John Otway and Wild Willy Barrett

Tonight I went to see John Otway and Wild Willy Barrett at Telford's in Chester. It is the second time I have seen them there and it is a tremendously entertaining evening. In 1977 they had a hit with "Cor Baby That's Really Free" and appeared on Top of the Pops and the Old Grey Whistle Test. Otway doesn't take himself seriously and is very funny building himself up as a result of this hit while Barrett, a multi-instrumentalist, acts as the cynical straight man. 

In 1999 the BBC ran a poll for the nations's favourite lyrics with John Lennon's "Imagine" coming top. The B side to Really Free, "Beware of the Flowers (cos I'm sure they're gonna get you yeah)" came 7th just behind The Beatles "Yesterday". It was amusing hearing Otway talk about this because, as he pointed out, this made him a better lyricist than Bob Dylan who failed to appear in the top 10.