Salford's legendary genius of backstreet verse, as slick and sharp as any comic, as observational as any social psychiatrist.
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Video: Health Fanatic
Websites: johncooperclarke.com . myspace.com/johncooperclarke
John Cooper Clarke (born January 25, 1949) is a performance poet from Salford, Greater Manchester, England, affectionately known as the Bard of Salford. He is often referred to as a punk poet, having initially achieved recognition in the late 1970s amidst the flourishing punk movement. His recorded output has mainly centered around musical backing from The Invisible Girls, which featured Martin Hannett, Pete Shelley, Bill Nelson and Steve Hopkins. He performed as an opening act for such bands as The Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks and Elvis Costello. His set was characterized by his lively, rapid-fire renditions of his poems, which were usually performed a capella.
Having released a handful of records into the early 1980s, Clarke performed his live act less frequently and spent much of that decade battling a heroin addiction (and making an incongruous appearance in a UK commercial for Sugar Puffs in 1988, taking second billing to the Honey Monster). More recently, Clarke has turned his stage act away from an emphasis on performance poetry and towards more of a stand-up oriented affair. He can often be seen supporting The Fall on British tours or performing as a headlining act in his own right.