On Friday 20 April, 1973 the first John Otway and Wild Willy Barrett single, Murder Man, was released on Track Records, home of Jimi Hendrix, Thunderclap Newman and The Who, and produced by The Who’s Pete Townshend at his own Eel Pie studios. Despite the involvement of one of the biggest rock stars of the time, the record failed to trouble the chart compiler, so the pair split.
Otway and Barrett initially met in Aylesbury as schoolboys. Nine years later, Barrett had become Aylesbury’s most promising multi-instrumentalist and was running the town's folk club. Otway succeeded in getting an unpaid floor spot and was allowed to return on a semi-regular basis. A fortune teller predicted that John would enjoy huge success with a ‘blonde-haired musician'. Contacting the only blonde musician he knew, Otway persuaded Barrett to do some recording and a show together. Almost inevitably, they split up before they’d even appeared together. Otway’s wild, chaotic solo set emptied the hall; Willy’s tuneful and inventive set re-filled it…….. so he refused to allow Otway back for the scheduled duo set, vowing to never work with him again.
Forward to 1977. With punk in the ascendance, Willy thought Otway’s wild performances, elementary guitar skills and terrible voice might now work. He was right - the duo developed a following on the pub rock circuit and were invited to appear on the Old Grey Whistle Test. John’s performance on the show is now legendary. Five million watched what has since been voted one of the worst ever moments on television. Yet Within two weeks of the leaping Otway landing on his testicles astride Barrett’s amplifier, the duo were in the charts and on Top Of The Pops (introduced by Elton John) with their single: Cor Baby That’s Really Free.
Since then Otway and Barrett have regrouped, fallen out, and split more times than a curdled sauce. One tour was even titled ‘The Incompatible Otway And Barrett‘. ‘I think he’s genuinely fascinated by what I do’ said Otway of Wild Willy ‘but totally horrified at the damage it does to his reputation as a musician’. Willy countered ‘I do rather find that performing alongside his imbecilic antics distracts from the music I’m playing. I’m a little bit more tolerant of him now but it used to really cut to the quick in the early days’. Yet here they are, celebrating over 50 years of attempted escapes and still loved for their in-yer-face originality. Older but wiser, the contrast between the deadpan humour of Barrett and mad onstage antics of Otway are hilarious to watch.
Audiences should be prepared for everything from bare-chested theremin playing to wah wah wheelie bin as the duo jump from one hit and 40 near misses to another. An amazing and irreverent performance by two master entertainers.
Event Details
You may also like the following events from MacArts, Galashiels:
- Next Friday, 10th October, 07:00 pm, Craig Jeffrey supported by three local Incubator acts: Mixed Signals, Aimee Maltman and Estranged in Galashiels
- Next Saturday, 11th October, 07:00 pm, Kings of Lyon + The U.K. Strokes in Galashiels
- This month, 16th October, 06:30 pm, MacArts Open Mic Nights in Galashiels
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