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John Otway | |
|---|---|
 Otway performing in the Cabaret Tent at the 2010Glastonbury Festival | |
| Background information | |
| Born | (1952-10-02)2 October 1952 (age 72) Aylesbury,Buckinghamshire, England |
| Genres | Pop,rock,Folk,punk |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar,theremin, violin, vocals |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Labels | Polydor Records U-Vibe Records Red Bowler Records |
| Website | www.JohnOtway.com |
John Otway (born 2 October 1952) is an English singer-songwriter who has built a cult audience through extensive touring.[1]
Otway was born inAylesbury,Buckinghamshire. From the age of nine all he ever wanted to be was a pop star.[2]
Although his first single, "Gypsy"/"Misty Mountain" was released in 1972, Otway gained wider recognition riding the wave ofpunk rock and his unique performance onThe Old Grey Whistle Test.[3] His sixth single, the half-spoken love song "Really Free" reached number 27 in theUK singles chart in 1977.[4] It would be his greatest success for some time. The song earned him a five-album deal withPolydor Records, who viewed him as apunk rather than merely an eccentric.[1] His first album, recorded withWild Willy Barrett, was produced byPete Townshend but sold only fitfully.[1] The follow-up singles fared no better despite some imaginativepromotion, which included an offer for Otway to come to a buyer's house and perform the 1979 single, "Frightened and Scared", if their copy was one of only three copies from which the vocal had been omitted.[1] Otway's and Barrett's only other UKchart success came in July 1980 with "DK 50/80", a modest No. 45 hit.[4]
When Otway turned solo, his audience remained loyal despite poor record sales. In the mid-1980s, he often appeared onVivian andKi Longfellow-Stanshall's showboat, theOld Profanity Showboat, inBristol's Floating Harbour.[5] He also appeared as the musical guest in the final episode of the British sitcomThe Young Ones, "Summer Holiday".
His 1990 autobiography,Cor Baby, That's Really Me (subtitledRock and Roll's Greatest Failure) was a study in self-deprecation, and his touring continued to sustain him.[1] In the 1990s, he toured as "Headbutts and Halibuts", withAttila the Stockbroker with whom he wrote a surrealrock opera calledCheryl. In 1992 Otway appeared atGuilFest. In 1993 he was able to draw 2,500 fans to agig inLondon[1] and, in 1998, 4,000 celebrated his birthday with him at theRoyal Albert Hall, coinciding with the release ofPremature Adulation, his first album of new material for over ten years.[1]
By then, Otway had realised he could use his fanbase, who were in on the joke, to engage in minorpublicity stunts. Agrassrootscampaign saw his "Beware of the Flowers Cause I'm Sure They're Going to Get You Yeah" voted the seventh greatest lyric of all time in aBBC poll.[6] In 2002, when asked what he wanted for his 50th birthday, he requested "a second hit". A concerted drive, including a poll (scrutinised by theElectoral Reform Society) to select the track, saw "Bunsen Burner" – with music sampled from theTrammps song "Disco Inferno" andlyrics devised to help his daughter with herchemistry homework – reach number nine in the UK singles chart on 6 October,[4] and earned Otway an appearance onTop of the Pops,BBC Television's flagshippopular music programme. To encourage fans to buy more than one copy each of the single, he released three different versions. The flip-side of "Bunsen Burner – The Hit Mix" was a cover of "The House of the Rising Sun" recorded atAbbey Road Studios and featuring 900 of his fans on backing vocals, each of whom was credited by name on the single's sleeve. Thanks to this second hit he has now been able to release hisGreatest Hits album. Commenting on the fact that the title of this album is now in the plural, Otway said that he was very proud of it, having "finally got it (the 's') on the right side ofHit".
Buoyed by the success of the hit campaign, Otway planned an ambitious world tour in October 2006. He proposed hiring his own jet to take his band, and 300 of his fans, to some of the most prestigious venues in the world, includingCarnegie Hall andSydney Opera House. Despite over 150 fans signing up, the tour was cancelled as the costs of the plane spiralled.
Otway is still touring in various formats. In 2009, he was re-united with Wild Willy Barrett for a UK tour, the duo now perform together regularly and even recorded a new album in 2011 called40-Odd Years of Otway and Barrett consisting of re-workings of old songs and a new, previously unrecorded song "The Snowflake Effect". Otway also tours as a solo act, as aduo withRichard Holgarth and often with his Big Band which includesMurray Torkildsen (guitar andstylophone), Seymour Fluids (bass), Adam Batterbee (drums) and guest keyboard playerBarry Upton.
In October 2012, to celebrate his 60th birthday, Otway booked theOdeon Leicester Square to show the documentary of his life. TitledRock and Roll's Greatest Failure: Otway the Movie, the screening saw cinematic history made with the final scenes of the movie being filmed from the red carpet on the morning of the film.[7] The film was funded by fans becoming producers who, as with the Hit campaign, were all individually credited in the movie credits. Following the success of the producers' premiere, 2013 saw Otway take the completed movie to theCannes Film Festival.[8] Ever resourceful and still with an eye for a publicity stunt, Otway and 100 of his fans (who donned Otway masks and dressed up in Otway's traditional black jeans and white shirt) travelled down thePromenade de la Croisette to the red carpet.[9] The film also had its theatrical release atGlastonbury Festival in June 2013, before going on a national cinema tour in the summer.[10]
He delivers occasional (humorous) lectures on the theme, "Making Success Out of Failure", and the sequel to his autobiography,I Did It Otway (subtitledRock and Roll's Greatest Failure) was published in May 2010. The book was designed by John Haxby who has also designed Otway's album sleeves over the past 15 years.
At Christmas 2014, Otway attempted to crack the Christmas market with the EPA John Otway Christma5, the lead track "OK Father Christmas" basing a new lyric on top of the earlier single "DK 50/80".
During 2016, Otway set up an online Kickstarter campaign for 'A New Album of Otway Songs'. The campaign was successful, raising £38,916 from a total of 838 individual backers. The resulting album and DVD,Montserrat, was recorded at Olveston House,Montserrat, in September 2016[11] and released in March 2017, to those who had supported the Kickstarter campaign, followed by general release on 1 May 2017.
Following theCOVID-19 pandemic, Otway started a series of Facebook live concerts on 28 March 2020. These receive around 10 thousand views per stream.[citation needed] He performed nine such between March and May 2020.[12]
On 2 April 2022, Otway played his 5,000th career gig, which, as a milestone event, was held at the O2Shepherd's Bush Empire. This featured performances of many of his popular songs from his career, with a first set played with long time musical partnerWild Willy Barrett and a second set with the Otway Big Band.[13]
In September 2022, Otway received a Honorary PhD in Music presented byOxford Brookes University.[14]
| Date | Title | With |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett | Wild Willy Barrett |
| 1978 | Deep & Meaningless | Wild Willy Barrett |
| 1979 | Where Did I Go Right? | |
| 1980 | Way & Bar | Wild Willy Barrett |
| 1982 | All Balls & No Willy | |
| 1989 | The Wimp & The Wild | Wild Willy Barrett |
| 1991 | Cheryl, a Rock Opera | Attila the Stockbroker |
| 1992 | Under the Covers and Over the Top | |
| 1993 | Live | The Big Band |
| 1995 | Premature Adulation | |
| 2004 | OT-AIR | |
| 2006 | Bunsen Burner – The Album | |
| 2011 | 40 Odd Years | Wild Willy Barrett |
| 2014 | The Rest of Otway & Barrett | Wild Willy Barrett |
| 2014 | An Otway Christma5 | The Big Band |
| 2017 | Montserrat | The Big Band |
| 2019 | John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett (Live to Disc) | Wild Willy Barrett |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
