Clarke's recording of "Evidently Chickentown" from his album Snap, Crackle & Bop was also featured prominently in the closing scene of The Sopranos episode Stage 5. After 20 years of performing the same material, Clarke re-established contact with guitarist Rick Goldstraw, who had founded Blue Orchids and played with The Fall and Nico. Best line: Poverty and pollution have all swept away. I was going to preface this by saying its not really a poem, but it would be better to say it isnt a poem at all. It come across as a noir origin story, people with outrageous characters and ending with Clarke himself emerging from the story as a poet ready to take on the world. Putting a punk spin on simple matters has given the northern man a master status: purveyor of subcultural shock. Twat I Wanna Be Yours by John Cooper Clarke is available to buy now from all good book shops. I mean, crikey! The projected track list included The Beat Goes On by Sonny and Cher, Love is Strange by Mickey and Sylvia, Welcome Home by Peters and Lee, I Just Want to Stay Here by Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorm, and Thanks for the Memory by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross. The first half of the book acts as a social history of Salford and Manchester in the 50s and 60s and it's a fascinating read and it flew by. People think the internet is as reliable as a newspaper. You could still smell the polycell. With Lauren Laverne. In which I get beaten up says Clarke as introduction to this poem on its live recording. "One of Britain . I Wanna Be Yours by John Cooper Clarke The most striking thing about hearing this poem performed live is the staccato call-and-response nature of the delivery. But really it is another example of Clarke having fun with the written word. Evidently Chickentown A book of two halves by Britain's "bargain basement Baudelaire" as poet John Cooper Clarke writes an autobiography of sorts. How so? Those are the places they were playing - not pubs. The state of urban living has long been a strong concern for Clarke, and in Beasley Street he relays that with power. But of all the times when we might consider poetry to have been encouraged, the punk explosion of 76/77 would likely not be included. I thought maybe I could get a job in advertising. [13][14] He described this period of his life: "It was a feral existence. This brings us to our shared love of specialised languages like Yiddish, which Inotice John lends from a lot, and Polari. "Id been halfway out the door when the proprietor told me that some young men in a band wanted a word because theyd done my poetry at school. John Cooper Clarke punk poet, bard of Salford has had a chequered life, from growing up in post-war austerity Britain, through hardcore drug abuse, to being a kind of national treasure. Article What is Baroque? Series 15: Episode 1", "Pointless Celebrities Next on BBC One", "BBC Radio 4 Desert Island Discs, John Cooper Clarke, poet", "BBC Two Celebrity Antiques Road Trip, Series 9, Episode 7", "John Cooper Clarke: The punk poet whose time has come again", "John Cooper Clarke Post-War Glamour Girl / Kung Fu International CBS UK S CBS 6541", "Movie Highlights | Interviews, Quizzes & More", "Various Short Circuit Live At The Electric Circus (Vinyl) at Discogs", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Cooper_Clarke&oldid=1142709900, People associated with the University of Salford, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, "Pity the Plight" (2012 Ill manors album Plan B), This page was last edited on 3 March 2023, at 23:42. These days, hes a showbiz guy who often brings his Mancunian wit to daytime TV shows like Eight Out Of Ten Cats Does Countdown, filmed at MediaCity - where he bemoans the irony that you cant buy a newspaper. Grab one of the last remaining tickets for John Cooper Clarke at The Bridgewater Hall here. Yeah, I think you can learn to be a poet to a greater or lesser extent. [21] In October 2020 Clarke published an autobiography which took its title from his poem I Wanna Be Yours. I've never been one of those people that writes poetry as a means of self-expression alone. John Cooper Clarke is a different breed of the poet. Feargal Kinney gave us his top 10 John Cooper Clarke poems. Dr. John Cooper Clarke is a Salford-born poet and performer who has shared bills with the likes of Joy Division, the Sex Pistols and the Fall, and released multiple albums. Seminal tracks such as Beasley St and Evidently Chickentown featured on the album Snap Crackle and Bop, one of 4 hit 70/80s album releases. There's a certain snobbery that poetry that people enjoy must, by definition, be stupid. Famous fans include Ben Drew, aka the aforementioned Plan B as well as Alex Turner and his Arctic Monkeys. I got hold of your stuff last night and I like your style, the overcoat, the look, the voice, these are all the ingredients to make great records. He was known for his phrasing. Above a pretty upbeat musical backdrop, his abrupt dictation is all the more compelling. A light hearted look at songs that could have been famous, this is Clarke at his most whimsical as he lists songs with titles that are almost familiar, such as Some Enchanted Afternoon and Greasy Kind Of Love. However, I laughed out loud and thoroughly enjoyed the book once he started performing. (Play Loud)". Leading line: They packed us into the white hotel. Kae writes in a kind of language that I don't really use, addressing a public that I have no knowledge of. In one particularly grim passage he has to arm himself to try and score in the perilous underworld of late-70s New York. Some advice for you. One of his more playful numbers, this tale of take away violence at the hands of an embryonic Bruce Lee was released as a b-side to single Post War Glamour Girls in 1978, and its light hearted nature echoes the nightclub circuit in which Clarke cut his teeth before the punk era. My late great friend Barry Cryer used to say, Analysing humour is like dissecting a frog. In addition, he published two poetry collections, Ten Years in an Open Necked Shirt and The Luckiest Guy Alive. An exercise in acute alliteration that saw such excessive use of a plosive P that Clarke advised the first 16 rows of his audience to watch out. John Cooper Clarke's age is 73. Barrett Strong - the guy that wrote Money, one of the first lyricists with the Motown label - went to Berry Gordy when he was just starting up the label with a book of poetry and said, if you can use any of these for lyrics, that'd be great. D r John Cooper Clarke, Salford's favourite son, arrives in the whitewashed upper room of St John near London's Smithfield meat market trailing a suitcase. He's met the fish man on the way. At 5 feet 11 inches (32in chest, 27in waist), in trademark dark suit, dark glasses, with dark messed-up hair and a mouth full of gold teeth, he is instantly recognizable. This book was not for me there were too many references to other muicians, which for some people would be of interest, but not me. There are pharmacy-robbing brothers Angie and Marcel, and there is moustachioed jazz aficionado Spanish Fred, dressed with psychotic attention to detail in a pinstripe suit with his hair slicked back. There's no pubs where I live anymore. Thats terrible. Take a tip from John Cooper Clarke John Cooper Clarke (born 25 January 1949) is an English performance poet who first became famous during the punk rock era of the late 1970s when he became known as a "punk poet". addiction and then the massive comeback as major poet he enjoys today. Dr John Cooper Clarke's 2019 autobiography, named after his most famous poem. [2] His first releases were on Tosh Ryan and Martin Hannett's independent label Rabid,[7] starting with the EP Innocents in October 1977. All rights reserved. On Sale I Just Wanna Be Yours T-Shirt. Another speciality is clothing and fashion, something he takes very seriously. They're already selling a range of poisons. You heathens! It is an immensely engaging memoir that fizzes with wit, and it is simultaneously a chronicle of a lifetimes worth of extraordinary culture. [15] That same year, Clarke featured in rapper Plan B's feature film Ill Manors and subsequently the Ill Manors album. Maybe it's a limitation in me. John Cooper Clarke", "BBC One Would I Lie to You?, Series 9, Episode 3", "Would I Lie to You? My all-time favourite, Sean Locke was the funniest guy alive. First shown: 05/02/1979If you would like to license a clip from this video please . Clarke's poem "Out of Control Fairground" was printed inside the Arctic Monkeys' 2007 single "Fluorescent Adolescent" CD. Goldshaw began handling Clarke's affairs, and the two toured with the Mescaleros and several times supporting the Fall. The frog dies and nobody laughs. I couldn't put it better than the late Baz.. It's kind of Dickensian. After a decade or two lost to heroin, John Cooper Clarke was able to pick up his mantle of alternative poet laureate and carry on making us laugh and cry. He was the original punk. 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John Cooper Clarke (born 25 January 1949) is an English performance poet who first became famous during the punk rock era of the late 1970s when he became known as a "punk poet". [6] He began his performance career in Manchester folk clubs, where he began working with Rick Goldstraw and his band the Ferrets. Come my old age, my nursing home will have a very different soundtrack to the Hits of the Blitz that the grandparents favoured. John's 2018 poetry collection The Luckiest Guy Alive features 30 new poems including the favourites; I've Fallen In Love With My Wife and Get Back on Drugs you Fat F*ck. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); You have entered an incorrect email address! They sound like my sort of band. From music hall and working mens clubs to punk and post-punk, whether as an observer or participant, Clarke has done it all. John Cooper Clarke shot to prominence in the 1970s as the original 'people's poet'. John Cooper Clark Offers 3 Simple Words on Heroin: "Don't Do It". That point is quite obvious name-dropping a politician in a dark line that was actually censored by the BBC upon play in 1980. At the same time, you had people like Wordsworth, waxing lyrical about the Lake District. One of. He's like Edward Scissorhand's older and more sensitive brother. Evidently Chickentown wouldnt have achieved its master status had it not been for Clarkes repetitive fucking (words only, dont worry). Im relieved. He has a great deal of respect for the tabloid hack who puts themselves in danger for a good story. You call the shots, I wanna be yours. Among poets, John Cooper Clarke is the closest thing to a rock star our contemporary times can offer. Media City ain't Ordsall any more than The Vatican City is Rome, he says, The modern priestly class of show-business is kept apart from the hoi polloi of Ordsall. JCC featured on BBC Radio 4's Chain Reaction in August 2011 being interviewed by none other than New Order's Peter Hook. Their common problem is that theyre not someone else. There was little of the 'poet in the making' insight. Its really my only skill. He still performs, and appeared on AM on "I Wanna Be Yours." In fact, theres a lesson to be taken from these 36 hours: he may announce lifes many depressing elements, but he also aspires to address them through some commentary and a spot of dark humour. The same way that somebody who's a good painter back in them days would have been a commercial artist. If you get one of them early in the day from a branch of Martin's straight out of the oven. I remember him from the 70s and from assorted TV appearances. It's the only thing I ever had a natural aptitude for. I'm seeing the value of pubs now because they've been banned. It was hand to mouth. Not in the smoothest sense, though: Clarke makes a lot of claims concerning death, unemployment and the passage of time. But hes never mannered. So glad Majorca is on the list utter genius and my favourite! John Cooper Clarke was born in England on January 25, 1949. He released several albums in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and continues to perform regularly. A fan of the show for 60 years, he described it as having "all the finality of a suicide note, without the actual obligation of topping yourself". I was not equipped psychologically to deal with any of this new reality, he writes. The term poetic is often used to describe all manner of art: movies, paintings, photographs. When I phone John Cooper Clarke at his home in Colchester, hes been listening to Radio 4s obituary show, The Last Word. meet Salomey Maloney. Wait hang onit IS that crazy singer! A serious note is being struck here and this poem looks at a life after revolution. I can only think of one instance where a poem has become a song. It is essentially just one joke stretched across a poem, but it showcases Clarkes sense of humour perfectly. The shock and awe of those times would not seem to be particularly fertile ground for a poet to thrive in, but, hidden in the depths of Salford, a young poet was getting ready to do exactly that. John Cooper Clarke up against Damo Suzuki and Georgia Ruth. I didn't want to work for a living when I was a teenager. Leading line: Youre fucking lost and fucking found, stuck in fucking Chickentown. (I Married A) Monster From Outer Space(I've Got A Brand New) Track Suit23rd36 hoursA Distant RelationAction ManApart From The RevolutionAre You The BusinessArts N' CraftsBeasley StreetBelladonnaBronze AdonisBunch Of TwigsBurnleyConcussionConditional DischargeCycle AccidentDay My Pad Went MadDay the World Stood StillDrive She SaidDumb Row Clarke lost much of the 1980s to a heroin addiction, when he lived in a flat in Brixton with Nico, the late singer and muse of the Velvet Underground; he dislikes any attempt to glamorise that. The band's Alex Turner has said he is very fond of Clarke's work and takes inspiration for lyrics from his poems. This the man who first taught him that poetry should be heard, not read, and who managed to transform his classroom into a hothouse of proto-rap battles. He was comparatively old - in his late twenties - by the time punk hit, but he looked and sounded every inch the punky malcontent, and he . Around this time, he performed on stage with several punk and post-punk bands and continues to perform regularly. . Mmm!. Wise words from punk poet John Cooper Clarke, Kurt Cobain's sunglasses taught a whole generation of kids how to be cool, Mark three years without David Bowie by listening to his best songs, James McAvoys lowkey watch is a people's champion, Meet the men paying to have their jaws broken in the name of manliness, 10 of the best GQ-approved first watches money can buy. Very sonorous, a kind of mezzo baritone. Bob Mortimer has shared a new lockdown poem in the style of John Cooper Clarke - watch it below . he followed with my fat friend fell down the stairs last night..we thought eastenders had finished early.. not bad for a sickly Salford boy punk poet, who regularly appears on 9 out of ten cats enjoy cool countdownjust say graphic reference to hard drugs some will find difficult.. thanks John ever in Aylesbury there is a bed here always as room as kids are off to university my mind of man although many music differences, read it as in his own style has never left any associates out to dry and his will nice on the andy warhol factory goings on..lips willed although offers millions ever when doing at time.. solid.. spoiler.. just as good now freed from chain of addiction.. excellent narrated by himeslf he even second guesses you..as I say no matter where you are born, your dreams are valid.. thanks Johnny boy, your london mate..my life mirrowed yours without the talent and adventures..but now clean and boys working towards phd.. but I get slated I believe anything really worth knowing can never be taught, and if I was educated I would be a fool.. but spell I hear you.. a must listen..love to alo. For many, Arctic Monkeys cover of Clarkes 1982 poem I Wanna Be Yours, the closing track on AM, was the gateway into the bard of Salfords work. It's not a place for a first date, is it? . "Evidently Chickentown" (recited by Christopher Eccleston) is featured in the made-for-television film Strumpet. There's all sorts of things come into play, innit? Even his shambolic attempts to form a Beatles-inspired band in the 60s meant we were punk rockers before that became a good thing.. There have been times when poetry was very much in vogue. It also contains the line 'Keith Joseph smiles and a baby dies, in a box on Beasley Street'. The term I'm looking for here is the common touch. What it sounds like is the most important part of any poem. You can't see the joints. None of them were licensed. 'It will provide some much-needed employment in a depressed area'. I digress. I also recommend his love show! Around this time, he performed on stage with several punk and post-punk bands and continues to perform regularly. The only person that I could ever point at that ever made a living out of poetry was Charles Baudelaire. Perhaps an indication of what would have happened if John Cooper Clarke shunned poetry to sing in a band, the artful defiance and proud cynicism of a friend in need is a friend in debt creates one of Clarkes most compelling creations. A book that I did not want to end, so I tried to eke it out rather than devour it. The saddest of all, however, is when he realises that an emaciated, greasy heroin dealer is in fact Chet Baker, once jazzs handsome, charismatic Prince of Cool, now a shadow of his former self. He believes The Guardian now pushes a narrow set of beliefs, insisting he was always more of "a red top guy. Well, I'm a fan so I found this autobiography super charming. I'm annoyed at myself for finishing this book so quickly but I couldn't bloody help it ! British punk poet who set lyrics of rebellion to the music of lesser-known bands.
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