Sievey, who was sharing the dressing room and about to go onstage, started reciting Cooper Clarke's poem '36 Hours', a gruesome meditation on joblessness, incarceration and death. You give me the horrors. You get out of bed late in the day and nobody calls you a lazy bastard. [13][14] He described this period of his life: "It was a feral existence. ", The work, once a struggle, is flowing freely from him. Much more than in the beginning. 'BEYOND THE Sidi Tour with Yehiya Arby - Artiatanat. What is it that mono can do that stereo cant?Hi Lauren. Christopher gets back on smack and he's sat in that same position, in the market, just nodding out. No one can be that busy. I may be prejudiced. Free UK p&p over 10, online orders only. When this piece was used in The Sopranos, there was a communal surge of pride among Cooper Clarke's longstanding admirers, at the knowledge that this work by the poet could resonate as powerfully with New Jersey as it does with Moss Side. I know for many people our departure from the EU is the worst thing thats ever happened. He knew my brother, who still works for the GPO, the Royal Mail, so we have a bit of baggage, you might say. '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. But we couldn't live with that. But theoretically, on planet Bizarro, where Superman is bad and Lex Luther is good, that is what I would do. The truth is, Caligula, if I was opening for them, they were better than I was. It goes without saying. 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! And they have followed me all my days, because as you get older you keep finding some new dimension even in the simplest love song. ", That last word, Costello says, "was rendered hilarious by his voice in a way which is just impossible to replicate in print. Are you a soothsayer? Im not a handsome man and its damage limitation. "And I've never heard their albums. If they say, 'John Cooper Clarke? "Keats, Baudelaire, Poe," I suggest to Cooper Clarke. Every style of English suburban house is represented there, but all at two-thirds scale. 36acm John Cooper Clarke - What's In My Bag? Have you ever seen Our Cartoon President? Those English periods were a happy time. [2] His first releases were on Tosh Ryan and Martin Hannett's independent label Rabid,[7] starting with the EP Innocents in October 1977. This includes lines like "I've got amnesia and dj vu at the same time. I have to confess that jeggings were one solution. John Cooper Clarke has, arguably, not only the most recognisable silhouette in show business, but also the most infectious of poetic voices. Seven young guys are approaching us, wearing hoods. "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. It will be John Cooper Clarke. '", 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. I should say that all my characters are an amalgam or something, Craig, but Vince was the bloke in the downstairs apartment when I lived in Plymouth for a while, real name Frank. 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. everything is fine love your government, John Cooper Clarke - (Not) Lydia Lydia (Northcote Social Club 4/4/12). Bonnaroo is held in Manchester, Tennessee. The phlegm could be equally intimidating in its own way. As an audience member I know what I get from watching you perform. Did you ever think you could stop using smack [heroin]? (By some bizarre coincidence, I find out later on that, at the same time as we begin this conversation, Channel 4's Countdown had as its guest the comedian Jon Culshaw, who gave an impression of the poet reading one of his finest pieces, 'I Wanna Be Yours', which is covered by the Arctic Monkeys on their 2013 UK number one album, AM). I had the last line. "Remember that poem you wrote about Lowry?" Nobody saw this coming. ", His time in rehab is not a period he is keen to revisit. Their only shared interest, he insists, was hiding heroin from each other. First, theres my domestic situation, my wonderful wife and family. "), He has always been a gifted mimic and, having been in Essex for so long, has perfected the local accent. Dr John Cooper Clarke at the Firestation Arts Centre 21/06/17, Treasure in the History of Things by Katherine McMahon, Review: John Cooper Clarke w/ Mike Garry and Salena Godden Apple & Snakes 30th Anniversary 01/12/12. I think of it more like Tin Pan Alley work. "Fancy Tony saying that." To enjoy a renaissance, Cooper Clarke concedes, you must have been dead for a period. You might look up a piece by our former Poet Laureate, Andrew Motion, written to commemorate Prince William's 21st birthday. They deserve it. (De rouille et d'os) [Original De xido y Hueso (Orginal Motion Picture Soundtrack). I never put a geographical stamp on it. "[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. Im self-employed, my friend. Everyone seems to have one. CREATE * INSPIRE * COMMUNITY * ART * DESIGN * MUSIC * FILM * PHOTO * PROJECTS, Perfect Pitch - Tim Bouverie # 11 Johann Sebastian Bach - Mass in B Minor, ROOTS REGGAE MAIOR ACERVO DE REGGAE DA INTERNET, FilterWhere Do We Go From Here + Link (2 X US Promo 12), X-Press 2 Essential Mix 1994-04-16 [repost classic essential mix], Skullflower "Exquisite Fucking Boredom" (tUMULt TM212) 2003, Sting - Before the Police - Various Songs (1975-1977), Benjamin Godard - Piano Works, Vol. Dr Clarke, as he styles himself, wearing his honorary doctorate from Salford University with pride, has always had that effect; to the many devotees of his live performances over five decades, he is both much imitated and inimitable. Writing is the prism through which you see the world. There have been some landmark events to prompt this: Arctic Monkeys dreamy 2013 cover of I Wanna Be Yours; the use of Evidently Chickentown as the backing in one of the most memorable sequences in box-set TV, at the end of an episode of the final season of The Sopranos; the fact that his poems have made it on to the GCSE syllabus. And at 66, the original punk poet is not about to stop any time soon, Netflixs endless cancellations signal the end of the prestige streaming TV era, Jeff Beck had a phenomenal car collection, How to wear men's jewellery beyond that one single chain, Ten coolest things to do in London this week, Joe Locke and Kit Connor cant believe any of this is real, The best classic hairstyles for men that just won't quit, All the must-read books to look forward to in 2023, A quick call about tracksuits and Kendrick with Kano, No More Red, Arsenal's campaign for a safer London, wants you to join the team, Print copies & Digital access for only 1. John Cooper Clarke at the Contains Strong Language spoken word festival at the University of Hull in 2017. his is my default look. [6] He began his performance career in Manchester folk clubs, where he began working with Rick Goldstraw and his band the Ferrets. Because what I do isn't, 'work' as any sane person would understand the term. I found your poem Kung Fu International on one of my dads punk CDs when I was eight (Im 33 now), and I remember listening to it over and over, and pausing so I could write each word down and learn to recite it. "I do it myself," he says. The bloody chief's a bloody swine. That judgmental 'V', hanging over romantic proceedings like the Damoclean sword of justice, rendering enjoyable sex utterly impossible. Pinchy & Friends - Sleepy The Bug (ft. Warrior Queen) - Aktion Pak. "I'm not joking. John Cooper Clarke performing at the 3rd International Moscow Open Book Festival (3 ) at The . Of course you still occasionally have that voice in your head that says: 'You are going to get rumbled; what you're doing is just a piece of piss. "When we walked out, tentacle in hand / You could sense that the earthlings would not understand / They'd go nudge-nudge when we got on the bus / They'd say, 'It's extra-terrestrial, not like us / And it's bad enough with another race / But fuck me. Mine is arbitrary I keep meaning to get a favourite word. Its Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, rocknroll. But if I'd have been around in Bavaria in 1935, I could have told them. He would have been very surprised if he had found out that people would sit in a room poring over his words in a textbook.". It's obvious that a few hours have gone by, and he hasn't moved. Show business isnt easy and it instinctively goes against the grain to do my fellow performers down. LancsMark [15][29], "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?! 9.50 gbp. Now, he makes sure that he arrives at any venue two hours early. One of the frustrating things for admirers of Cooper Clarke is the limited amount of work he has published and recorded. His recorded output has mainly relied on musical backing from the Invisible Girls, which featured Martin Hannett, Steve Hopkins, Pete Shelley, Bill Nelson, and Paul Burgess. His vocals from both of his Suns of Arqa tracks have been used on numerous remixes by the band ever since. And I thought: Wow, imagine being young and living in a mod town like Stevenage! And then I did for a couple of years. The poet and performer on keeping his clothes simple, stapling them back together, and being fashionable once every 15 years for about three months. Its like men wearing short trousers. Very good-John Cooper Clarke was on form and did some of his new poems as well as some old favourites. He is an actor and writer, known for Control (2007), Rust and Bone (2012) and The Souvenir (2019). Thats more or less the way Ive dressed since 1965. I wish I had an answer. He doesn't care for the musical arrangements, by yet another 'late' associate Martin Hannett, acclaimed producer of, among others, Joy Division. New Avalanches Mixtape? He is married to Evie. ", The reason John Cooper Clarke has been so patronised, Liverpool poet Adrian Henri once argued, "has to do with his association with music. I loved it, man, I loved it. Jon the Postman would climb up on stage at any gig he attended and do an impromptu a cappella version of Louie Louie by the Kingsmen. The role of driver and minder, which Green has adopted out of affection, is one that the poet describes as "Gentleman's Travelling Companion". He got married at 21, to Christine, four years his junior, then became an apprentice type compositor, based in Dorset. You helped the Fall in the early days, letting them rehearse in your house, and you were a lifelong friend of the other Bard of Salford, Mark E Smith. newmanshh Caius Caligula? With the passage of time, I suggest, such periods of lassitude in poets, or even stand ups like Lenny Bruce, become not just pardoned but somehow regarded as magnificent. And the private sector has upped the standards of concourse retail in general, which used to consist of a couple of broken cig machines. But I have to say that view was by no means unanimous. Clarke also recorded a song with the band entitled "Dead Man's Shoes". Often referred to as "the bard of Salford",[9] he usually refers to himself on stage as "Johnny Clarke, the name behind the hairstyle". ", One verse of 'Evidently Chickentown,' in its bowdlerised, recorded form, goes: "The bloody pubs are bloody dull / The bloody clubs are bloody full / Of bloody girls and bloody guys / With bloody murder in their eyes / A bloody bloke is bloody stabbed / Waiting for a bloody cab / You bloody stay at bloody home / The bloody neighbours bloody moan / Keep the bloody racket down / This is bloody chicken town.". 2, The Trip: Curated by Jarvis Cocker & Steve Mackey, Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984, Short Circuit: Live at the Electric Circus, Streets: Select Highlights From Independent British Labels. Ive done everything the wrong way. He's developed a routine in which he describes being invited to perform at the Bulimic Society's New Year's Eve Party, in Kensington. (catalogue number NOZE 1), which was a collection of live recordings, demos and rehearsals. These are the very reasons for our survival as a species. It was created originally as a holiday place. But I know by their name that I hate them. HelenK Four years ago, I remind the poet, we were shivering in driving rain on the seafront in Brighton, just after midnight. The Autism Epidemic and Disappearing Bees: A Commo Emily Barker and The Red Clay Halo - The First Tim Neneh Cherry & The Thing - Dream Baby Dream. He still seems a little bewildered by his recent trajectory, which has seen him appearing on shows like Have I Got News for You? As a scene, that was the best treatment of drug addiction I have ever seen. Phil Spector is obviously out of circulation right now, but I am keeping the faith alive. "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. John Cooper Clarke EvidentlyChickenTown@BarFly10thOctober2009. An edited version of Wilson's observation, reproduced as graffiti on the wall of an underpass, served as the opening scene for Evidently John Cooper Clarke, director John Ross' remarkable 2012 documentary for BBC4. "I judge by appearances," he tells audiences. It is also more true to life. [citation needed]. I was unemployed at the time. He'd just finished a show in a small theatre and we were looking for somewhere to eat. When you first started out, did you get stage fright? I won't be the one whose life is turned into legend. "[15] In 1987, he performed live (on crutches owing to a broken ankle) at the Albany Empire in London with Suns of Arqa, recorded two tracks ("Libera Me" and "The Truth Lies Therein") for their album Seven, and featured in the music video for the latter. See full bio Was Jon the Postman the real voice of Manchester?Id obviously argue not, Jason. Actually if it sounds like anybody, it's Rimbaud. Introductory offer: she'll do anything you want for a fiver. To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories, John Cooper Clarke, who has suffered and survived the troubles that traditionally distract a poet - tuberculosis, poverty, and opiate addiction - stands on a corner in central London pondering a new and unexpected challenge: adulation. Poe, '' john cooper clarke lydia says as a scene, that was the best treatment of drug I... To do my fellow performers down not a handsome man and its damage limitation Club 4/4/12.. 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