EVIDENTLY CHICKENTOWN...

I'm really excited and a wee bit nervous as I am interviewing an absolute LEGEND this week, in the form of punk poet John Cooper Clarke!

I cannae believe it as he doesn't really like giving interviews it seems. His manager has gone and put me on the guest list too, whoop!

I first heard of John after watching a segment about him on The Culture Show in early 2009 and was instantly drawn to his sardonic tongue and razor sharp wit.

He's a poet, but not as you know it. He delivers poetry in a spoken word breakneck pace spitting each word and syllable in his vitriolic Manchuanian drawl.

The man has led such a colourful life. He opened up for acts like The Sex Pistols, Joy Division and The Fall in the seventies and once shared a flat in Bristol with one of my favourite singers, Nico from the Velvet Underground. Rock and Roll!

I got to catch John at The Galway comedy festival last October and since then have elevated him to hero status. Now, aged 61, having spent most of his career as an underground hero, JCC is back better than ever. He's such an original and hasn't compromised himself for anyone, which is something I really respect. Words cannot do justice to his genius, listen below.

(Not sure what publication this piece is going to appear in yet, but I'll put the interview and pics up here. Wish me luck!)

Here's the menacing 'Evidently Chickentown' as heard in The Sopranos.






If you wanna know more here's an interview with JCC on The Culture Show.