John Cooper Clarke (born 25 January 1949), also known as JCC and "The Bard of Salford" is an English performance poet and comedian who styled himself as a "punk poet" in the late 1970s. In the 1970s and early 1980s, he released several albums and performed on stage with punk and post-punk bands. He continues to perform regularly.
John Cooper Clarke was born in Salford, Lancashire, on 25 January 1949.[1][2] "Cooper" is his middle name, and Clarke his surname.[3][4][5]
Growing up in Salford, Clarke had a bout of tuberculosis as a child. He disliked being outdoors, and read a lot.[5]
He lived in the Higher Broughton area of Salford,[6] and attended the local secondary modern Catholic school.[5] He became interested in poetry after being inspired by his English teacher, John Malone,[7][6] and later reported that he wrote his first poem in his final year at school, about a priest who farted during a service.[5] One of his early inspirations was the poet Sir Henry Newbolt. During an April 2018 episode of Steve Jones's radio show Jonesy's Jukebox, he revealed Newbolt as one of his early inspirations, reciting from memory a portion of "Vitaï Lampada".[8]
He left school at 15, obtaining brief stints of employment as an apprentice motor mechanic, window cleaner, and fire-watcher at the docks,[5] before spending two years as a laboratory technician at Salford Tech.[9] ("It sounds very technical, but all I did was hand out chisels").[5]
During the late 1960s he played bass in a few local psychedelic bands but found rock music getting tedious in the mid-70s.[5]
Career
1970s–1990s
Clarke began his performance career in Manchester folk clubs, where he began working with Rick Goldstraw and his band the Ferrets.[2] He gave up his lab technician job when he achieved some success in performing his poetry in the late 1970s.[5]
His first releases were on Tosh Ryan and Martin Hannett's independent label Rabid,[10] starting with the EP Innocents in October 1977.[2][5] The EP was described by NME as a series of poems "alternatively funny, sordid, and pessimistic pictures" or life in the UK since the end of World War II in 1945. The magazine criticises the density of the imagery, particularly on the "magnum opus", the "Psycle Sluts", but praises "Gimmicks".[5]
Rabid also released his debut LP Où est la maison de fromage? (catalogue number NOZE 1), which was a collection of live recordings, demos, and rehearsals. He toured with Bill Nelson's band Be-Bop Deluxe in 1978 and was signed by Epic Records, who issued the studio album Disguise in Love, produced by Hannett, in 1978.[2] 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".[13]
Clarke has attributed his early success in part to the influence of the English poet Pam Ayres. Her run of success on the British TV show Opportunity Knocks led both Clarke and his mother to believe that he could make a living at poetry.[14]
In the late 1970s, Clarke styled himself as a "punk poet",[15] although was not always accepted by fans of punk music; in 1977, opening for the Buzzcocks at the Vortex Club in London, he was met with abuse from the audience. In 1978 he had a backing band called The Curious Yellows, whose music was a bit like the German electronic band Kraftwerk.[5] and, in 1979, had his only UK top 40 hit with "Gimmix! (Play Loud)".[2][16]
Clarke released Zip Style Method in 1982, but thereafter performed his live act less frequently, spending much of the 1980s mired in heroin addiction, living in a "domestic partnership" with singer and fellow addict Nico.[19][20] He described this period of his life: "It was a feral existence. I was on drugs. It was hand to mouth",[21] and also that he had nearly died four times. He eventually got clean after meeting his second wife, Evie.[13]
In 1987, he performed live (on crutches owing to a broken ankle) at the Albany Empire in London with Suns of Arqa, recorded two tracks ("Libera Me" and "The Truth Lies Therein") for their album Seven, and featured in the music video for the latter.[2]
Clarke returned to live performance in the 1990s, appearing again with Suns of Arqa in 1992 at The Witchwood in Ashton-under-Lyne. His vocals from both of his Suns of Arqa tracks have been used on numerous remixes by the band ever since.[citation needed]
After 20 years of performing the same material, Clarke re-established contact with guitarist Rick Goldstraw, who had founded Blue Orchids and played with The Fall and Nico. Goldshaw began handling Clarke's affairs, and the two toured with the Mescaleros and several times supporting the Fall.[6][22]
He also duetted with Reverend Jon McClure at a Reverend and the Makers concert performing the poem "Last Resort", which was later released as the B-side for the band's 2007 single "Heavyweight Champion of the World".[11] Clarke also recorded a song with the band entitled "Dead Man's Shoes", which was planned to be released as a single.[22]
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.[11] He appeared with (ex-Clash) Mick Jones' Carbon/Silicon,[11] including at the Inn on the Green in Ladbroke Grove in February 2008.[23][24]
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.[25]
In March 2019, Clarke toured the US to promote his new poetry anthology, The Luckiest Guy Alive. He performed at Joe's Pub in New York.[12]
In March 2025, Clarke went on a tour titled Dr John Cooper Clarke: In Celebration of World Poetry Day, including dates at the London Palladium,[26]Nottingham Royal Concert Hall, and Co-op Live in Manchester.[27][13] He performed old favourites as well as poems from his new collection WHAT. Special guests on the tour included Guyanese playwright John Agard.[26]
In October 2025, Luvcat, who was named Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the 2025 Northern Music Awards, shared an anniversary edition of her single "He's My Man" which features Clarke. In the video, Clarke appears as the singer's poisoned husband.[28]
Nicknames
Clarke is often referred to as "the Bard of Salford".[17][9] or simply JCC.[25]
Influence on other artists
Clarke's most high-profile fan has been Alex Turner. Clarke's poem "Out of Control Fairground" was printed inside the Arctic Monkeys' 2007 single "Fluorescent Adolescent" CD. The poem is also the inspiration behind the single's video, in which clowns brawl. Turner has said he is very fond of Clarke's work and takes inspiration for lyrics from his poems.[29][30]
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.[31] 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.[13]
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.[32]
Kate Nash and Lily Allen also cited Clarke as influencing their work.[11]
He appeared in a 1982 music documentary film compilation, Urgh! A Music War, in which he performed his poem "Health Fanatic".[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]
He also starred in John Cooper Clarke – Ten Years in an Open Necked Shirt produced for the Arts Council of Great Britain and Channel 4, broadcast in 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, among others.[33]
In 1988, he made an appearance in two UK adverts for Sugar Puffs, taking second billing to the Honey Monster.[2]
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.[11]
In July 2019, Clarke was the guest for BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. A fan of the show for 60 years, he described it as having "all the finality of a suicide note, without the actual obligation of topping yourself". His book choice was Against Nature by Joris-Karl Huysmans, his luxury item was a boulder of opium twice the size of his head and his favourite track was "How Great Thou Art" by Elvis Presley.[40]
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.[41]
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.[42]
Recognition and honours
In July 2013, Clarke was presented with an honorary doctorate of arts by the University of Salford, where he had worked as lab technician in its former incarnation as Salford Technical College.[43] 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."[44]
In July 2023, Clarke was honoured by Salford City Council with the city’s highest honour, being made an Honorary Freeman of the City of Salford.[45][46][47]
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".[48][49] 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.[50]
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.[51]
During the 1980s, when he was addicted to heroin, Clarke lived in a "domestic arrangement" with singer and fellow addict Nico.[19][20]
As of 2025[update] Clarke is married to Evie,[52] who was born in the Picardy region of France, and worked as a language teacher.[51] They married in around 1990, having bonded over a shared love of the French poet Baudelaire when they met.[21] They have one daughter, Stella, born when Cooper Clarke was 45.[52][53]As of November 2025[update] they were living in Colchester, Essex,[52] where they have lived for decades.[21][54] Clarke does not have a mobile phone, and buys a newspaper daily from the local newsagent. He rarely leaves his home.[52]
He has hinted that he had been married at least once between Chris and Evie;[21] however, sources cite Evie as his second wife.[43]
In October 2020, Clarke published an autobiography which took its title from his poem "I Wanna Be Yours".[55][12]
Evidently, John Cooper Clarke (2012), Click Films/BBC
South of the Border – Live (2013), Click Films/Safecracker Pictures
Ten Years In An Open-Necked Video: the (Early) Archive Performances (2016), Ozit Records
Compilation appearances
Streets (1977), Beggars Banquet – "Innocents"
Short Circuit – Live At The Electric Circus[59] (1978), Virgin (various artists, features Clarke performing "(You Never See a Nipple In The) Daily Express" and "I Married a Monster From Outer Space"
↑ Gill, Sarah (January 2011). "From The Archives: John Cooper Clarke". Hotpress. Jump back to January 2011, when Olaf Tyaransen met the legendary punk poet John Cooper Clarke in Galway...
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