WHEN John Otway leapt onto a speaker during a television appearance in 1977, little did he know he was launching himself into a cult career.

The singer-songwriter — who is coming to the Railway Venue, Bromley Cross, on May 21 — shot to fame thanks to the appearance on BBC Two music show, The Old Grey Whistle Test.

He said: “The show was a bit daft.

“I was always leaping on things – anything to look dramatic.

“I was just intending to jump up and down on the speaker but I missed my footing and fell — landing in a very painful place.”

The next day, the performance of the song Really Free, with Wild Willy Barratt, was the talk of the country and the single reached number 27 in the charts.

In the years that followed, John attempted many times to have a follow-up hit but, apart from a minor success with DK50-80 in 1980, he never succeeded — until 2002.

He said: "The idea was for me to be a huge international rock and roll star.

“But,” he adds impishly, “I haven’t given up on it yet.”

John, now 62, says he does not mind being described as a ‘cult’.

He said: "Yeah, it’s better than being a complete unknown. It’s a sort-of microstardom, and not no stardom at all.

“I’ve always had an audience and the fans are great.”

His fanbase is such that, as a 50th birthday present, they gave him what he wanted most in all the world — a second hit.

By this time, he was known as ‘Rock and Roll’s Greatest Failure’ and, although fans loved his songs like Really Free, Beware of the Flowers and Headbutts, it did not translate into sales.

He said: "Because they were bad records mainly.”

To mark his 50th birthday, he recorded six songs and the fans voted which one should be the hit.

He said: “In the end, they chose Bunsen Burner, which was a song I wrote to help my daughter with her chemistry homework.”

The song contained a sample of The Trammps’ Disco Inferno and fans even got involved in the recording of the flip-side — a cover of The House of the Rising Sun with 900 fans crammed into Abbey Road Studios.

John said: "On the Sunday night, I arranged a big show at the London Palladium and we had the chart run-down on.”

Bunsen Burner was in the top 10 — at number nine — and John finally got the chance to release a greatest hits album followed by a film of his career to celebrate his 60th birthday.

Speaking of his show in Bromley Cross, he said: "I’m doing two sets on the night, so I’ll be able to do both hits.

“It’s very like ‘an evening with’ type of thing. And I also have a roadie with me who naturally gets abused.”

John Otway will be the Railway Venue, Chapeltown Road, Bromley Cross, on Thursday, May 21.

Tickets cost £10 in advance and £12 on the door.

Martin Hutchinson