Punk poet will entertain Leamington audience

PUNK poetry pioneer John Cooper Clarke will entertain an audience at the Assembly in Leamington on Friday.

Clarke’s biting, satirical, political and funny verse delivered in his rapid-fire performance style resonated with the movement that had begin to pick up speed in the late 1970s and he soon started to draw huge crowds in his own right after touring with most of punk’s seminal and ground breaking bands including Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks, The Fall, Elvis Costello and Siouxsie and the Banshees.

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The steep rise in his profile soon saw him begin to be supported by some of the bands he had opened for a few years before with New Order supporting him seven times.

A figurehead for the movement and all that it encompassed, Clarke became the ‘Punk Poet’ and ‘The Bard of Salford’ who was regarded as one of the leading voices of punk and youth culture in the 1970s.

Battling back from a heroin addiction in the 1980s which coincided with the decline of punk, Clarke has gone on to be an influence to musicians and poets today including Arctic Monkeys lead singer Alex Turner, Reverend and The Makers and Plan B.

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Clarke’s recording of Evidently Chickentown was also used in the closing scene of one of modern television’s most famous and respected television shows, The Sopranos.

The revival of the 70s punk phenomenon over the last few years has led to a whole new generation clamouring over Clarke’s work and his star has risen once again.

A series of shows on acclaimed music station BBC Radio 6, which Clarke presented, an appearance in the award-winning Ian Curtis biopic Control, numerous programs and nights dedicated to him on Sky TV and The Culture Show among others, as well as various festival appearances, have all cemented the poet’s place in modern youth culture.

The performance starts at 7pm and tickets cost £15.

Call 311311 or visit www.leamingtonassembly.com