Punk Poet John Cooper Clarke : My All Time Top 10

John Cooper Clarke : Beasley Street

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In June of 1980 punk poet John Cooper Clarke, promoting his new album the UK#26 Snap, Crackle and Bop, shared his all time Top 10 with Smash Hits. 

The Bard of Salford releases a Top 30 poetry album

John Cooper Clarke : Evidently Chickentown

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In April of 1980 English performance poet John Cooper Clarke released Snap Crackle + Bop, a UK#26 album. The bard of Salford's new album came out months into the Margaret Thatcher two prong attack on the working class and trade unions. There wasn't much to look forward, reflected in Clark's "Evidently Chickentown": 

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 neighbors bloody moan 
Keep the bloody racket down 
This is bloody chicken town

Clarke made little money from his brief flirtation with fame, telling The Guardian in 2012 "No. I ain't waving the victim flag, but considering the massive impact I've had on British culture, it's fucking diabolical how poor I am." It's true he has inspired all kinds of teens making music these days.

Another highlight of Snap Crackle + Bop is "Beasley Street", a form of reportage on life in poverty:

The boys are on the wagon
The girls are on the shelf 
Their common problem is 
That they're not someone else 
The dirt blows out 
The dust blows in 
You can't keep it neat 
It's a fully furnished dustbin 
Sixteen Beasley Street

John Cooper Clarke: My 10 All Time Fave Songs

John Cooper Clarke : Evidently Chickentown

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In September of 1979, punk poet John Cooper Clarke offered Smash Hits a list of  his 10 all time favorite songs, a mix of tracks from the 50's, 60's and 70's. There's a nod to the Velvet Underground as one might expect, but Shirley Bassey and Ann Peebles also made the list. No explanation given. Clarke is now 70 years old and still a proper dresser. 

Tentacle In Hand

John Cooper Clarke : I Married A Monster From Outer Space

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Even before I was famous, I’d always been recognized. People thought I was someone.-John Cooper Clarke

In February of 1979 the Manchester punk poet with the Keith Richards shock of hair,  John Cooper Clarke, released a new single, "Gimmix" b/w "I Married A Monster From Outer Space", on a limited edition orange triangular shaped record. "Monster" comes from Disguise in Love, an album recorded with some help from Be Bop Deluxe's Bill Nelson and Pete Shelley. His trademark rapid fire poetry came, in part, from his use of pep pills.

Unfortunately he would spend much of the 80's addicted to heroin, living in a Brixton flat with Nico. It's not something he ever likes to talk about. In a response to a Guardian readers asking him how to quit heroin, Cooper said:

It can be done, clearly, but it ain’t easy. I like to say I did it in two ways: gradually, and suddenly. The fact is you need help, though. My message is always the same: don’t even do it once. I think it is dangerous to think it is anything to do with having an “addictive personality” or any of that bollocks. Anyone would dig it. Anybody. Why? Because it is fabulous the first time. Don’t ever do it. And, gadus, good luck with your attempts to rid yourself of this terrible affliction. I pray that you are successful.