Written for NottinghamLIVE
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 because 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.
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