Ten Years in An Open Necked Shirt - John Cooper Clarke

 TEN YEARS IN AN OPEN NECKED SHIRT -

JOHN COOPER CLARKE

The question that arises and therefore the question that needs to be asked is how come John Cooper Clarke has not yet been knighted and made an OBE, CBE or MBE for his services to poetry and subsequently his services to British culture? If you think of all the people who have had such an award bestowed upon them and what it is they have done to deserve it (or what they haven't done?), the mind boggles.

Not that I place any importance or any value upon such awards and perhaps John Cooper Clarke doesn't either but the gesture would be nice. And if indeed he doesn't care for such things at least he might be able to flog it on e-bay for a few quid or have it inspire a few lines for a poem? Not that he needs any such inspiration, of course, as his poetic cup already doth runneth over though no doubt a few extra quid in his pocket wouldn't go amiss? And 'Sir John Cooper Clarke' does have a certain ring about it, does it not?

Ten Years In An Open Necked Shirt is a collection of Clarke's poetry and let us not beat about the bush: there are flashes of near-genius here - comedic genius, that is, transposed into poetic form.

Much of Clarke's persona is down to his appearance and his delivery but it would be as nothing without his wit and his words. Man cannot live by a hairstyle, shades, and a skinny suit alone as it would be like an empty vessel making a lot of noise. Ultimately, Clarke's appearance is but a vehicle for his art. A jeepster not for his love but his talent. The icing on the cake, however, is his Mancunian accent and the way it wraps itself around his words, enhancing and elevating them to form their own cynical but very musical incantation.

On the written page it's impossible to read Clarke's poems without hearing his voice and how many poets can you say that of? On the written page his jokes and one-liners come thick and fast but it's when performing live on stage, when his poems are accompanied by endless ad-libs and anecdotes that he comes into his own. Interestingly, it's also when performing live that the difference between lyrics and poetry is laid bare.

Ten Years In An Open Necked Shirt isn't an essential purchase at all but more like a confirmation of John Cooper Clarke's near-genius. Like a memento almost, akin to buying a T-shirt from the merch stall at a concert, or a stick of rock from a day out at Brighton. Rather than the town's name running through it, however, it has 'John Cooper Clarke' and in slightly smaller text - 'The Bard of Salford'.

John Serpico