As the host for the evening Mike Atkinson observed, John Otway is not the biggest failure, nor is he the worst, he is rock and roll’s greatest failure. Scoring his first hit record in 1977 with ‘Cor Baby That’s Really Free’, with a legendary and eye-watering (for the male viewers at least – and if you’ve seen it you know what I mean) performance on The Old Grey Whistle Test, John Otway has turned failure into an art form. A loyal army of fans has ensured that while chart success is kept safely at bay, Otway’s live performances fill venues. Not only that, but as an early internet user and pioneer of crowd-sourcing before it was even called crowd-sourcing, the fans can be called upon to rally round whenever an attention seeking publicity stunt needs support.
The latest stage in the fascinating life of the ‘punk icon and disco king’ is a film of his life; Otway The Movie: Rock and Roll’s Greatest Failure documents what constitutes a rise and several falls of a true English eccentric. A clip from the early days showing his mother’s bewilderment at his career and concurring that “he can’t really sing” sets the bar. On the back of ‘Really Free’ he was given an advance of a quarter of a million pounds by Polydor Records to become another punk superstar. The route to punk superstardom however, does not usually entail releasing a love song with an orchestra (‘Geneva’), but that is what he did, and it was downhill from there.
Already a master of the outlandish publicity stunt, we recollected several campaigns including Live In Your Living Room, in which three singles were recorded without vocals and if you bought one of them he would come round and sing along. The problem being that if you’ve witnessed Otway’s chaotic live act then you certainly wouldn’t want him doing it in your house. Another example of not thinking things through came from the idea of the single being the ticket to a gig, so buy a record for a price far lower than the usual admission and get into the venue. Of course this meant that no profit would be made! It sold singles of course, which was the main objective, but in true Otway style they couldn’t go on Top Of The Pops on the vital week due to a musician’s union strike.
These little setbacks might have had a lesser entertainer running to the job centre in tears, but not our hero. Celebrating his fan base became his cause and John Otway became the fan’s cause in return. A gig at The Albert Hall (complete with his ‘first band’, The Aylsbury Youth Orchestra) was followed by a fan campaign to vote in the BBC poll to find the best lyric of the last millennium. With the fans behind him, ‘Beware Of The Flowers’ was voted number seven, beating Bob Dylan. The aforementioned early foray into crowd-sourcing really came into its own in 2002 when the fans decided to give their leader that much sought after second hit. To ensure the right choice of song, a twelve track CD was sent out to everyone on the mailing list, with a form to be filled in and sent to the Electoral Reform Society (I still have my CD) and the results were announced on stage at a (really) free concert at the Astoria; ‘Bunsen Burner’ was to be the song that put John Otway back into the charts. Inviting fans to Abbey Road to be backing singers, (and to make sure they bought the single), and using his knowledge of the shady end of the record business to circumnavigate the rules on hyping the chart, Otway made his triumphant return to Top Of The Pops. The inclusion of that clip in this film also finally grants Richard Blackwood’s wish to be seen in public once again.
As if the film wasn’t enough, Mike Atkinson was back afterwards to host a Q&A session with the great man himself. Sitting on the edge of the stage, Mike and John chatted like old mates catching up and we were treated to another side of Otway, the raconteur. There’s surely another string to the bow available to John Otway, after dinner speaker. Prompted by an audience question, John took a show-of-hands poll to determine whether he was a madman or a genius. The equal number of hands for both opinions says it all about John Otway; singer, poet, comedian, national treasure.
Review by Steve Oliver
Nice review of a chap I first saw in 77 with Wild Willy Barrett. Looking forward to watching the movie