john cooper clarke strikes a ridiculously cool pose, 1977.
inner sleeve, "suspended sentence" ep. TOSH 103.
I've posted on JCC previously over on Art Decade - although the files have since lapsed - and made mention of him here.
As I wrote at the time, "John Cooper Clarke first released an EP on the Manchester based label Rabid Records in 1977, backed by a coterie of musicians named the Curious Yellows." Produced by Martin Zero for the "Criminal Gramaphone Company", with artwork by Kirk Van Gough Studios, "The Innocents" EP caught my ear like a fish hook whipping off my indecently turned cheek.
☚ this is what happens when you pogo round your bedroom without due care and attention.
In equal measures punk poet and stand-up comedian, Clarke had few peers. Londoner, Patrick Fitzgerald tried in earnest to give him a neighbourly run for his money, but he lacked Clarke's sparkling wit. And twisted mastery of language.
As a result, I suspect, of HBO's clever placement of "Evidently Chickentown" over the closing credits
to an episode from the final series of "The Sopranos", Clarke has enjoyed something of a renaissance of late. If anyone is deserving of rediscovery it is he. It's not just down to the sick, mischievous wordplay and razor blade insight. The music too worms deep under the skin and starts an itch which refuses to fade with time, especially on his 1980 album, "Snap, Crackle & Bop" - performed with The Invisible Girls, Martin Hannet and Steve Hopkins - which ought to have cemented his reputation internationally once and for all.
The first song here is for Löst Jimmy. I make no apologies for 're-upping' the other cuts, or for finally featuring "Chickentown".
▼ JOHN COOPER CLARKE & THE CURIOUS YELLOWS: PSYCLE SLUTS (PARTS ONE & TWO) from "Innocents" EP (Rabid) 1977 (UK)
▼ JOHN COOPER CLARKE & THE INVISIBLE GIRLS: EVIDENTLY CHICKENTOWN from "Snap, Crackle & Bop" LP (CBS) 1980 (UK)
▼ JOHN COOPER CLARKE & THE INVISIBLE GIRLS: THIRTY SIX HOURS from "Snap, Crackle & Bop" LP (CBS) 1980 (UK)
▼ JOHN COOPER CLARKE & THE INVISIBLE GIRLS: BEASLEY STREET from "Snap, Crackle & Bop" LP (CBS) 1980 (UK)
▼ JOHN COOPER CLARKE & THE INVISIBLE GIRLS: SLEEPWALK from "Snap, Crackle & Bop" LP (CBS) 1980 (UK)
PURCHASE WORD OF MOUTH: THE BEST OF JOHN COOPER CLARKE
JCC PREVIOUSLY ON ART DECADE
JOHN COOPER CLARKE: OFFICIAL WEBSITE
2 comments:
I have fond memories of watching JCC on the Whistle Test back in '78 I think it would have been?
I think I missed his appearance there, I'm sad to say.
I don't know if this is 'false memory syndrome', but I do seem to recall that he was on an episode of Marvellous Melvyn Bragg's South Bank Show round the same period. A few choice bands featured on what was otherwise a very dull programme. Always with that horribly earnest narration.
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