John Cooper Clarke I Wanna Be Yours

So John Cooper Clarke is now a national treasure. Feted and gloried wherever he goes. Bedecked with degrees and  doctorates. A Desert Island Disc Castaway. The man responsible for turning the Arctic Monkeys from spotty adolescents to poetic paragons. And an interesting medical study for a specimen shelf alongside Keith Richards and Iggy Pop, on how you can spend a life stuffing yourself full of every drug going and somehow get away with it. And thats the only thing that this book leaves you wondering - how is he still alive? 

The book - an autobiography,  follows a predictable path - a rhymey grimy Salford story with all of the usual  “grim up north” elements. We learn about the  young JCC, his teenage years, his slow breakthrough. But mostly its a story of a life dedicated to supporting a drug habit -  and thats the trouble - Smackheads are boring! There are only so many times that you want to read about successful or failed attempts to score heroin off a litany of other sad losers, that you have never heard of, before you start to skim read. Never once does he attempt to explain the feelings the drug brings , the heightened experience  or otherwise. Its all about piddling and peddling smack. 

Ironically for someone now considered so sacred, and so essential to the  spoken word and punk genre there is actually very little in here about writing the poems, about the influences, about the inspirations and frustrations. About the process or the delight in finding the perfect line or rhyme. Or the real joy of performing (maybe he finds none). Instead its the un-social diary of someone who faced the same challenge pretty much every day and nothing else matters. Even when he’s finally clean it seems that not being an addict is the only thing worth talking about. Am I being too quick to judge?. The NME called it “an immensly engaging memoir that fizzes with wit”………. maybe the review copy was different!!?

Fair play to John Cooper Clarke he has made a living at a trade for 50 years against many odds. That on its own is a remarkable achievement. Its right for him to enjoy his moment in the sun, and others may find more than me. But all in all this book gives me pretty much the same feelings as I have always had when I have been to watch him perform live - I was expecting better. Website