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". Written in the style of what I did on my holiday, liberally sprinkled with old man type groovy speak, eg natch kinda. Top 10 John Cooper Clarke Poems - Louder Than War Any amateur review cannot do justice to the genius of JCC, so I just urge you to read it! I wanted to enjoy this more, having seen JCC twice,once in his heyday when he was more poet than standup or celebrity,the second time he was slower,less shocking. 2023 From music hall and working mens clubs to punk and post-punk, whether as an observer or participant, Clarke has done it all. The veteran poet befriended Arctic Monkeys in their early days and knocked about with some fascinating non-famous characters. Oh, those tragic Brit holidays. He hastens to add that he values newspapers hugely and doesnt like to see any newspaper collapse. What can I say, the 70's and 80's were a weird, weird, gloriously outrageous, wonderfully fun, utterly ridiculous era. John Cooper Clarke - Wikipedia The sartorially suave punk poet grew up in the Higher Broughton area of Salford, opposite the Rialto Picture House where he spent a lot of time immersed in the movie world that inspired much of his work. Ellie-Jo meets Heather Linnitt in Chorlton to check out the modern vintage marvel that is Jonathan Schofield and the epic tale of Manchester architecture, Jonathan Schofield gazes down from an impossible angle at the 'old city', By Paul Henderson. I think Mr Clarke was given too much freedom with this meandering diary with a tendency to show off. John Cooper Clarke - Wikiquote Leading line: Time flies slides down the wall. Baudelaire used to write about the modern world as it was in the 1860s in Paris. Sinatra sings it. [2], Clarke has attributed his early success in part to the influence of the English poet Pam Ayres. In one particularly grim passage he has to arm himself to try and score in the perilous underworld of late-70s New York. 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". Last time he came to Manchester he enjoyed a bit of zhuzhed up marrowbone at The Bull & Bear but dont worry, hes still a man of the people, I'm a fussy eater but I'm not snobbish about it. 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. The lists of people he knows and has worked with is impressive, from Bernard Manning to Gil Scot-Heron, from The Clash to Nico, from Plan B to Chuck Berry to list a very few. I was always more of a Baudelaire than a Wordsworth. Near the end hes given up drugs, married and has a grown up daughter. Everybody else has been teachers, librarians or whatever. He would approach a song as though it were a poem and then he would decide how to sing it. It is not Clarke that embraced punk, however, but the other way around. Every single person that visits Poem Analysis has helped contribute, so thank you for your support. But really it is another example of Clarke having fun with the written word. Clarke was born in Salford, Lancashire, in 1949. I Wanna Be Yours explores the feelings of love and want, cleverly articulated by Clarke wishing to be the everyday things that come into close physical contact with the object of his affection, such as raincoats, vacuum cleaners and coffee pots. It's a terrific song. Poetry has never been regarded as a reliable engine of wealth. Best John Cooper Clarke poems | British GQ | British GQ Like having a cig and a pint at the same time and being able to swear about current events. John Cooper Clarke is an English performance poet, who first became famous as a "punk poet" in the late 1970s. The combative stage persona he developed with his formative gigs at Bernard Mannings Embassy Club meant that shows in front of these viscious, drunken, delinquent, blocked-up punks held no terrors for me, and his sharp stage get-up was perfectly suited to the scene. Take a tip from John Cooper Clarke John Cooper Clarke: Fans walk out of Sheffield gig over 'transphobic John Cooper Clarke, punk poet and the Bard of Salford is in danger of becoming a national treasure. 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. [4] During an April 2018 episode of Steve Jones' radio show Jonesy's Jukebox, Clarke revealed one of his early inspirations to be the poet Sir Henry Newbolt, reciting from memory a portion of Newbolt's poem "Vita Lampada". 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". He also cites poets like Charles Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud and Edgar Allan Poe among his chief inspirations, but even more influential in his early days were figures such as Muhammad Ali, with his swaggering rhyming trash talk, and Edwardian music hall star Billy Merson. You call the shots, I wanna be yours. I'm smiling. Thats terrible. And when you happen to see him, in these very ordinary settings, it's a bit like magic. You could still smell the polycell. From the emergence of rock n roll in the late 50s; The Beatles and The Stones; the rise of Northern Soul at the Wigan Casino; mid-70s dub reggae; punk rock; and Manchesters immortal Factory-led post-punk scene in the 80s, Clarke saw them all. I like learning about poetry, the nuances and the cleverly picked phrases. He's met the fish man on the way. [26] He has also been a panellist on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. See Jim Moir aka Vic Reeves paintings for evidence of how broad his impact still is. So glad Majorca is on the list utter genius and my favourite! 1. For decades it was seen as corny. Seven things you didn't know about John Cooper Clarke I Wanna Be Yours, (Macmillan), is a groundbreaking piece of literature. I love playingWheres Wallywith poems find the metaphor, spot the simile detour relationship never really went beyond that which is strange because I love music and essentially lyrics are just poems to music. 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. Clarke is also very keen on lists: there are a lot of them. I can imagine how it went in the meeting when they were discussing the construction of MediaCity. 9.09 GBP. 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. Opening and closing your mouth. Benjamin Zephaniah Writer. Much older than Johnny Rotten, Pete Shelley and co. (or at least the only one not lying about his age), he always loathed the hippies. The Luckiest Guy Alive is the first new book of poetry from Dr John Cooper Clarke for several decades - and a brilliant, scabrous, hilarious collection from one of our most beloved and influential writers and performers.. Cooper Clarke's status as the 'Emperor of Punk Poetry' is certainly confirmed here, but so is his reputation as a brilliant versifier, a poet of vicious wit and a . Though he needs no such affirmation, it cements Clarkes status as one of the most distinctive voices in pop cultural history its impossible not to hear him read every word aloud in your head with that unforgettable Manc drawl and reveals much about a remarkable life and career. Roger McGough Poet. But what they refuse to see is the absolute madness of it all. John Cooper Clarke - John Cooper Clarke Poems | Best Poems [6] He began his performance career in Manchester folk clubs, where he began working with Rick Goldstraw and his band the Ferrets. How many people would take a scene like this and craft a poem from it? It involved people that are much younger than myself in the gangster world of East London. It draws on his childhood perceptions specifically, the poverty he came across on the streets of Salford while Britains backdrop was entirely Thatcherite. John Cooper Clarke's age is 73. February picture of the month: the extremes of city life. Enter the Dragon, exit Johnny Clarke. [1] He released several albums in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and continues to perform regularly. Apart From the Revolution One of my all time favourite memoirs. Ten Years in an Open Necked Shirt 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. [22], 2015 saw Clarke present a documentary on Thomas De Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium-Eater in the BBC's second series of The Secret Life of Books. The poem is also the inspiration behind the single's video, in which clowns brawl. And, now, I will have to go and buy some of his poetry! British punk poet who set lyrics of rebellion to the music of lesser-known bands. You heathens! [2] Rabid also released his debut LP O est la maison de fromage'? (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 Then right at the end, in 2004, hes buying crystal meth. Feral Five: Truth Is The New Gold video premiere. John Cooper Clarke (born 25 January 1949) is an English performance poet who became famous during the punk rock era of the late 1970s when he became known as a "punk poet". John Cooper Clarke shot to prominence in the 1970s as the original 'people's poet'. 2023 Louder Than War. We are still experiencing political turmoil, after all. Fascinating for anyone interesting in recent history, music history, fashion and pop culture. The subject of the piece remains unnamed (lucky guy), but the ambiguity of the poem deems it one of the Salford lads finest pieces. Perhaps the reason why people hold this particular poem in such affection is because of the Beasley Streets that we all know, the fully furnished dustbins that lurk in provincial Northern towns or London outskirts. His unique poetry was put to music by producer Martin Hannett and a band of Mancunians The Invisible Girls. He shot to cultural prominence in the Seventies, producing and performing poetry that tackled real-life matters with zero fear and total vibrance. British punk poet who set lyrics of rebellion to the music of lesser-known bands. Some extracts taken from an interview with Punk Poet - John Cooper Clarke. He never relies on style. John Cooper Clarke | John Peel Centre for Creative Arts Punk poet John Cooper Clarke upset some of his fans with 'transphobic' content at a gig in Sheffield (Photo: Getty) Posting on Twitter, he said: "Walked out of @official_jcc gig. However, I laughed out loud and thoroughly enjoyed the book once he started performing. I never really understood that. I didnt want the 15+ hours of this to end, and had I the time, Id listen to it again right away. You can no more take the politics out of Kathe Kolwitz, Sue Coe, or Brecht than you could take the words out of poem. The state of urban living has long been a strong concern for Clarke, and in Beasley Street he relays that with power. A master wordsmith, his love of language and humour leaps from every page. Came across JCC through the Arctic Monkeys. 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. Website. John then interviewed Kevin Eldon a week . Fortunately, Clarke did. Dr John Cooper Clarke's 2019 autobiography, named after his most famous poem I Wanna Be Yours, (Macmillan), is a groundbreaking piece of literature. When I asked about the last time he said his favourite word wow, he says it was in response to his wifes confit duck. There's a reason why John Cooper Clarke was dubbed the first "punk poet": his words have long delivered an honest exposure of urban Britain. Few artists could draw such vocal and heartfelt appreciation from a set as diverse and rich in talent as Steve Coogan, Alex Turner, Stewart Lee, Pete Shelley, Craig Charles and Wilko Johnson, the list goes on. "Sheffield" By Dr. John Cooper Clarke - Vinyl Me, Please The book is also an at times bleak account of his descent into heroin addiction, always written with a lightness of touch, but never swerving in its mission to bare all. The punk poetry of John Cooper Clarke | Dangerous Minds "Ten Years in an Open Necked Shirt (film)", John Cooper Clarke performs Beasley Street at Hammersmith Palais, "John Cooper Clarke interview: 'Poetry is not something you have to retire from', "John Cooper Clarke On Life In Higher Broughton", "John Cooper Clarke: 'It's diabolical how poor I am', "Plan B's Ill Manors set to hijack charts in Olympics opening week", "John Cooper Clarke honoured by University of Salford", "Does Rock 'N' Roll Kill Braincells?! Best line: Im not your psychoanalyst, Id rather talk to mice.. He first encountered Mark E. Smith when the late singer was a schoolboy, and Clarke ended up becoming an unofficial uncle to the future Fall frontman you know, the type of uncle who doesnt give a fuck what you get up to, as he puts it.
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