sari" award for best recording engineer. He has also produced South African artists such as "Rabbitt", "Stingray", "Margaret Singana", Mango Groove", "The Stockley Sisters", "Lucky Dube" and many others.

He has also written many radio, T.V. and cinema commercials  and has won two bronze awards in the New York Advertising community and a South African Lurie award for 'Best Music' for a Coca Cola Commercial.

...And he has written music scores for film and T.V. such as: the main title theme for "Shaka Zulu". And for "Hold My Hand, I'm Dying", "Jewel of the Gods", "Quiet Thunder", "Panga", "Final Alliance", "Purgatory, "The Evil Below", "Headhunter", "Rising Storm", "Crime Lords" and "Okavango".

For a time Julian presented acclaimed stints playing guitar in a show called "The Legend of Clapton" which was dedicated to Eric Clapton's long and successful career. He is currently doing odd gigs with his Blues band called "Julian Laxton and Friends" and he also wrote new material for his 1994 album, The Julian Laxton Collection.

Many South Africans consider him the best guitarist in the world and if he were put on the same stage as other prime guitarists, he would certainly prove he could hold his own as one of the very best! 

(Notably: Julian also produced and released a popular series of Children's CDs titled "Majors for Minors"... featuring favourite children's tunes played by Julian on keyboards and piano!)