FEATURE JOHN COOPER CLARKE
The way we were: punk bard John Cooper Clarke and mentor tn the late 70$
be a mortuary attendant - and indeed still looks
like a particularly distressed member of the profession who has been dragged backwards through a cat fight after a heavy evening of snorting industrial strength white powders. While his wasted looks and dress sense are an integral part of the Clarke experience. he will be remembered for the nasal whine of his street-smart poetry when. God forbid. he himself is pushing up the daisies.
Clarke first penetrated the public consciousness with the punk explosion of I976. The fact that he was the warm-up act for gigs by the likes of the Buzzcocks and The Fall without being ripped to
Punk‘s poet laureate John Cooper Clarke used to
bloody rags is adequate testimony to the power of
his bitineg funny yet eloquent poems. Clarke showed a generation that poetry could be rebellious while sharing the same concerns and speaking the same language as the man in the street. Middle age hasn't dulled his tongue nor his wit.
The Glasgow Fair Festival is on Glasgow Green. Greentlyke Street. Glasgow. Friday l2—Sunday 2/ July. John Cooper Clarke is appearing at the Slteebeen ()n The Green tent at 9pm on Saturday [3 July. Tickets cost £8. For more information about the Festival. contact 0/4/ 774 0259 or 0/4/ 227 55 l I Nickel/ink) and see listings.
Adding a touch of anarchy to this year‘s Glasgow Fair Festival will be John Cooper Clarke. the punk poet who pierced the public consciousness in the 1970s. alongside The Sex Pistols and The Fall. ln an exclusive poem written for The List. Clarke considers the punk revival.
Punk rack revrval
By John Cooper Clarke
The rip—off ril'f‘s authentic ring a singer who can‘t really sing can otin mean one fucking thing
punk rock revival
affect the look of a man obsessed predisposed to the predistressed
now you know you‘re properly dressed
punk rock revival
wear your hair the wrong way round spike it up in a Vaseline crown button up your button down
punk rock revival
PVC and nylon fur and l)~rings' are (le rigueur the way we are is the may we were
punk rock rcvixal