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Spoken Word

Salford, the punk poet

John Cooper Clarke

John Cooper Clarke was born in Salford in 1949 and left school at fifteen. He worked as a mechanic's apprentice, a window cleaner, a fire-watcher at the docks and a lab technician at Salford Tech before punk gave him a stage. He read his poems at speed between bands, supporting the Buzzcocks and sharing bills with the Sex Pistols, the Fall and Joy Division. Martin Hannett produced his records on Rabid and then Epic, with a backing group called the Invisible Girls. Disguise in Love came out in 1978, Snap, Crackle & Bop in 1980 with a lyric booklet tucked into a pocket in the sleeve, and Zip Style Method in 1982. His poems turned up on the GCSE syllabus, Salford gave him an honorary doctorate in 2013, and in 2016 he made an album of songs with Hugh Cornwell.

Harlem, 19 May 1968

The Last Poets

The Last Poets were founded in Harlem on 19 May 1968, Malcolm X's birthday, at a gathering in Mount Morris Park, now Marcus Garvey Park. The first members were Gylan Kain, David Nelson and Abiodun Oyewole. The best-known line-up, with Oyewole, Umar Bin Hassan and Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, recited over conga drums. Their first album came out on Alan Douglas's label in 1970 and reached No. 3 on the R&B album chart and No. 29 on the Billboard 200. In 1973 Jalal, as Lightnin' Rod, made Hustlers Convention with Kool & the Gang backing him. It went out of print soon after release and was later sampled by the Wu-Tang Clan and the Beastie Boys. They are often called the grandfathers of hip-hop. Jalal died in 2018.

New York, John S. Hall, 1986

King Missile

King Missile started in New York in 1986 when poet John S. Hall teamed up with guitarist Dogbowl, who put music under Hall's readings. They recorded for Kramer's Shimmy Disc label from 1987, and later albums topped the CMJ college chart. That led to a deal with Atlantic, where the band made three albums with Dave Rick on guitar and Chris Xefos on bass and keyboards, with Roger Murdock joining on drums in 1992. Hall's deadpan voice carried absurd stories and bursts of anger, and college radio loved it. Atlantic dropped them in 1994 and the line-up split. Hall kept the name going as King Missile III and later versions, and meanwhile graduated from law school and co-founded an entertainment law firm.

The Collection