Rock and Roll’s Greatest Failure screening + Q&A at Cornerhouse

The music documentary section in Woolworths Our Price HMV the internet is stocked full of great success stories – but they rarely tell the tale of those that never quite rose to the top. A look at the career of John Otway (Rock and Roll’s Greatest Failure) is set to even the score with its tale of implosion, resurrection, self-promotion and testicular trauma. Having been given a ridiculous deal by Polydor in 1977 during the punk revolution it took 25 years until his next big hit, and the record company soon realised they had made a terrible mistake on their Otway gamble. Proof that you can never keep a good man down, however, Otway has managed to keep himself in the public eye through fan-manipulating, over-the-top projects that have garnered him status as The Nation’s Seventh Favourite Lyricist in a BBC Poll, and secured a Top Ten hit for his 50th birthday. Otway will be in attendance to take your questions. An irascible and incendiary talent, this should be more than your average post-film chat.

Fri 30 Aug, Cornerhouse, 70 Oxford Street, M1 5NH, Tel: 0161 200 1529, 6.15pm, £7.50/£5.50, www.cornerhouse.org