punkbooks

JOHN COOPER CLARKE
'I WANNA BE YOURS'
by John Cooper Clarke
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Picador (15 Oct. 2020)
(480 pages)
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1509896104
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1509896103
Hardcover – Illustrated, 2 May 2020
Available in Audio

I first discovered the Rainy City slanger via his '77 track on the 'Streets' compilation called 'Innocents'. Which was
definitely one of the albums highlights. However I'd never have bothered usually, as his nom de plume didn't
exactly strike me as that interesting as say The Nosebleeds in those heady days of punk. But the track in
question really did. Which ignited my intrigue for further investigation. I found out over the coming months and
years some of his other repertoire like 'You'll Never See A Nipple In The Daily Express', 'I Don't Wanna Be Nice' or
the hilarious, 'The Day My Pad Went Mad' and more via various John Peel slots and OGWT appearances were just
as good. Clarkey has a sardonic Manchester drawl which sounded like he has a permanent cold. Later epitomised
by the Fall's Mark E. Smith. You can forget those Oasis cunts, coz these couple of Northern peculiarity's from
Manchester were the real deal. I even liked some of the early run of the mill backing tracks produced by Martin
Zero, coz they definitely give some of the poems a rabid punk backing. But by 1980 they were dragging his prose
down. We wanted to hear his fantastic wordplay, not some impro jazz routine which overrun long after the phrases
had cut out. So I followed other acts with way more intensity and lets face it punk had died back in 1980 according
to Dr Clarke...but not for the rest of us!

I recently started acquiring audio books, which I would recommend to any lazy reader out there. Or even someone who isn't a speed
reader. Especially if the books are narrated by the actual author in question which makes them a lot more personal. Fer instance it's
just took me 12 months to read Pete Shelley's fantastic 'Ever Fallen In Love' biog/song book in print. Shithouse reading can take it's
toll y'know. But with audio books you can literally whizz through them in what seems like no time at all. I must've read 3 or 4 books in
as many months. You don't get the actual book, which is the only downer (especially the ones with pictures), but all you do with books
is put em on a shelf for reference anyway. As a last ditch attempt for one in the pipeline I was trawling for Walter Lures biography
when I spotted John Cooper Clarkes 'I wanna Be Yours'. Which I wasn't even aware it was out, let alone in audio? When I read it was
narrated by the man himself I immediately got it. Apparently he put it all down on tape during lockdown, so they do have their positives
y'know. I gotta say once I put it on my Kindle it immediately reactivated my interest in his work. His attention to detail is phenomenal,
he has what seems like a photographic memory for detail in films, gigs, life relationships, books and rock 'n' roll excesses. Like us all
he is a big fan of pop culture, although most of his taste in music barring the Ramones, Buzzcocks, the Fall and the Clash etc.
leaves a lot to be desired. But we have to remember he was around 28 in '77 and claimed he was too old to be a punk.

He's hitting his early 70's these days, and touring as we speak, so you gotta take your beeny hat off to him for survival at least. He'd
been doing his stand-up routine a long time before punk. However it was punk what put him on the map, even he admits that. He
was punk enough to my ears to keep my interest garnered for many years after his unveiling. Coz you gotta appreciate the art of
delivery is a gift only the few have ever had. For me figures like Mr Rotten, Steve Ignorant, Jello Biafra, Polystyrene to name but a
few had it in spades. The sound, the diction was sommert else. And dare I say it John Cooper Clarke has still got it. His
conveyance of the English language is second to none. His descriptions alone of characters or situations makes your mouth water.
His book gimme a new found respect for him after the awful 2014 gig I witnessed. However this book is jam packed to the gills in
this 12 hour plus read of hilarious scenarios with people we have all heard of... Nico, Richard Hell, Jerry Lee Lewis, Nick Kent, Joe
Strummer, Linder Sterling to name but a few. He can't half name drop, but unlike most I believe every globule of reference is true,
because he has an intriguing story behind each episode. Going back to his almost nerdy memoirs of bands and life all that time ago,
he can name attire, streets, shops and venues in vivid colour. He reckons because he wasn't a big drinker (his passion was pep pills,
speed, weed and later on Heroin) it gives the brain total recall. Something the boozers and bingers call wipe out. So a Shane
McGowan autobiography would no doubt be most probably ghost written which is a god damn shame. Old Clarkey on the other hand,
can recall aquanteses, incidents, strange encounters all along the path of his 50 odd years as a professional poet hipster. Personally
Poetry on its own ain't really my bag at all. He reels off legions of poetic influences who I'd never heard of and can't say I would look
them up either. But when it's performed in this vein and with this technique which he rightly so owns. It's a fantastic form of expression.
JCC has engineered an articulation like no other, just ask Chuck Berry. What's also good is he's not lost that out of touch with reality
most artists in his circle fall for. He still has that working class ability to paint pictures with words and he's way more clever and
resourceful than say the Sleaford Mods, who nicked his delivery totally.

However the biggest shock came about his Heroin use. He was on smak for decades, so when you look up the hilarious Honey monster tv advert fer instance from 80's, he had just O'd the night before it was filmed, but he kept it well hidden. He went from pep pills to speed and then smak within the blink of an eye. We hear how he scored in New York's most dangerous hell holes (gun in pocket) and how he hid it from his record company, family and numerous customs officials on his worldwide gigging search for exposure, but more importantly Smak! And like all addictive things you eventually pay a price and it nearly destroyed his career and life. He only started overdosing once he started shooting speedballs (a concoction of speed and heroin) because like his encyclopaedic memory for music, he had an insane knowledge of every drug in existence and how to use just enough without being smaked out to oblivion. But as he warns, every hit is a walk on wild side coz you never know exactly what's in there?
He is also brutally honest and open about giving his ex wife ghonhorrea, which made me laugh out loud. For a strange looking individual he pulled the birds thick 'n' fast. He must've been great company and we all know making a bird laugh is the keys to the city. He is now clean, which is largely due to him meeting his current wife Evie. So if your a fan or not of John Cooper Clarke I highly recommend the audio version of his memoir coz it is a riveting read. He is currently out on the road, so catch him if you can. If not do yourself a BIG favour and get this book now, coz its worth every penny and as they say...poetry in motion!

Peter Don't Care (April 11th 2022)
*****