John Cooper Clarke’s wonderfully unvarnished memories of real life in the ‘50s and 60s 

What a living legend. Even his conversational speech is lyrical. A true wit for the ages.

Ive always been dis-interested in reading and writing due to dyslexia. Untill JCC cane into my life. Years of being berated because i couldn't keep up in highschool and always feeling like a drain. Then waw.. poetry so hounest and grittys that i now find myself reading a poem of his a week and studying on a Thursday night to understand the words and many of their different varients. This random man has done what so many haven't been able to do. To be able to improve my vocabulary and penmanship and not be ashamed of wrighting my true thought on paper without being criticized or berated. Thank you John

I was laying in a prison cell in Risley remand centre in the late 80s and found a poem written on a scrap of paper called Twat and the seed of poetry was alive within me. So a few years later wrote this. Forrest In the forest of the night, where everything is so tangled and twisted Where many paths I take hesitantly, yet never taking the right one. Breathing this piousness air unwillingly 　 I amble along this spiralling track, of my snarled up existence I oscillate in action simply to evade, from dips and ruts that seduce my unsteady balance. Forlornly seeking joy but feeling betrayed. 　 Searching a sparkle in my night filled mind, as my nemesis hides ready to capture. I rush manically from side to side probing, to escape this web of abstract madness. Deficiently I'm lost in trauma relentlessly evolving 　 Energy sapping sweat stings my eyes, so sightless from societies ill gotten gifts. Like every tree I crash against, that entombs, recklessly I endure my quest of wants. Indignantly I remerge, this rebellious smile that fumes. 　 My pulse rate thuds in my incessant pursuit, like a drum beat pounding at my subconscious. Every branch or twig slashing my bleeding limbs, like invisible hands grasping me greedily to repent. Ferociously I scream for acceptance of my dreams. 　 Such fauna sounds that whispers in the wind, that echoes my name so salaciously spoken. Within your quagmire of obtuse interpretation, I'm sentenced recklessly into the abyss. Unlike the forgotten dido I appeared relentless. (C) N A Farran

40 minutes isnt long enough for Dr John Cooper Clarke, in fact neither is 40 hours.. Love him!

We went to see John recently, and he was utterly superb

'Luck's for amateurs" killer last line from JCC

SUPERB!! JCC at his finest! What a saviour in this suffocating monochromesville. Keep on rockin' Johnny!

That was magic. What a great man saw him in 1977 so funny and absorbing. I could listen to it him all day

John and I come from the same town, and same time frame. His autobiography rings so many bells. He blew me out when I was a Teenager. And 50 years later he still rocks.

That was absolutely fantastic. John Cooper Clarke is someone who has always been on my radar and of whom I've always thought warmly, despite being almost completely unfamiliar with his work. It just goes to show that people, records, art often seem to enter your life at the right time. Within a minute or two of watching this I'd gone on Amazon and ordered his book. What an absolutely amazing gift he has for honing in on the details that illuminate a particular era. That could have been 3 hours long and I wouldn't have been bored. I think I've just got a new hero.

What an engaging intelligent man. I only know a half dozen of his poems. Will rectify this in 2022.

Bit of a cliche, but Dr. Cooper Clarke really should be purchased by the National Trust or English Heritage, and people should be allowed to walk round him. Long may he rain.

John Cooper Clark ,my hero,love him! 😎💚

That definitely improved my morning.

A tower block in his own right. HE is to poetry what the Fall are to music. John has been a private fashion house for years. My favourite look is leather jacket with iron cross n shades.

What a great fella John is

Not that he would accept it, but this glorious man should be a Sir.👍🏻

Wonderful

Brilliant. Saw him in Eric's Liverpool in May '78, wot a night! The only rhythm he had, apart from the rhythm of the poem, was the loud chewing of gum into the microphone between verses, class act.

I've just read the book, it's wonderful. Great to listen to John!

You can’t listen to quality like this once. Subscribed, thank you.

Oh wow! Great choice of guest!!!

Great interview could listen to John all night.

Beasley Street, aahhh. Those were the days.

Absolutely wonderful. Intelligence with absolutely no pretentiousness. Well done David & Mark - the best one yet.

Saw him support The Fall, best stand up I'd ever seen. Cried with laughter, then got one of the more "professional" sets from MES & co that I've seen. Happy days.

"The Bargain Basement Baudelaire" is a great self-applied moniker and it's typical John. He's a very funny man. I watched a Will Self interview recently and he was talking about writers who wrote about drugs and writers who wrote while on drugs et cetera. Baudelaire was the first name out of his mouth. I call John the "ever-mordant bard of Salford" cos I read it somewhere and thought it a nice group of words.

Absolutely love Dr Clarke, and this was a top treat. Thanks guys!

Oh god. I remember that. Turning the colour down on the telly.

Great stuff 👍

Although i live in the netherlands, i came across John C Clarke when i saw him on a BBC OGWT 30th anniversary in the early 2000's.Later on I discovered him further trough all kinds of UK music mags.He 's certainly an old school hip poet. Great and obviously bright guy.

Absolutely fab book just finished it . Seen JCC many times over the years . My Son has the book now . I'm 61its his history book.

i think I Wanna Be Yours might be my favorite book released last year, from fiction and nonfiction alike. incredible book, incredible stories, the man has lived a wild life.

Saw him opening for The Fall in Liverpool early 80's

Love to see a part 2, that was great guys.

Fabulous 😊🏴‍☠️

Brilliant stuff, what a superb raconteur JJ is!

For people who can't get enough of John Cooper Clarke, if you haven't seen/heard it already, I recommend you try to find an episode of Steve Jones'(ex-Pistol and lonely fella) radio show (I can't remember what it was called... something like KTS, 236 or something) where he chats with John and his side-kick. Personally, I think it is very amusing. John tells some great anecdotes with some perfect "Accent work" too. It can be found on RU-vid, that's for sure and it really is worth checking out. I am sure all JCC fans will appreciate it. (Edit: Jonesys Jukebox KLM something or other).

Great stuff

The blazer and hat talk around eight minutes in made me laugh

Do yourself a favour, get your hands on his book. I read it last summer, sitting in the garden. This will be repeated in 2024. Superb!

The Embassy is in Harpurhey, not Collyhurst. But then the good Doctor has resided in Essex for three decades and change

Brilliant. Read the book when it came out. The Cyril Lord tagline made me smile because my Dad worked at Cyrol Lord when I was a boy.

Great interview. Have just bought the book!

A wonderful interview. The best yet in the series. His book is a brilliant read.don't miss it.

Being 70, lifelong learning, understanding, observation, experience, re-examination 24/7 365. I once purchased a latex mask styled on J. C. Clarke. for a fancy dress doo. Even now when I see J.C. I'm so tempted to reach out and see what's beneath that existential persona. Hey ho

Great interview fellas. Really enjoyed it. His book is amazing.

Will be seeing him next Saturday at Wimbledon Book Fest. Last time was 1982 at Leicester Poly.

Anyone hide from the insurance man when he came knocking and your mum had spent the money your dad gave her 😃 happy simple days

I had a long drunken conversation with John at a party, quite a few years ago now. A total joy (from what I can remember!).

Imagine if someone from the future had shown John a still from this way back in 1978 or something. "Here you are in 2021." Surely he'd be WELL chuffed. He's weathered the years SO well and is most decidely COOL...a word I never usually use but appropriate here!! GREAT book by the way and I surprised how often I needed to consult the dictionary. Articulate or what? He even got me doing it here with 'eidetic'!! Got my ticket to see him next Spring....hopefully I'll be allowed in (I've refused the jab). Looking forward to it very much. :)

go johnny go !

As we used to say about Manchester United....if you don't love United, you're wrong! Ditto JCC.

Well done John , North West gold on tap . Thanks John.

I’ve very much grown out of heroes but if I still had one……..

I have performed Kung fu international in about 30 karaoke comps always goes down well with the crowd,sometimes thought I lived on Beazly street.

I am still waiting for the cinema release of 'Parrot In A Car' !

What a great interview. Thx

I recall The Odeon and the ABC cinemas who had a Saturday morning club and all the children would sing the ABC jingle all together, it was daunting really, old B grade films and weird productions, you got your sixpenth worth with a choc ice and a hot dog for 5 bob

9.20 The evidence seems to suggest that Cary Grant's gray flannel suit in North By Northwest was made by his London tailor (with duplicates for action scenes made by a Los Angeles tailor).

I'm sure if I give my opinion that the book is a great read for lovers of nostalgia and fans of JCC that will convince many of you to go out and buy it.

typical genius re: cheap beer - 'well you don't want any trouble in a place with nice upholstery'

Finding myself wondering what all those records are! :0)

was aware of 'Dr.' John for years but never really knew his work, just wasn't that fussed. But 3 yrs ago saw him being interviewed by Steve Jones on 'Jonesy's Jukebox' and he was absolutely hilarious - very erudite, yet common-as-muck at the same time with an uncanny knack for finding the funniest way of dismantling whatever he was talking about. Jonesy's interview here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-h2UBBidAr1M.html (mentions his degree from the 'London College of Unnecessary Surgery' and the delight that is Jaywick)

I know they didn’t sell alcohol in The Ritz, Manchester, during the 1950s because my parents met there and my mam told me.

Maybe it is my age, but I can completely relate to JCC. I wish he'd been taught in English class at school so I might have paid more attention. Instead it was dreary forgettable dirge of poetry which made no sense to a teenage lad.

Love listening to JCC, but does look, these days, like the work of a particularly adept mortician.

Fuck me! Hepworth, Ellen … AND JCC on the same bill. Memories of halcyon days long since gone. ✌️🤘😉

❤

Once a mod always a mod

I hate to say this, but you can still, very much, turn down the colour on a TV. You just have to go into the TV menu rather than turn a knob or push a slider.

Gold dust..but movie theatre and not cinema?

on point observation, top Manc', Fair Ground music; Dave & Ansell Collins, Double Barrell ; i'm off. J Depp to play JCC in the movie.

Come on guys....39 minutes? you could have got at least and hour and a half out of the Dr.

My dad said there was foreign interference when the tv started going hazy in the 50s….nice regional working class accent

If i'm ever in a prison i hope JCC is my cell mate.

Eric's Liverpool