The Only Way Is Otway.

John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett.

I spent the afternoon drinking wine. It was quite a nice day. The sun came out, it was almost like Spring although it's only January. I put a John Otway album on. This is a story I wrote about Otway a long long time ago.

In the summer of 75 I became quite pally with this bloke who I met in Peterborough. I liked him because he still read the Beano although he was about 25 years old. He came from Aylesbury and one night over a few pints in the Bull Hotel in Peterborough he told me about this person who he knew back in Aylesbury who would be famous one day.
"What does he do?" I asked.
"He is a singer, he is so bad,he's good. He is so determined to be famous that one day he will be,You mark my words".
"What's his name?" I enquired, becoming curious.
"John Otway", he replied.
Two years went by and I had moved to Wiltshire and totally forgotten about the Aylesbury kid's prophecy. Then one fateful day I was reading the New Musical Express when I saw a review of an album by John Otway and Wild Willy Barrett and suddenly the strange conversation came flooding back. A few days later in a record shop in Bath I bought the album and my life was never to be the same again. When I got home and put the album on the turntable I was pleasantly surprised, I liked it. There were a couple of quite poignant ballads, Geneve and Gypsy,some nice folky pastoral songs such as Louisa On A Horse and Misty Mountain,a wild manic version of Bob Lind's Cheryl's Going Home and another wild song called Cor Baby Thats Really Free.This was a great song with some great driving guitar by Willy Barrett.There was also a great feeling of humour and fun about the album that I really liked as well. I played it to my family and friends who also loved it. Before long Bradford On Avon had become an enclave of Otway fans.We had all been Otwayed.

Really Free was released as a single and Otway and Barrett appeared on the Old Grey Whistle Test TV show. It was a performance that was never to be forgotten. Otway got carried away and was doing double somersaults on the floor, then tried to jump on the speakers and fell off in a heap on the floor. It ended in total chaos and Barrett walked off in disgust. It must have struck a chord with some people though because on December 3rd 1977 Really Free entered the UK charts, peaking at number 28. Otway's dream was coming true. He was becoming famous.
Otway had made a huge mistake though. Making huge mistakes is a constant theme running through Otway's career. The B side of Really Free was Beware Of The Flowers which was even better than Really Free.With its punk sound of relentless guitar thrash and great hook line of"Beware Of The Flowers Cos I'm sure they're Gonna Get You Yeah" it could have been a million seller but it wasn't to be. It was to be 25 long lonely years before poor old Otway had another top 40 hit.
The second album was called Deep And Meaningless which I rushed out to buy as soon as it hit the shops. Again it was a great album with lots of great songs on a quasi-autobiograpical theme set around Otway's home town and area in the Vale Of Aylesbury. Songs like Place Farm Way
I saw Otway for the first time in 78 at Bath Pavilion. He was terrific, tearing around the stage like a mad looney and ripping his shirt off. Our gang saw him about 7 times during those heady days of 78/79. One night at Bristol Locarno he threw his shirt into the audience and I managed to grab it. I used to use it for mopping the kitchen floor at home, so much for collecting memorabilia. I was also there when Otway  played a huge outdoor concert in the market square of Aylesbury which was filmed for a TV special called 'Stardust Man, The Otway Story'.Otway seemed destined for fame and fortune, but alas it wasn't to be.

                                                                                                                  Himself and Willy Barrett fell out, partly because Barrett kept failing to appear at gigs if there was football on the telly, also Otway's ego mania was taking its toll. The difficult 3rd album was a solo affair. Where Did I go Right? was the title and although it contained some great songs Otway's brush with stardom was on the wane. He was entering the wilderness years. Subsequent albums such as All Balls And No Willy failed to interest the public.
Otway refused to disappear though and a long period of playing pubs and birthday parties followed and the odd TV advert kept Otway afloat. He teamed up with anarchist poet Attilla The Stockbroker and even wrote a rock opera called Cheryl. It was during the late 80's that Otway first appeared at Glastonbury. Slowly but surely he began to rebuild his career. He even wrote his autobiography called Cor Baby Thats Really Me!. It was hilarious and for the first time the whole sad story was revealed. When he was at school Otway was known as 'Smelly',one year he got everybody in his class a Xmas card and got none back in return. To make himself popular he used to do things like drink a whole bottle of ink but to no avail. It was this rejection that spurred him on to achieve his dream.
The long lonely years in the wilderness were playing dividends though. Otway was beginning to build up a loyal following of devotees who understood his strange psyche. Perhaps they had also suffered failure and rejection in their lives. His faithful fans asked Otway what he would like for his 50th birthday and he said he would like another hit. Thus began the Otway renaissance.
A huge campaign began to get Otway back in the charts,The song chosen was Bunsen Burner which Otway had written while helping his daughter with her chemistry homework. The word went out across the internet, the papers and on the radio.The London Palladium was booked for Otway's birthday party to coincide with the chart announcement on the Sunday.

 I was there on that glorious night.It was a lovely sunny evening and all the fans were gathered around the radio in the pub opposite the Palladium listening as the chart run down began. It got up to No 30 and no Otway, I began to worry, then up to 20, still no Otway, we had failed I thought, then up to 10 no Otway, the disappointment was unbearable, then... ...the magic words.......And straight in this week at number 9 its JOHN OTWAY with BUNSEN BURNER!!!!!!!!!!!!. YES!!!!! we had pulled it off.
Otway came running out of the Palladium, stood on a table and sang the song to his rapt fans and thanked everyone. I shook hands with him and he said "Thanks"with a huge grin on his face.It was the happiest day of his life. The concert that night was great and even Wild Willy Barrett was reunited with his old friend. The following week Otway was on Top Of The Pops and played a manic theramin solo. Otway is a national treasure who deserves an MBE for services to music.

Otway and Barrett - Really Free

The Stars Look Very Different Today

A nice sunny day today. I sold my Ronnie O’Sullivan book. That was quick, I only put it on sale yesterday. I obviously sold it too cheaply. Not to worry because I still made £15.00 on it. It was somebody in Moscow who bought it. I didn’t know that they were into snooker in Russia. Anyway, I walked to the post office and it was quite a pleasant walk in the January sunshine. When I got there the man said he couldn’t serve me because his printer had broken. This is the second time this has happened. I don’t blame him. I blame the postal service. Why can’t they give him a spare printer? I persuaded him to send it with ordinary stamps on it. He couldn’t print me off a proof of postage receipt though, so I hope it gets to Moscow with no trouble. The situation with the post office in this town is really annoying.

Apart from that the rest of the day was quite uneventful. Listening to the Marc Riley Show on Radio 6 this evening it was mentioned that David Bowie died two years ago today. It is frightening how fast two years can go by. I wish time would slow down a bit. This is from Wikipedia.-

On 10 January 2016, English singer, songwriter and actor David Bowie died at his New York City apartment, having suffered from liver cancer for the previous 18 months. His death occurred two days after the release of his twenty-fifth studio album Blackstar, which coincided with his 69th birthday. Fans and friends alike were surprised by the news as Bowie had kept his illness private. Makeshift memorials were created in London, New York City, Berlin, and other cities in which Bowie had lived; sales of his albums and singles saw a significant increase. Many commentators noted Bowie's impact on music, fashion and culture and wrote of his status as one of the most influential musical artists of all time, while numerous musicians and public figures also expressed their grief.

David Bowie - "Wild Is The Wind" - Live Glastonbury 2000

When In Frome

I caught the bus over to Warminster today to visit my friend Sian. When I got to her house she poured two large G &T’s which was nice and we listened to The Best Of Elbow. What a great band they are. I love that track One Day Like This, it puts you in a good mood for the day ahead. Sian wanted to go to Marks & Spencer in Frome so we caught the bus over there. Frome is a lovely little town. It also has one of the best venues for music in the West Country which is the Cheese & Grain. I have been to lots of great gigs in Frome. There are lots of nice arty type shops as well. I don’t think I’d like to live there though because it is too hilly for the likings of me.

Anyway, after Sian had done her shopping I left her in the Blue Boar pub while I hit the charity shops to look for books. There are lots of them in Frome. I went in about seven of them, Blue Cross, Dr Barnado’s, British Heart Foundation, Julian House, Oxfam and a couple of others. I came across a Jack Kerouac biography but I had it already so I didn’t buy that. I found a first edition of a Margaret Craven novel and a biography of Brian Jones but nothing spectacular.

I was just feeling a bit disappointed until I went in the Dorothy House Hospice shop and I found a signed autobiography by snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan. That made my day and made the whole expedition seem worthwhile. After that I re-joined Sian in the pub and she beat me at pool as usual. Then we retired to the George Hotel for lunch and an amusing bottle of Chardonnay and spent a nice hour chatting and looking out the window and watching the world go by. When I went outside for a ciggie I had a quick stroll up St Catherines Hill and looked in a couple of shops.

We caught the bus back to Warminster at about 3.45. Sian went home and I carried on to Westbury and that was the end of my afternoon in Frome. PS, If you want to hear Elbow sing 'One Day Like this' at Glastonbury then just click on it opposite.

Penguin Eggs

A sunny Sunday but too cold to go out for me. I sat in the kitchen listening to music. Today I was playing Game, Set & Match by Nic Jones. A great album of live tracks. I bought it at the Village Pump Folk Festival a few years ago and Nic kindly signed it for me. Just in case you haven't heard of Nic Jones I'll just tell you quickly about him. Nic was born in 1947 in Kent. He played in a folk group called The Halliard from 1964 to 1968 and when they split up Nic decided to pursue a solo career. He released five solo albums the last of which was Penguin Eggs. This is the only other Nic Jones album I own other than the one I played today. I'm not a Nic Jones expert by any means, but I rate him as one of the greatest singers and guitarists in British Folk Music history. Up there with Richard Thompson and anyone else you care to mention.

Nic Jones & Joe Jones At Village Pump Fest 2013

In February 1982 fate played a cruel trick on Nic. He was involved in a serious car crash whilst driving home from a gig. This happened just outside my home town of Peterborough. He suffered permanent injuries and brain damage and was hospitalised for eight months. His career seemed to be over. Nic now lives in Devon where he was nursed back to health by his wife Julia. She also set up a label called Mollie Music which has issued four live albums of Nic's early music.

Nic didn't fade away into obscurity because his fame gradually began to spread and new fans began to follow his music. This is largely I suspect based on the brilliance of the Penguin Eggs album. Radio 2 listeners voted it the second best Folk album of all time. Second only to Liege And Lief by Fairport Convention. Kate Rusby said it is her favourite album of all time and I can see why. I discovered it through listening to Mike Harding's show. The first song I got acquainted with was Canadee-i-o.The guitar playing on the album is quite superb and apparently Bob Dylan recorded this song and although it is a traditional song Bob also stole Nic's guitar arrangement as well. Every single track on this album is great. I particularly like The Little Pot Stove,The Humpback Whale and Barrack Street, but it is silly picking out particular tracks because all nine of the songs grab the listeners attention. I urge you to listen to this album.

Against all the odds Nic started performing again In a trio which his son Joe also played in, and Nic's son is a great guitarist as well, as we witnessed at the Village Pump Folk Festival. I think Nic might have retired from performing live since then because I haven’t heard any news of live gigs in the last couple of years, but his place in the history of Folk Music is assured.