John Otway Official Website

Gypsy/Murder Man (1972)

After teaming up with Wild Willy Barrett, the duo recorded their debut single Gypsy and Misty Mountain at County Recording Service - a custome recording company from Bracknell. Released in September 1972, the double A-side would find it's way to The Who guitarist Pete Townshend who, impressed with the songs, asked Otway and Barrett along to his house and offered to produce some tracks for the duo's first album.

Tracklisting: 1. Gypsy; 2. Misty Mountain

Murder Man (1973)

In August 1973, Otway & Barrett recorded the single Murder Man on Track Records - home to The Who, Thunderclap Newman and Jimi Hendrix. Otway originally called the song Lonely Man, but Barrett thought the lyrics and title were too wet and soppy and insisted on changing the title to Murder Man. Both tracks were recorded and produced by Pete Townshend at his Eel Pie Studios in Chalk Farm, London.

Tracklisting: 1. Murder Man; 2. If I Did

Louisa On A Horse (October 1976)

After the duo's second single Murder Man, Otway & Barrett would have to wait another three years before their third release. Their second release on Track Records, Louisa On A Horse was once again produced by Peter Townshend at his Eel Pie Studios.

Tracklisting: 1. Louisa On A Horse; 2. Misty Mountain

Racing Cars (Jet Spotter Of The Track) (1977)

Having been signed by Polydor, their new label were keen to see a return on their investment and decided their first release would be the Barron Anthony produced Racing Cars (Jet Spotter Of The Track. A homage to Otway's old school friend Jeff Potter whose Volkswagen Beetle made a similar noise to that of Willy's guitar on this track.

Tracklisting: 1. Racing Cars (Jet Spotter Of The Track); 2. Running From The Law

Really Free (1977)

Really Free was released in November 1977 on Polydor. To promote the single, the pair made their now legendary appearance on the BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test. Their performance was viewed by approximately 5.5 million people (only three tv channels existed back then) and had a huge impact on those watching (and Otway's testicles). Following the show, sales of the single rocketed as a nation got swept along the punk tidal wave and it would eventually reach number 27 in the UK charts. This catapulted Otway & Barrett into stardom and two appearances on the UK's flagship music programme Top Of The Pops. At last, Otway could call himself a star… It would prove to be the duo's biggest hit and Otway's last for quite some time.

Tracklisting: 1. Really Free; 2. Beware Of The Flowers (Cos I'm Sure They're Going To Get You, Yeh)

Geneve (1978)

After the success of Really Free, Polydor believed they had uncovered a star of huge potential. Wild Willy Barrett was working on the new album and everything looked set for the pair to make a massive impact with their follow-up single. Unfortunately, Otway decided he wanted to impress a girl he fancied and released a solo version of Geneve complete with the backing of a 100-piece orchestra. The new star of the punk movement, had produced a signle that could not be more middle of the road if he tried. Barrett, found out whilst driving to a gig in Manchester and the relationship between the pair deterriorated dramatically. Unsurprisingly the single did not appeal to Otway's new found fanbase and despite being arguably the best song he's ever written, the single would ultimately be a glop.

Tracklisting: 1. Geneve; 2. It's A Long Time Since I Heard Homestead On The Farm

Baby's In The Club (1978)

After the release of Geneve, Wild Willy Barrett had quit, but Otway managed to put a band featuring Maurice Bacon (drums), Jim Kielt (guitar), Paul Lilly (bass) and Paul Ward (keys) together. The band's first single was Baby's in the Club, a song about Otway's fear of his girlfriend telling him that she was pregnant. The single was produced by Paul Lilly and recorded at Mountain Studio in Wales. Despite more of a pop sound than Geneve, the single proved to be yet another flop for Otway and Polydor.

Tracklisting: 1. Baby's In The Club; 2. Julie Julie Julie

Frightened & Scared (1979)

It was now 1979 and with only one hit and several flops already to his name, Otway began to get desperate. One thing he did not want to be was a one-hit wonder, but with each passing flop that dreaded moniker was getting perilously close to reality. With this in mind, Otway and Polydor decided to get creative. Three pressings of this single would feature the track but without Otway's vocals. If anyone should find one of the ‘golden’ copies, Otway would come round to their house, stand between the speakers and perform the vocals live. In theory, it was a great idea and possibly would have worked but for one small problem… Although fans loved the live show, they did not necessarily want the chaos of an Otway performance in their own home. The single was yet another flop - a word becoming increasingly familiar to Otway.

Tracklisting: 1. Frightened & Scared; 2. Are You On My Side?

Birthday Boy (1980)

With punk all but a distant memory, the start of the 1980s saw New Wave as the leading musical genre in Britain. The dawning of a new decade gave Otway new hope and saw him re-united with Wild Willy Barrett.

The pair's first single back together was Birthday Boy which was released in April 1980. Despite the string of flops, Polydor still backed Otway to make another hit single - especially as he was now back with Barrett. They admired his determination and self-belief that another hit was just around the corner. Sadly for both parties, this would not be the case and the search for a second hit continued.

Tracklisting: 1. Birthday Boy; 2. What A Woman

DK 50/80 (1980)

By now, Polydor and Otway had realised that in order to get another hit, they would need to take drastic action and somehow try to hype the charts. In the early 1980s, only a few shops counted towards the chart sample and although they were meant to be known only to the chart company, the record labels knew where they were.

Polydor and Otway decided to do a one week tour of towns where they knew the shops were. Cleverly, knowing that the live show was still bringing in good numbers, it was decided that you were only allowed to come and see the gig (for free) if you had purchased a copy of the single. The trick almost worked, with DK 50/80 at number 45 in the charts, Otway and Barrett were set for their second appearance on Top of the Pops. Sadly for the duo, the Musician's Union called a strike the week they were due to appear on the music programme thus denying them the exposure and increased sales that would have followed. A potential hit, was agonisingly another flop.

Tracklisting: 1. DK 50/80; 2. (a) Homestead On The Farm; (b) It's Been A Long Time Since I Heard Homestead On The Farm

Green Green Grass Of Home (1980)

Having been dropped by Polydor, Otway appeared to have found himself a natural home in the form of Stiff Records. His first release with them came in October 1980 and was a cover of the Tom Jones hit Green Green Grass of Home. Jones had got to number one in the UK charts with his version sadly for Otway, the word "flop" reared it's ugly head once more.

Tracklisting: 1. Green Green Grass Of Home; 2. Wednesday Club

The Turning Point (1981)

Released in April 1981, it was hoped that this single would be a turning point in Otway's career and a return to the charts would follow. With live favourite Too Much Air Not Enough Oxygen as the B-side, there was indeed much optimism for Otway's twelfth single. Sadly, once again the word "flop" would be attached to this record and Otway was by now very much the dreaded "One-Hit Wonder".

Tracklisting: 1. The Turning Point; 2. Too Much Air Not Enough Oxygen

Headbutts (1981)

In October 1981, Otway re-united once again with Wild Willy Barrett. This time, Willy was armed with the knowledge of how to get a second hit (or was it just plain simple revenge)?

Willy had worked out that their first hit came on the back of Otway hurting himself on live television and figured the only way to ensure that Otway could repeat this was by writing a song that involved his associate headbutting the microphone repeatedly throughout. In order to get the timing of the headbutts right, Willy would be in charge of administering the required movement with appropriate force. As a live performance it was quite spectacular and brutal with Otway often coming away with blood dripping from his forehead, as a record however, it didn't quite have the same appeal.

Tracklisting: 1. Headbutts; 2. Headbutts (live)

In Dreams (1982)

The Stiff years had been tough on Otway, and inevitably, after a succession of flops, Otway found himself once more without a label. Fortunately for Otway his manager and drummer Maurice Bacon had set up his own label and agreed to release the next Otway single whilst the search for a new label willing to back the star continued. His ever loyal fans were still turning up to see the live show, but Otway's ability to pick a flop didn't desert him here (despite the inclusion of Otway's cover of Bachmann Turner Overdrive's You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet - a song where the live performances saw Otway risk life and limb by jumping off the top of ladders and roadies had to have their wits about them as Otway threw his guitar at them.

Tracklisting: 1. In Dreams; 2. You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

Mass Communication (1983)

Arguably Otway's strongest single in many a year and possibly the most "pop" to date. Mass Communication was released in April 1983 once again on Maurice Bacon's Empire Records. Being on a small independent label was always going to make it difficult for Otway to trouble the charts and Otway had begun to think of creative ways in which to get signed by another major. Otway was getting used to the word "flop" by now.

Tracklisting: 1. Mass Communication; 2. Baby It's The Real Thing

Middle Of Winter (1983)

With Otway's previous singles on Maurice Bacon's label, Middle of Winter was the first to be released on Strike Back Records in November 1983. Strike Back were another small independent label and as with Mass Communication, it was always going to be virtually impossible to make any impression on the UK charts. In order to achieve this, Otway knew that he had to get back with a major label and he knew just how he was going to do it…

Tracklisting: 1. Middle Of Winter; 2. It Makes Me See Red

The New Jerusalem (1986)

It was now November 1986 and three years since Middle of Winter had been released. The ever resourceful Otway though had not been idle. Knowing that a major record label was unlikely to be willing to lose money and sign him, he decided that he would in fact sign the label instead. Having pressed the single, Otway then got a printer to print off his very own WEA Records stickers, drew up a contract and then send copies of the completed single to WEA.

On it's own, this would not have been enough, but Otway also sent copies to Radio One, Capital Radio and all the other major radio stations in the UK complete with a press release saying that he had in fact signed WEA for a small sum of money. The radio stations loved the joke, WEA weren't so enthused, but didn't want to be appear to be party poopers so instead of saying no, agreed to release the single and lose money on an Otway record. The single may not have been a hit, but the stunt certainly gave Otway plenty of publicity.

Tracklisting: 1. The New Jerusalem; 2. The Tyger

Last Of The Mohicans (1987)

After the WEA stunt, Otway found himself in a position where no major record label would come anywhere near him and so for his eighteenth single he found himself back on a small independent label (VM Records). He also found himself once again re-united with his old partner Wild Willy Barrett.

Last of the Mohicans was a homage to the punks who had given him his one and only hit back in 1977, but this was now 1987 and punk was all but a fading memory, New Wave had been replaced by New Romantics and they in turn had given way to the start of the underground dance culture. There were still pockets of resistance to the new sounds coming out of clubs with Manchester at the forefront but sadly not enough to give Otway a second hit. Otway was well and truly in the "one-hit wonder" category.

Tracklisting: 1. Last Of The Mohicans; 2. Fashion

Whoops Apocalypse (1988)

Released in January 1988, it was hoped that Whoops Apocalypse, having been the theme tune to a British comedy film of the same name, may return Otway to glory. Sadly, just as the film failed to make an impact on cinema-goers, Otway had to endure another failure to make a mark on the UK charts.

Tracklisting: 1. Whoops Apocalypse; 2. Losing

Cheryl (1991)

In the summer of 1991, having now admitted to being ‘Rock and Roll's Greatest Failure’, Otway had teamed up with punk poet Attila the Stockbroker and the pair had produced a surreal rock opera called Cheryl.

Based around the Bob Lind song Cheryl's Going Home, the rock opera was an every day tale of satanism, trainspotting, drug abuse and unrequited love. The duo, along with Richard Holgarth released Cheryl as the single through Strike Back Records to promote the album after being popularly received at that year's Edinburgh Festival. The B-Side, Boys in the Hood also featured the nerdy MC Trainspotter And The Platform 2 Live Crew.

Tracklisting: 1. Cheryl; 2. Boys In The Hood

Delilah (1995)

1995 seemed to be a turning point for Otway. He had just been chosen as the new voice of a popular brand of breakfast cereal and more significantly had asked Richard Holgarth to put a band together. Holgarth proceeded to recruit some of the most talented musicians from his hometown in Essex.

With Otway's version of Delilah featuring heavily on tv through the advert, it was decided to have one last stab at having a hit single. Sadly, the single wouldn't bother the upper echelons of the UK chart, but it did peak at 186 - giving Otway his biggest hit for a number of years and the band their first taste of the charts.

Tracklisting: 1. Delilah; 2. It's Not Unusual; 3. Green Green Grass Of Home

Bunsen Burner (2002)

It was now 2002 and Otway was coming up to his 50th birthday. His ever loyal fans had asked him what he would like for this most auspicious of occasions. Otway had just one answer - another hit. Despite the best attempts by the music industry to prevent Otway from achieving his dream, an orchestrated campaign with the fans - who not only chose the single via a ballot, but also appeared on the single's B-Side - Otway's unique take on House of the Rising Sun - Bunsen Burner charted at number 9. Against all the odds, it was Otway's biggest hit and 25 years after his first appearance, Otway was now back on Top of the Pops.

Tracklisting (CD1): 1. Bunsen Burner; 2. House Of The Rising Sun (Live At Abbey Road); 3. A413 Revisited
Tracklisting (Even Hotter Mix - CD2): 1. Bunsen Burner (Even Hotter Mix); 2. Attractive To You; 3. U R Breaking Up
Tracklisting (It's Not A Mix, It's A Compound - CD3): 1. Bunsen Burner (It's Not A Mix, It's A Compound); 2. Deep Blue Water; 3. Bunsen Burner vs Burning Love

A John Otway Christma5 (2014)

In December 2014, Otway released the EP A John Otway Christma5. Featuring a re-working of his 1980 near-hit DK 50/80 titled OK Father Christmas, Otway teamed up with former collaborator and Grammy award winning producer Chris Birkett to produce the EP.

With a group of fans performing the backing vocals, Otway hoped this new EP would give him a third hit and his first taste of the charts since Bunsen Burner. He also travelled to Finland with his beloved Sinclair C5 to record the video featuring a pack of huskies and a couple of dancing reindeer. Despite the video being a resounding success with over 100,000 views through facebook and YouTube, the single failed to make an impression on the UK Singles Charts, but it did hit number 16 of the UK Indie Chart - Rock and Roll's Greatest Failure had struck again.

Tracklisting: 1. OK Father Christmas; 2. Middle Of Winter; 3. Rocking With The Reindeer; 4. The Snowflake Effect