John Cooper Clarke the Punk Poet from the city of Manchester or rather a son of Salford in the Greater Manchester area to be precise. He is currently doing a nationwide tour and his gig at Birmingham Town Hall with three other performance poets was part of the great JCC revival. In an interview given to Nick Duarden in The Independent on 23 September 2012 John muses on his transformation into a national treasure ahead of this tour thus:-
It is often said of Cooper Clarke that the real reason for his wilderness years is that he had more talent than ambition. He takes this, now, as a compliment, but argues that he always considered himself ambitious enough – for a poet.
"Poets are supposed to be under appreciated, don't you know? There is always a strange reaction to those who become successful in their own lifetime, and so I always felt lucky that I made the living I did out of it. I was convinced I'd be rumbled, and would have to go out and get a proper job."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/john-cooper-clarke-the-punk-poet-whose-time-has-come-again-8165968.html
Well John steadfastly avoided getting a proper job so well done to him for not getting rumbled....nay, not only that he has become a national institution.
Here is a little anecdotal factoid thingy from the evening. As I arrived in the vicinity of the town hall early due to the completion of earlier business in the city I did what I always do in that situation I went to the Museum and Art Gallery, not knowing that last Thursday evening was also the opening of a new part of the gallery dedicated to celebrating 9oo years of Birmingham's history long before it was a town let alone England's 'Second City' (allegedly after London that is). There were all sorts of preparations taking place for the opening after the place closed to the public.....hundreds of wine classes were being arranged ready for the event at which a guest of honour was to be Birmingham Dub Poet Benjamin Zephaniah.
These preparations were so frenzied that it was clear that I (and a few stragglers from earlier in the day) were viewed by the stressed and rushed staff as being 'in the way' and since the place was in complete turmoil I left the Museum earlier than I'd intended and sought sanctuary at my favourite real ale pub The Wellington....to console myself while I waited for the town hall doors to open.
At that point it occurred to me that I had been driven out of the Museum and Art Gallery by one poet into the arms of the other poets at the town hall and was indeed in a collision of poetry one pole of which repels just as the other pole attracts. I knocked up a quick rhyme to mark this bizarre cultural event.
Pushed From Pillar to Poet
With poets frenetic, I feel so pathetic
kicked out of the museum to boot
Not over ecstatic, to feel so magnetic
twixt dub and punk poles of repute
By changing inflexion I lost my direction
the poetry grinder grinds on
despite that affliction it's my recollection
I missed Ben but I didn't miss John.
Aaran A Aardvark
Want some more JCC? .....Well Here's Some More http://mrsmithsdiary.blogspot.co.uk/p/evidently-chicken-town-john-cooper.html
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| Chicken Town - Liberated Battery Hens |
Really cool poet. I totally enjoyed the performance. Your fair city appears to be over-run with poets - what could be a better dream than that?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Iri, it certainly was raining poets in Birmingham last Thurday, glad you liked this one :-)
DeleteI suppose we all live in a dream a bit to deal with our sometimes odd and turbulent respective environments.
ReplyDeleteThis is where gents and ladies like John Cooper Clarke come in handy. He reminds us of the rich "inner life" we all have, and affirms that old adage from popular culture that if you have talent and you keep at it sooner or later some people will rediscover you.
I have to admire a man who would rather a nasty piece of a journalist/assassin like Albert Goldman write his biography than have to take pen in hand to wax eloquent about himself.
You appear to have a touch of the poet yourself, AA.
Thanks Doug for your comments, as for living in a dream , it is often the best way out of living in a nightmare which is the alternative I think. There is a review of the gig in the local rag here
ReplyDeletehttp://www.i4u.com/2012/10/john-cooper-clarke/john-comedy-hall-birmingham-review-cooper-town-clarke-birmingham
I agree with Gary Young's reveiw when he says ....."Sometimes the humour and profanity of his poetry can obscure the fact that he is a highly effective performer with a fantastic instinct for wordplay. But after the obligatory magnificent F-bomb blitzkrieg of Evidently Chickentown he finished with I’ve Fallen In Love With My Wife, which managed to be funny, touching and thought-provoking at the same time - no mean feat."
No mean feat indeed, it was a very entertaining show of the spoken word....a little bit of magic!