I just finished watching “Otway, the movie” after it was recommended to me by a good friend and professional colleague. Its a fascinating tale for a variety of reasons, hence penning some thoughts here.
Getting attention
Otway fell on his feet in getting featured on “The Old Grey Whistle Test” in 1977, as at that time his performance of “Really free” reached over 5m TV viewers.
There was only BBC and ITV for viewers and very limited options for music on those stations. The first rule of any promotion is to “get attention” and this appearance led to a major record deal for a substantial amount of income. One of the first things he did with the money was to buy a Bentley, even though he couldn’t actually drive.
His one initial hit following the TV exposure, was followed up by a series of singles that almost never charted, until he was finally dropped by the label. The lesson here is that none of this phased him or dented his determination to earn a living as a musical artist. He almost pulled off hiring a plane and flying his fans around the world to be an audience for a proposed global tour. One thing is certain, he always had a BIG VISION for himself as a performer and wasn’t afraid to take a risk, even with his own money.
Maverick thinking and fan engagement
I’ll not go into the full reveal of all Otway’s antics in terms of how he reached a much wider audience, except to say that he constantly challenged the status quo in terms of what was happening in “the music industry” and genuinely bucked the system. There are countless examples in his movie of how he managed to reach a huge audience by not following musical conventions and “what was expected” The movie “Rock and Roll’s greatest failure” is IMO a much watch for any artist as it shows just what is possible with some “out of the box thinking” and fan engagement.
Otway was using “fan power” decades before the era of social media and the results were quite extraordinary.
Attitude and stamina
The lesson in Otway’s story is that here is a perfect example of somebody with a great deal of stamina and someone who worked in a highly unconventional manner. Of course there was a certain amount of luck and being in the right place at the right time, but in my experience, artist attitude is a huge factor in terms of musical success. The movie is hilarious and his vision of what he could achieve at times seems totally bonkers, but against a lot of advice he marched on to some amazing performance successes.
I was talking recently to a well know music writer about the unhelpful idea of instant stardom and quite delusional thinking fostered by TV talent shows and some musical education facilities. I’m a massive fan of the musical mavericks who buck the trend and personally I usually find such creative voices far more interesting than what appears in the top ten Spotify chart, where 62,000 new tracks are uploaded on a daily basis.