Lyrics | Artists | John Cooper Clarke

John Cooper Clarke

Part poet, part punk, part old school Northern stand-up comedian, John Cooper Clarke's rapid delivery, tales of working-class life and razor sharp wit made him a cult hero and one of Britain's most unique poets. Growing up in Salford in the north of England in the 1950s and 1960s, Clarke was inspired by the war poetry of Henry Newbolt and started performing his own rhymes at tough working men's clubs across Manchester in the mid-1970s. When punk broke in 1976, Clarke was asked by Howard Devoto (then front man of The Buzzcocks) to compere and perform at gigs for the Sex Pistols, J...