Clarke was born in Salford, Lancashire, in 1949. He lived in the Higher Broughton area of the city and became interested in poetry after being inspired by his English teacher, John Malone. He described Malone as “a real outdoor guy, an Ernest Hemingway type, red blooded, literary bloke”.
Biting, satirical, political and very funny verse delivered in rapid-fire performance style resonating with the punk movement in the late 70s. After touring with most of punk’s seminal and ground breaking bands including the Sex Pistols, The Clash, Buzzcocks, The Fall, and Elvis Costello, to name but a few, he began to draw large crowds in his own right. Joy Division were proud to open for JCC on numerous occasions and New Order later supported him on their first joint Australian tour.
His first job was a laboratory technician at Salford Tech. He began his performance career in Manchester folk clubs, where he began working with Rick Goldstraw and his band the Ferrets. His first releases were on Tosh Ryan and Martin Hannett’s independent label Rabid, starting with the EP Innocents in October 1977. Rabid also released his debut LP Où est la maison de fromage’? (catalogue number NOZE 1), which was a collection of live recordings, demos and rehearsals. He toured with Bill Nelson’s band Be-Bop Deluxe in 1978 and was signed by Epic Records, who issued the studio album Disguise In Love, produced by Hannett, in 1978.
of breath
of socks
