John Cooper Clarke

John Cooper Clarke (born 25 January 1949), also known as JCC and "The Bard of Salford", is an English performance poet and comedian who was often referred to as a "punk poet" in the late 1970s. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he released several albums and performed on stage with punk and post-punk bands and has continued to write and perform since. The title of his first poetry anthology, Ten Years in an Open Necked Shirt, published in 1982, was also used for a documentary film about him in the same year.

Clarke has been an influence on many later artists, including Arctic Monkeys. In 2013, he was presented with an honorary doctorate by the University of Salford. , he has released three anthologies of poetry and a memoir, as well as many albums and singles, and continues to perform regularly.

Early life and education

John Cooper Clarke was born in Salford, Lancashire, on 25 January 1949. "Cooper" is his middle name, and Clarke his surname. and later reported that he wrote his first poem in his final year at school, about a priest who farted during a service. He spent two years as a laboratory technician at Salford Tech. ("It sounds very technical, but all I did was hand out chisels.") He also read Edgar Allan Poe, which took him to the French poet Charles Baudelaire. starting with the EP Innocents in October 1977. Tony Wilson, founder of Factory Records, was an early champion of Clarke, interviewing him on his TV show So It Goes. He later said "It was never my idea to put my poetry to music but I couldn't think of an argument against it", and thought that the results were "patchy". He cited his influences in this period as Bob Dylan; Captain Beefheart; some Frank Zappa; The Velvet Underground; reggae music, including The Wailers and I Roy; Ian Dury; The Sex Pistols, the Buzzcocks; Slaughter and the Dogs; and other punk and new wave music, which he said had "revived an interest in words". and, in 1979, had his only UK top 40 hit with "Gimmix! (Play Loud)".

thumb|left|upright|Performing in [[Cardiff, 1979]]

He toured with Linton Kwesi Johnson, and performed on the same bill as bands such as the Sex Pistols, the Fall, Joy Division, Buzzcocks, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Elvis Costello, Rockpile, and New Order (including at their May 1984 Music for Miners benefit concert at London's Royal Festival Hall). His set was and still is characterised by lively rapid-fire renditions of his poems, usually performed a cappella. He described this period of his life: "It was a feral existence. I was on drugs. It was hand to mouth", Clarke also recorded a song with the band entitled "Dead Man's Shoes", which was planned to be released as a single.

By 2008, he had been getting significant public exposure again, having featured in films and getting mentions by young stars such as Lily Allen and Kate Nash.

Clarke toured the UK in 2014, giving performances which were well-reviewed by critics. On 21 March 2015, Clarke performed at the O2 Apollo Manchester. He also sings the Conway Twitty song "It's Only Make Believe"; Jerry Leiber and Phil Spector's "Spanish Harlem"; Ricky Nelson's "Sweeter Than You"; and Ritchie Valens' "Donna" on the album, among others.

On 2024, Clarke performed sets in London, Nottingham, and Manchester as part of World Poetry Day (21 March) celebrations. Nottingham Royal Concert Hall, and Co-op Live in Manchester.

On 24 October 2025, he performed at the City Hall in Salisbury, and on 18 November 2025, at the Assembly Hall Theatre in Tunbridge Wells in a performance dubbed "Dr John Cooper Clarke & Special Guests".

Nicknames

Clarke is often referred to as "the Bard of Salford", He is also frequently described as a (or the) punk poet.

His "I Wanna Be Yours" poem was adapted by the Arctic Monkeys and frontman Turner for the band's fifth album, AM, released on 9 September 2013. The track was not released as a single, but went on to be streamed nearly three billion times, and is listed as one of Spotify's all-time Top 40. It is a rare love poem in Clarke's canon of works, and he said that he prefers Turner's version to his own, which had "kitsch musical backing". The song is often featured as a wedding reading.

Others

Clarke once said: "The only person I've ever been compared to is Alexander Pope... I can live with that. But millions of people have been compared to me". On their 2020 eponymous debut album, English band Working Men's Club pays homage to the poet in the track "John Cooper Clarke", referencing his poem "Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman" and book The Luckiest Guy Alive.

Publications

In 1983, Clarke published his first anthology of poetry, titled Ten Years in an Open Necked Shirt. The title refers to the fact that he had performed for so long without publishing any of his poetry. The book stayed in print and became the best selling poetry volume of the decade,

His second anthology, The Luckiest Guy Alive was published in 2018 . and as an audiobook read by the poet with a new collection of poems. Fiona Sturges of The Guardian described the new poems as "vintage Clarke: full of wordplay and whimsical humour and threaded with sharp social commentary". The book was also reviewed in The Times by Graeme Richardson.

Television, film, and radio

Personal appearances

In 1977, Clarke was interviewed by Tony Wilson on his TV show So It Goes.

In 1981, Clarke appeared as a reflection in a mirror, in The Innes Book of Records, reciting a sanitised version of "Evidently Chickentown".

In 1988, he made an appearance in two UK adverts for Sugar Puffs, taking second billing to the Honey Monster.

A live performance of "Evidently Chickentown" appears in the 2007 film Control, with Clarke portraying himself in a re-creation of a 1977 concert in which he supported Joy Division, despite being 30 years older than the events depicted in the film.

In 2015, Clarke presented a documentary on Thomas De Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium-Eater in the BBC's second series of The Secret Life of Books. He has appeared as a guest on the comedy panel show Would I Lie to You? in 2015,

In January 2018, Clarke appeared as a contestant on an academic version of BBC One's Pointless Celebrities partnered with historian Suzannah Lipscomb; they reached the head-to-head round. He has also appeared alongside Susie Dent in Dictionary Corner in several episodes of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown since 2017. In November 2019, Clarke was a participant, alongside Phill Jupitus, in BBC's Celebrity Antiques Road Trip. Four of Clarke's five lots made a loss, giving a total loss of £233.54.

On 20 December 2021, Clarke made a guest appearance in "We Wish You a Mandy Christmas", a Christmas episode of Mandy, playing the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

====Documentaries====

Clarke was featured in a 1982 music documentary film compilation, Urgh! A Music War, in which he performed his poem "Health Fanatic". The film featured live performances of mainstream artists (the Police, the Go-Go's, XTC, Devo) as well as more obscure bands, using concert footage from around the world.

Clarke is the subject of the 1982 film Ten Years in an Open Necked Shirt, directed by Nick May and produced for the Arts Council of Great Britain and Channel 4 1982. 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, Michèle Roberts, Jules Deelder, Attila the Stockbroker, and Seething Wells (Steven Wells). The title derives from the tale of an alter-ego Lenny Siberia ("the bastard offspring of Captain Africa (the lard mogul) and Tracy") created by Clarke, revealed in a performance near the end of the film. The DVD was released in 1983, and the film is available for viewing on the BFI website.

He appeared in Julien Temple's 2007 documentary film about Joe Strummer, titled Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten, and featured Steve Coogan, among others. The doco was directed by John Ross, produced by Scotty Clark. It features interviews from Bill Bailey, Pete Shelley, Paul Farley, Steve Coogan, Mark Radcliffe, Craig Charles, Plan B, Kate Nash, Alex Turner, Miranda Sawyer and Paul Morley; and poems by Clarke, including "Things Are Gonna Get Worse", "Evidently Chickentown", "Twat" and "Beasley Street". Mark Monahan in The Daily Telegraph wrote that the programme "veered too close to comfort towards hagiography" but "was nevertheless perhaps a fair reflection of the affection with which [Clarke] has been widely regarded".

Use of tracks

Clarke's recording of "Evidently Chickentown" from his 1980 album Snap, Crackle & Bop was featured prominently in the closing scene of The Sopranos episode "Stage 5" The track is also used in the 2021 two-part HBO documentary about Tiger Woods, Tiger.

Recognition and honours

By the 1990s, three of his poems, including "I Wanna Be Yours" and "Twat", had been included in the GCSE English Literature syllabus, and he toured town halls performing to audiences of school students. It was awarded in "acknowledgement of a career which has spanned five decades, bringing poetry to non-traditional audiences and influencing musicians and comedians". Upon receipt, Clarke commented: "Now I'm a doctor, finally my dream of opening a cosmetic surgery business can become a reality."

In July 2015, he was asked to contribute the opening verses of a poem to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the National Trust's Project Neptune, a campaign to protect of coastline. Members of the public were asked to complete the poem. In 2016, Dave Simpson, writing in The Guardian, called Clarke "polymath, renaissance man and true enigma".

In March 2025, he received the main award at the 2025 Northern Music Awards, "in recognition of his influence in the world of music and poetry". The awards, which celebrate talent from the north of England, are a fundraising initiative by Nordoff and Robbins, a music therapy charity. The ceremony was held in the Liverpool Olympia.

Personal life

thumb|Clarke receives an honorary doctorate from the [[University of Salford, 2013]]

Clarke married his first wife, Chris, when he was 21 (around 1970), and they moved to Shaftesbury in Dorset. After three years, they separated, and Clarke moved back to Manchester.

During the 1980s, when he was addicted to heroin, Clarke lived in a "domestic arrangement" with the singer and fellow addict Nico , they were living in Colchester, Essex, where they have lived for decades.

In October 2020, Clarke published an autobiography which took its title from his poem "I Wanna Be Yours".)

Disguise in Love (1978), Epic – AUS No. 100
"Gimmix! (Play Loud)" (1978), Epic – UK No. 39 Plan B, Kate Nash, Alex Turner, Miranda Sawyer and Paul Morley; and poems by Clarke, including "Things Are Gonna Get Worse", "Evidently Chickentown", "Twat" and "Beasley Street". Mark Monahan in The Daily Telegraph wrote that the programme "veered too close to comfort towards hagiography" but "was nevertheless perhaps a fair reflection of the affection with which [Clarke] has been widely regarded."
South of the Border – Live (2013), Click Films/Safecracker Pictures
Ten Years In An Open-Necked Video: the (Early) Archive Performances (2016), Ozit Records

Selected appearances

Streets (1977), Beggars Banquet – "Innocents"
Short Circuit – Live At The Electric Circus (1978), Virgin (various artists, features Clarke performing "(You Never See a Nipple In The) Daily Express" and "I Married a Monster From Outer Space"
Urgh! A Music War (1981), Warners – "Health Fanatic"
The Old Grey Whistle Test Volume 3 (2004), 2 Entertain – "I Don't Want to Be Nice"
Poets, Punks, Beatniks and Counter Culture Heroes (2010), Ozit – includes rare JCC film footage from the 1980s

Bibliography

Poetry collections

Ten Years in an Open Necked Shirt (1983), Arena
The Luckiest Guy Alive (2018), Picador