Editing John Otway (section)

==Biography==
===Early life===
Otway was born in [[Aylesbury]], [[Buckinghamshire]]. From the age of nine all he ever wanted to be was a pop star.<ref>{{Cite web|website=Vimeopro.com|title=OTWAY THE MOVIE – Rock and Roll's Greatest Failure, Otway the Movie|date=2020-04-03|url=https://vimeopro.com/otwaythemovie/movie/video/403710383|access-date=2023-09-21|language=en}}</ref>

===1970s and 1980s===
Although his first single, "Gypsy"/"Misty Mountain" was released in 1972, Otway gained wider recognition riding the wave of [[punk rock]] and his unique performance on ''[[The Old Grey Whistle Test]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6oQ4oRH_nc|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/Z6oQ4oRH_nc|archive-date=2021-12-11|url-status=live|via=YouTube|title=JOHN OTWAY and WILD WILLY BARRETT OGWT 18/10/77 Full Version|date=4 April 2016|access-date=4 October 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> His sixth single, the half-spoken love song "Really Free" reached number 27 in the [[UK singles chart]] in 1977.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book|last=Roberts|first=David|title=British Hit Singles & Albums|edition=19th|year=2006|publisher=Guinness World Records Limited|location=London|isbn=1-904994-10-5|page=412}}</ref> It would be his greatest success for some time. The song earned him a five-album deal with [[Polydor Records]], who viewed him as a [[punk subculture|punk]] rather than merely an eccentric.<ref name="AMG" /> His first album, recorded with [[Wild Willy Barrett]], was produced by [[Pete Townshend]] but sold only fitfully.<ref name="AMG" /> The follow-up singles fared no better despite some imaginative [[promotion (marketing)|promotion]], 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.<ref name="AMG" /> Otway's and Barrett's only other UK [[record chart|chart]] success came in July 1980 with "DK 50/80", a modest No. 45 hit.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums" />

[[File:JohnOtwayWildWillyBarrett1981.jpg|thumb|Otway (right) with [[Wild Willy Barrett]] in [[Toronto]], 1981]]
When Otway turned solo, his audience remained loyal despite poor record sales.  In the mid-1980s, he often appeared on [[Vivian Stanshall|Vivian]] and [[Ki Longfellow]]-Stanshall's showboat, the [[The Thekla|Old Profanity Showboat]], in [[Bristol]]'s Floating Harbour.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gingergeezer.net/oldpro.html|title=Old Profanity Presents|work=Ginger Geezer|access-date=30 December 2011|archive-date=3 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120103162622/http://www.gingergeezer.net/oldpro.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> He also appeared as the musical guest in the final episode of the British sitcom ''[[The Young Ones (TV series)|The Young Ones]]'', "[[Summer Holiday (The Young Ones)|Summer Holiday]]".

===1990s and 2000s===
His 1990 autobiography, ''Cor Baby, That's Really Me'' (subtitled ''Rock and Roll's Greatest Failure'') was a study in self-deprecation, and his touring continued to sustain him.<ref name="AMG" /> In the 1990s, he toured as "Headbutts and Halibuts", with [[Attila the Stockbroker]] with whom he wrote a surreal [[rock opera]] called ''Cheryl''. In 1992 Otway appeared at [[GuilFest]]. In 1993 he was able to draw 2,500 fans to a [[concert|gig]] in [[London]]<ref name="AMG" /> and, in 1998, 4,000 celebrated his birthday with him at the [[Royal Albert Hall]], coinciding with the release of ''Premature Adulation'', his first album of new material for over ten years.<ref name="AMG" />

By then, Otway had realised he could use his fanbase, who were in on the joke, to engage in minor [[publicity stunt]]s. A [[grassroots]] [[Advertising campaign|campaign]] 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 a [[BBC]] poll.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/john-otway-a-better-lyricist-than-dylan-743897.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220613/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/john-otway-a-better-lyricist-than-dylan-743897.html|archive-date=13 June 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|title=John Otway 'a better lyricist than Dylan'|newspaper=The Independent|first=Paul|last=McCann|date=9 October 1999|access-date=24 July 2013}}</ref> In 2002, when asked what he wanted for his 50th birthday, he requested "a second hit". A concerted drive, including a poll (scrutinised by the [[Electoral Reform Society]]) to select the track, saw "Bunsen Burner" – with music sampled from the [[Trammps]] song "[[Disco Inferno]]" and [[lyrics]] devised to help his daughter with her [[chemistry]] homework – reach number nine in the UK singles chart on 6 October,<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums" /> and earned Otway an appearance on ''[[Top of the Pops]]'', [[BBC Television]]'s flagship [[popular 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 at [[Abbey 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 his ''Greatest 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 of ''Hit''".

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, including [[Carnegie Hall]] and [[Sydney Opera House]]. Despite over 150 fans signing up, the tour was cancelled as the costs of the plane spiralled.

===2010s and 2020s===
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 called ''40-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 a [[duet (music)|duo]] with [[Richard Holgarth]] and often with his Big Band which includes [[Murray Torkildsen]] (guitar and [[stylophone]]), Seymour Fluids (bass), Adam Batterbee (drums) and guest keyboard player [[Barry Upton]].

In October 2012, to celebrate his 60th birthday, Otway booked the [[Odeon Leicester Square]] to show the documentary of his life. Titled ''[[Rock 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/news/john-otways-world-record-film-attempt|title=John Otway's world record film attempt|work=[[Channel 4 News]]|date=7 October 2012|access-date=29 November 2012}}</ref> 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 the [[Cannes Film Festival]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Anthony Barnes|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/cannes-film-festival-2013-veteran-pop-flop-john-otway-showcases-biopic-rock-and-rolls-greatest-failure-8617157.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220613/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/cannes-film-festival-2013-veteran-pop-flop-john-otway-showcases-biopic-rock-and-rolls-greatest-failure-8617157.html|archive-date=13 June 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|title=Cannes Film Festival 2013: Veteran pop flop John Otway showcases biopic Rock And Roll's Greatest Failure|newspaper=The Independent|date=15 May 2013|access-date=20 July 2013}}</ref> 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 the [[Promenade de la Croisette]] to the red carpet.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bucksherald.co.uk/news/more-news/otway-rocking-down-the-street-in-cannes-1-5114397|title=Otway rocking down the street in Cannes – More News|newspaper=[[Bucks Herald]]|date=25 May 2013|access-date=20 July 2013|archive-date=13 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413143134/http://www.bucksherald.co.uk/news/more-news/otway-rocking-down-the-street-in-cannes-1-5114397|url-status=dead}}</ref> The film also had its theatrical release at [[Glastonbury Festival]] in June 2013, before going on a national cinema tour in the summer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.otwaythemovie.com/screenings.html|title=Rock and Roll's Greatest Failure|website=Otwaythemovie.com|access-date=20 July 2013|archive-date=27 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130727133824/http://www.otwaythemovie.com/screenings.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

He delivers occasional (humorous) lectures on the theme, "Making Success Out of Failure", and the sequel to his autobiography, ''I Did It Otway'' (subtitled ''Rock 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 EP ''A 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 (album)|''Montserrat'']], was recorded at Olveston House, [[Montserrat]], in September 2016<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.songlink.com/news20161014-john-otways-mission-to-monserrat.html|title=John Otway's Mission To Montserrat|work=Song Link International|access-date=4 October 2020}}</ref> and released in March 2017, to those who had supported the Kickstarter campaign, followed by general release on 1 May 2017.

Following the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], Otway started a series of Facebook live concerts on 28 March 2020. These receive around 10 thousand views per stream.{{cn|date = April 2021}} He performed nine such between March and May 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vimeopro.com/otwaythemovie/lockdown|title=Lockdown Shows|website=Vimeopro.com|access-date=14 April 2021}}</ref>

On 2 April 2022, Otway played his 5,000th career gig, which, as a milestone event, was held at the O<sub>2</sub> [[Shepherd's Bush Empire]]. This featured performances of many of his popular songs from his career, with a first set played with long time musical partner [[Wild Willy Barrett]] and a second set with the Otway Big Band.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://louderthanwar.com/john-otway-shepherds-bush-empire-london-live-review/|title=John Otway Shepherds Bush Empire review|first=Mike|last=Bennett|website=Louderthanwar.com|date=6 April 2022|access-date=8 April 2022}}</ref>

In September 2022, Otway received a Honorary PhD in Music presented by [[Oxford Brookes University]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/22569209.singer-songwriter-john-otway-picks-oxford-brookes-honorary-degree/|title=Singer songwriter John Otway picks up Oxford Brookes degree|newspaper=[[Oxford Mail]]|access-date=12 October 2022}}</ref>