Early in 1995 Otway was selected to be the new "voice of Weetabix" - in the same way that Elizabeth Hurley was chosen to be the "face of Estee Lauder" (or so Otway claims...).

This monumentous honour took the form of a skit of the Sampson and Delilah story, with Otway providing his services by way of a version of the Tom Jones hit, Delilah. Naturally, this was slightly changed to suit the advert ("I felt a spoon in my hand, and she laughed no more"), and imbued with that inimitable je ne sais quoi (I'm feeling florid today) that you only get in an Otway song.

As if this occurrence wasn't enough, Otway was also selected as the warm up act for a national tour by Alexei Sayle (a well known British comedian), so with the (slim) prospect of chart success ever tempting him, Otway decided to release "Delilah" as a single.

The single (or rather, E.P. (nominally, at least)) was launched on October 2nd, 1995, and I imediately ordered a copy from HMV - I specifically chose a chart returns shop, because I'd love to see Otway on "Top Of The Pops". Five and a half weeks later, and following several "discussions" with an HMV assistant who could do nothing but grin inanely and claim that once an order was on the computer, nothing could be done about it, I gave up on HMV altogether.

Instead I made my way round the corner to "Picadilly Records" - a small, independent shop - and placed another order. Within a week I had a copy of "Delilah: the Otway sings Jones E.P." in my hands.

The first thing to say about "Delilah" (SBR 43CDS, distributed by Vital), is that it is not really an E.P. Not in my view, at least. Since most CD singles have three, four, or even more tracks, I would consider an E.P. to have at least five. Delilah has three.

Having said that, the three tracks are all very good (if you like Otway, of course), consisting of three Tom Jones hits; Delilah, It's Not Unusual, and Green Green Grass Of Home.

Taking these in reverse order, Green Green Grass Of Home is something that Otway has been churning out for more years than I can remember, and has always proved to be quite popular. This version owes much to Otways original release, starting fairly quietly, but rising to a tremendously loud finish, with the full backing of the Big Band. It was recorded live in Harlow, Vegas (I think Otway's been using Richard Cotton's atlas again), so if you've seen him with the Big Band, you know pretty much what to expect.

The second song, It's Not Unusual, was ... erm ... unusual. I was listening to it with a friend, and we both found ourselves literally rolling about with laughter as soon as it started. We had primed ourselves for an over the top Otway experience - after all, giving Otway the chance to sing this song seemed to be just begging for him to over act and pretend to be a sex-god. What we hadn't been prepared for, however, was a reggae version! Just as we were recovering from the opening bars, the twee background vocals began - nicely in tune, but somehow completely out of place against Otway at his most tuneless. We creased up again. All in all a very amusing version.

Finally, the first track, Delilah. This is superbly Otway. From the heavy-metal-kind-of-Brian-May-sounding-power-chords to the reverberating drum solos, it opens with all the promise of an incredibly powerful piece of music. Then changes.

My own band used to play a song called simply "Um-chick-chick" - a parody of those really boring 3/4 pieces where every instrument seems to be going "um-chick-chick". This is exactly what this song turns into. The tremendous drum solos become um-chick-chick; the swirling Wurlitzer style organ becomes um-chick-chick; even the bass manages to um (though it leaves the chick-chicking to the drums). Then the backing vocals start!

What can I say about those backing vocals? Nothing really - or at least not without spoiling the effect. You'll just have to get hold of a copy and listen to it.

Then, after all this, another set of power-chords, and a swirl on the organ takes you back into the full mêlée of the drum solos and heavy guitar. Otway at his best - and the sort of song that really should be on Top Of The Pops, just to scare parents all over the country, put a smile on everyone else's face, and prove (for another 18 years, at least) just how trite the music world really is.

If you like Otway, you should definitely buy this CD. If you liked the original advert, then you should definitely buy this CD. If you don't like Otway, and you didn't like the advert, then you either need major humour bypass surgery, or you're my mother.

On returning to Manchester after my Christmas holidays, I was greeted by a postcard from HMV, dated the 3rd January. According to this postcard, my Delilah CD is not only "now ready for collection", but also "unobtainable at present" and "no longer available". Now why doesn't Otway storm the charts again....?

Well, it seems that Otway almost did, in fact, storm the charts - provided you count number 183 as "storming". If only it had been an advert for jeans, he'd be famous by now!