At one point in London he addressed the problem of "The social menace of STIs - sexually transmitted infections, by which Britain leads the world by a sizzling 64%. Ivy League suits and three button coats things that you might buy at John Simons. As for people who sneer at him as a 'performance poet' - didn't Homer declaim?". The fact is you need help, though. Gazing at those windswept hills and imagining the unspeakable horror of actually being out there. I dont like low-rise, hipster trousers on men. British Rail, like any monopoly, had undoubtedly got complacent. deadgraham, John Cooper Clarke at Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea, England, John Cooper Clarke at Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth, England, John Cooper Clarke at Brighton Centre, Brighton, England, John Cooper Clarke at The Forum, Bath, England, John Cooper Clarke at Eventim Apollo, London, England, John Cooper Clarke at St David's Hall, Cardiff, Wales, John Cooper Clarke at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, England, John Cooper Clarke at Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland, John Cooper Clarke at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, England, John Cooper Clarke at O2 Apollo Manchester, Manchester, England. Their only shared interest, he insists, was hiding heroin from each other. He was born in Salford, on the north side of Manchester on 25 January, 1949 and has one brother, Paul, 12 years his junior. Christopher gets back on smack and he's sat in that same position, in the market, just nodding out. She'd been in Italy. It was the beginning of the end." Click here for tour details, John Cooper Clarke will be launching The Luckiest Guy Alive at an exclusive reading with Q&A session at Hoxton Hall, London N1, on 1 November. [10], Clarke appeared in a 1982 music documentary compilation Urgh! "His saving grace," Costello added, "was that he was really fucking funny.". Nick Cohen, our columnist, broke off from columnising to recite extended passages of Clarkes verse first committed to memory when the poet was sharing spittle-flecked stages with Buzzcocks and the Sex Pistols back in the day. "Yes?" While there's nothing affected about his accent, the poet luxuriates in its extremes much in the way that fellow poet Linton Kwesi Johnson savours the cadences of Jamaican patois, or George Sanders revelled in the languid elegance of old-school English. They may appreciate 'a voice' when it comes from 'the underclass', and they can indecently patronise it; but do they ever recognise 'a delivery', as in performance? Her run of success on the British TV show Opportunity Knocks led both Clarke and his mother to believe that he could make a living at poetry.[8]. Apart from them, I hated every second of school. And it seems hilarious now, when you read biographies about Wordsworth striding out on the fells, whingeing on about Coleridge lying zonked out on the couch on laudanum. They'd all have been sat in the bar, meditating on their flares." "In the French, it's imbcile.". He has had the wit and the generosity to encourage protgs, such as fellow-Mancunian Mike Garry and Luke Wright, who grew up in Colchester. Looking at one, I remember the poet once telling me that he had "never seen a work of art that would not be improved by the addition of tropical fish". I was in Salford when I saw that. He leaves, tired but happy. "Frontal lobes just had a trim," it begins, "or did you meet the Moonies? i just wanna be yours t-shirt. [citation needed]. Shakespeare wrote for actors. I hate the word itself. It's a level of popularity that is unprecedented in the history of performance poetry. [on choosing to become a poet] You get to wear fine clothes and perfume and nobody pulls you up on it. Didn't his dick almost drop off once? "I don't really look forwards in that way," he says. "I believe I was thinking you know that bit in On the Waterfront where they throw the informer off the roof, and the line is: "He could sing, but he couldn't fly". You wouldnt have known she was there. In the way I imagine that rappers subsequently did in Compton, Los Angeles. One of Clarke's newer poems has the title 'Bed Blocker Blues'. "Time flies, slides down the wall," Sievey said, from memory, his eyes half closed. (? And cheese and chutney sandwiches. People mention murder, the moment you arriveId consider killing you if I thought you were aliveYouve got this slippery qualityIt makes me think of phlegmAnd a dual personalityI hate both of them, Your bad breath, vamps disease, destruction, and decayPlease, please, please, please, take yourself awayLike a death a birthday partyYou ruin all the funLike a sucked and spat our smartieyoure no use to anyoneLike the shadow of the guillotineOn a dead consumptives faceSpeaking as an outsiderWhat do you think of the human race, You went to a progressive psychiatristHe recommended suicideBefore scratching your bad name off his listAnd pointing the way outside, You hear laughter breaking through, it makes you want to fartYoure heading for a breakdownBetter pull yourself apart, Your dirty name gets passed about when something goes amissYour attitudes are platitudesJust make me wanna piss, What kind of creature bore youWas is some kind of batThey cant find a good word for youBut I can, You Never See a Nipple in the Daily Express. "[19] His poem "I Wanna Be Yours" was adapted by Arctic Monkeys and frontman Alex Turner for the band's fifth album, AM, released on 9 September 2013. I begged the poison I abhorred. drew1992 And that," adds the poet, who is 66, "is why I have lived to be considerably older than you are. It was created originally as a holiday place. I may be prejudiced. The second guy, a bit more kinky, says, 'beat me up.' I'd love to get it published. Free UK p&p over 10, online orders only. Erstwhile louts trying to out-verbal each other, in a flamboyant, slightly foppish way. "I met the whole band when they were starting out," Cooper Clarke says. Imtheaudioslave John Cooper Clarke was born on January 25, 1949 in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, UK. To take one of my more popular poems, Beasley Street: I worked my way back on that one. "Because you know what the Japanese are like. I cant take the credit for anyone emulating my style everybody copies somebody. ", The work, once a struggle, is flowing freely from him. At the same time," he adds, "they were a picnic compared to the working men's clubs. "The rainbow I imagine is oil in a puddle" "Right." He knew my brother, who still works for the GPO, the Royal Mail, so we have a bit of baggage, you might say. Nobody saw this coming. He was a magic realist right to the end. People used to go on about how soulless life in those new towns was, but that was not my experience of Stevenage. I Wanna Be Yours John Cooper Clarke 4. It would be wrong to dismiss John Cooper Clarke as nothing more than a nave creator of knockabout rhyme. "How," I ask the poet, "did you hear that she'd died?" They were never out of the dry cleaners Id only wear them to weddings, funerals and gigs, and Ive still got them now. Every time I obtained a tubular Ivy League blazer that didnt have padded shoulders I had to treat it like it was made out of gold. You wrote [in the refrain in Chickentown] the fucking train is fucking late, you fucking wait, you fucking wait back in the late 1970s. He connects with a young audience precisely because he has never attempted to deny his years. The parents of Lydia, John & Ann Cooper are not known. The cover features a Peter Blake painting of his stick man profile, and embossed graphics in Scrabble tiles. John Cooper Clarke (born 25 January 1949) is an English performance poet, who first became famous as a " punk poet" in the late 1970s. ", That last word, Costello says, "was rendered hilarious by his voice in a way which is just impossible to replicate in print. He brought about this hothouse atmosphere of competitive poetry recital. When I moved to Essex, among the first things everyone said was Dont ever go to Jaywick, its a toilet. But you have to keep your request down to three words. It was National Poetry Day. PMgep I wish I had an answer. August 24, 2017 October 21, . "), He has always been a gifted mimic and, having been in Essex for so long, has perfected the local accent. [2] His first releases were on Tosh Ryan and Martin Hannett's independent label Rabid,[7] starting with the EP Innocents in October 1977. He still seems a little bewildered by his recent trajectory, which has seen him appearing on shows like Have I Got News for You? I remember sitting backstage one night with Cooper Clarke and the late Chris Sievey, alias Frank Sidebottom, another former cult hero who has been propelled to mass fame, in his case posthumously, through Lenny Abrahamson's film, Frank, released earlier this year. But I persuaded my wife to drive me there one weekend and on arrival I turned to her and said: Weve never been here before, sweetheart, but I sure have dreamed about this place. The streets are all sand. "You," he quoted from memory, sitting in the half light, "who like a dagger thrust, entered my complaining soul; sweet and potent as a host of demons, came wild, beautiful wretch infamous to whom I'm bound, like the convict to the chain, a stubborn gambler to his dice, the drunkard to his revelry. LancsMark John Cooper Clarke was born on January 25, 1949 in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, UK. Whereas I, in that situation, tend to err on the side of caution. zaynan newmanshh "John?" Why? He came into the office pulling a suitcase and immediately he sat down he was unzipping it to reveal his latest pride and joy, a handsome hardback collection of his poetry, entitled The Luckiest Guy Alive. 'Mere verse' as some might call it, is the kind of thing that everybody thinks they can do - and they're quite right, they can. Somewhere between a narrative film, a series of music videos and a documentary, the film features interviews and performances by Clarke and Linton Kwesi Johnson among others. The poem is also the inspiration behind the single's video, in which clowns brawl. And since you ask, Chickentown is among my favourites, not least because of that and its appearance in the penultimate episode of The Sopranos. Here [at the Contains Strong Language spoken word festival in 2017] Ive also got a bolo tie, which chimes in with the snakeskin boots by Jeffery West. "On one tour," Costello told me, "John went on between Richard Hell and The Voidoids and ourselves. It was the undoing of us. I never put a geographical stamp on it. Its Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, rocknroll. [26] He has also been a panellist on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. My message is always the same: dont even do it once. Alone. "I judge by appearances," he tells audiences. Im not a handsome man and its damage limitation. Who ever asked for that? It is things that he might eat if he ever did turn up to my show: which is to say various heavily flavoured, deep-fried, lavishly salted snack treats. I think," Costello continues, "this might be why he is not greatly regarded by literary snobs. "Who caught it off whom?" I won't be the one whose life is turned into legend. Evidently Chickentown E John Cooper Clarke 2. It is also more true to life. Show business isnt easy and it instinctively goes against the grain to do my fellow performers down. I like a high waist if anything, like a flamenco dancer that rakish, swashbuckling look. They deserve it. I once went clothes shopping with the poet, and the store owner had to explain that he had nothing to fit Cooper Clarke (5' 10", chest 32", waist 27", weight 116lb.) 1980 O est la maison de fromage ? Its an intelligent question, Phil, not least because I am old enough to have a historical perspective of the railways, but not yet too old to have lost my memory of how things were. He'd just finished a show in a small theatre and we were looking for somewhere to eat. Back then there was only me and him doing poetry on stage, so we cranked it up a gear, not least because our audiences often had no prior interest in poetry. There is no Japanese term for. His father George was a skilled engineer. His book choice was Against Nature by Joris-Karl Huysmans, his luxury item was a boulder of opium twice the size of his head and his favourite track was "How Great Thou Art" by Elvis Presley. John Cooper Clarke - What's In My Bag? "But where did you get the dead canary from?" "Solid gold geezer that / From the solitaire pin through the mink cravat to the snake-eye studs on his kid suede spats / Solid gold geezer that / Lives in a solid gold flat / With a girl worth a million / Plus VAT / And a caviar-guzzling cat. 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. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. That's half an hour of my life you've saved me, having to explain it to you. "Even then, I remember wondering how on earth you'd come to be there." It will be Murder on the Bus Replacement Service. (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 [2], Clarke has attributed his early success in part to the influence of the English poet Pam Ayres. '", The emaciated figure, the shades, and the obsessive attention to the minutest detail of his wardrobe ("the only casual item I own," he tells me, "is a Levi's jacket") mean that he is occasionally mistaken for the Rolling Stones' Ron Wood. My answer back then would be, as they say, to be hopped up on goof balls. The Changing Face of Planet Earth I believe its the kind of thing Charles Baudelaire aspired to: you know, the guy with the overview, a mirror reflecting the entire Parisian crowd. "Evidently Chickentown" (recited by Christopher Eccleston) is featured in the made-for-television film Strumpet. For details and tickets visit johncooperclarke.com, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. He is married to Evie. Here [at the Contains Strong Language spoken word festival in 2017] Ive also got a bolo tie, which chimes in with the snakeskin boots by Jeffery West. And there it was: Beasley, asking for it. His wisest recourse at such moments is to start talking. "Her writing has this effortless quality. (Play Loud)". Ninkasi I can't remember what happens next" and his list of "songs I wrote where I made one mistake in the title, that later became big hits for other artists." "I did," is all he will say, "all of those things that you have to do. And if so, how did you combat it?I didnt get it too bad. Because John has extraordinary talent and he has lived a life of frightening extremes. Well, that's a harsh judgement in my book. ", "The trouble with that poem," he says, "is that I started out by painting a bleak picture for the first few verses. "The bottles were bad. John Cooper Clarke, TV Smith, Joe Cairo, Ann Ziety 26 March 1993 at Covent Garden Community Centre (182) Immortalised on the earliest video recording of an A&S show at Covent Garden Community Centre - which reveals that the 'special guests' promised on the flyer are, in fact, Joe Cairo. Now, Im no expert, but I think when it comes to guys, the less said about the hips the better. And it caught on. It is merciless about Trump, but even so, you cant ignore the fact that even then he somehow still tends to come out on top. Like a Night Club in the morning, you're the bitter end. John Cooper Clarke at the Contains Strong Language spoken word festival at the University of Hull in 2017. his is my default look. Keep it quiet, but I plan to make a movie in Jaywick some day. Wrong on both counts, Jim tee many Martoonies. "Now that I come to think of it," he adds, "Spitting on my ancestors is what I do best. John Cooper Clarke: 'I've dressed the same way since 1965' The poet and performer on keeping his clothes simple, stapling them back together, and being fashionable once every 15 years for. I wasnt thinking of Stevenage, though I did live there for a couple of years. Baudelaire was my hero. It is a kind of a dream town, as Im sure Wilko knows, coming as he does from nearby Canvey Island. We go and see them and they come and see us and we benefit from frictionless border controls. He speaks with love of the life he has created there, referring often to his wife, Evie, and daughter, Stella, his guiding lights. Relax, Its Just a Run-of-the-Mill Nuke Spill. Unlike some of his fellow OAPs from the world of popular music, Cooper Clarke has understood the desperately absurd spectacle of an older artist seeking to cling to their youth. I think it is dangerous to think it is anything to do with having an addictive personality or any of that bollocks. 'near enough'. It is a small part of what he does. "My doctor told me. He is an actor and writer, known for Control (2007), Rust and Bone (2012) and The Souvenir (2019). "I first saw you opening for bands at clubs like The Electric Circus in Manchester when I was still at school," I tell him. ', Whereas [doorbell] 'Oh, hello Audrey. The poet and performer on keeping his clothes simple, stapling them back together, and being fashionable once every 15 years for about three months. Much more than in the beginning. 'Oh, you poor thing, I'll put your electric blanket on. You are not going to understand The Lady of Shalott you are a 10-year-old boy in Salford and it was written by a 33-year-old bloke 150 years ago. "Trafford Park is working well / Its pestilential ethers swell /, Malodorous clouds like sombre shrouds / Dividing heaven from bloody hell / Where idle hands are the devil's dowry / Knock-knock rent-man Mr. ("Things are gonna get worse, nurse / I'm not optimistic / I've got a mouth shaped like a purse, nurse / And a bungalow smelling of piss and biscuit. 1) Sievey said. Prison had become like a never-ending party. John Cooper Clarke is touring now. It goes without saying. "That," I suggest, "can't have been easy". And it's not that bad.". Im self-employed, my friend. Brooshski Pink first, then yellow. The fury of the crowds really was quite alarming at that time. I thought very carefully before I embarked on mine," he explains. coastangel TA: Do you do much Skyping?Never. I hope so. The Luckiest Guy Alive by John Cooper Clarke is published by Picador (14.99). As a scene, that was the best treatment of drug addiction I have ever seen. "I think because I already looked like a punk." The University of Salford awarded the Punk Poet a Doctorate of Arts for bringing . Why not Skype if you are that keen to connect at speed? Erik_Debonair bands to watch for '92 (Melody Maker, January 4 1992), Ted Lasso Season 3 to Premiere Spring 2023, Motionographer | Motion graphics, design, animation, filmmaking and visual effects, Gugun Power Trio - Far East Blues Experience/Solid Ground/Soul Shaker, Art BOOOOOOOM! "Over two decades on," he says, "some kinds of reputation never leave you. Like a Night Club in the morning, youre the bitter endLike a recently disinfected shit-house, youre clean round the bendYou give me the horrorsToo bad to be trueAll of my tomorrowsAre lousy coz of youYou put the Shat in ShatterPut the Pain in SpainYour germs are splattered aboutYour face is just a stain, Youre certainly no raver, commonly known as a dragDo us all a favour, here wear this polythene bag. Ive done everything the wrong way. They have one child. My trouser needs are simple: a narrow leg in a dark colour, with jean detailing.
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