Maybe John Cooper Clarke's brief window of fame passed with the demise of punk. But his poems are every bit as arch and funny now as they were in the '70s. There are sly wordplay, groaning puns, and also plenty of strong social observation. He essentially took the ethos of the Liverpool poets of the '60s, using common language and bringing in lots of humor, but made his mark through speech, not print. This collection, cherry-picked from his major-label work, is an absolute joy. Backed by the relative...   [ read more ]

CD $14.23

This reissue of John Cooper-Clarke's very first album is nothing less than a riot -- and shows how well Salford's best Bob Dylan lookalike was able to handle an audience and make poetry into a popular art form again. His stylistic masters are the Liverpool poets of the '60s, and their influence is apparent in pieces like "Film Extra's Extra" or the hilarious social comment "Daily Express (You Never See a Nipple In)." Plenty of his best-known poems get an early airing here (before a relatively w...   [ read more ]

CD $14.23

Although John Cooper-Clarke's caustic brand of "talking in tune" initially earned him the label of the new wave George Formby, he soon won recognition as the British punk scene's poet laureate. Following the Innocents EP and the 1978 album Ou Est la Maison de Fromage? (both on Martin Hannett's Rabid Records), Disguise in Love was Clarke's major-label debut. This album finds the Mancunian bard at his adenoidal, alliterative best, delivering some of his more memorable satirical ...   [ read more ]

CD $14.23