John Otway, sans Wild Willy?! Just John at the Torquay gig; Willy had testicular accident…

21st December 1977 and John Otway was at the 400 Club, Torquay. But whatever became of Wild Willy?

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My diary tells me I got drenched on this day. Given that I have no recollection of attending a beer-chucking party I have to assume it was raining. It was a long wet day that took in my (then) workplace – the laundry in Torquay – the Golden Butterfly for a few lunchtime pints, and the Pelican. The laundry is now in Newton Abbot, the Golden Butterfly is now the Old Engine House (?!!) and the Pelican has long since been demolished. I hasten to add I am not the reason for any of that mayhem!

The following is an extract from my diary:

‘In the 400 by 2200. Bumped into Debbie Harrison, Anne Dixon, Sue Alward and both of the Julians as well as a bunch of other folks. Phil Newson was working the bar!!‘

Now there is a blast from the past; if any of you happen to be reading this it would be good to hear from you, as well as something of a miracle!

ANYWAY… the support band – Scratch – were really not very good, and to be honest I have no memory of what kind of music they played. Just that they were not very good. John Otway I had seen before in London and was (and still is) very good value for money. This was the only time (so far as I can recall) that I saw John Otway without Wild Willy Barrett. Odd, because they had not long before issued their first – eponymous – album in 1976. My diary tells me I got home at 3am, but I don’t know how I knew that.

JO&WWB’s first two LP’s are now available as a double – and on Qobuz, Tidal, et al. Well worth a listen. A review in 1993 (when the double was released) had the following to say:

‘(the record) has a sonic depth that, at its peaks, makes ‘Bat Out of Hell’ sound like a lo-fi garage band… Neither punk nor folk (though marketing tried to portray them as both), neither rock nor pop, these two albums epitomise a world that simply doesn’t exist any longer, one in which the most unlikely mavericks could make the most magnificent music, and actually have it released by a major record company.’
Dave Thompson, TiVo.

Their third single – Really Free – was at No.27 in the UK charts in December 1977, having recently played on The Old Grey Whistle Test (I had to spell it out because the young ‘uns amongst you will have no idea what OGWT was…). There was a hilarious report in a national newspaper about that: it seems that John Otway jumped onto a speaker stack, knocking it over and disconnected WWB from the PA; the report is worth repeating:

“He brought down the speaker stack but fractured no bones when he landed on the sharp corner of a bass cabinet, as the impact was cushioned by his testicles.”

What a classic line – the impact was cushioned by his testicles….!! Had it been me I think I would have said sod the bones I really want my testicles intact…