Talk:John Cooper Clarke: Difference between revisions

 

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:::You never struck me as gullible, but having listened to numerous JJC interviews over the years; the man was convincing. Did you know that he and his monster from outer-space wife faced many difficulties early on in their marraige? A lot of his neighbors didn’t understand, they’d go.. nudge nudge when they got off the bus, saying it’s an extra-terrestrial – not like us. I remember him telling Melvin Bragg in a 1984 In Our Time special that its was “bad enough with another race, but fuck me, a monster from outer space.” Bragg shook his head and sighed, “indeed”.[[User:Ceoil|Ceoil]] ([[User talk:Ceoil|talk]]) 22:27, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

:::You never struck me as gullible, but having listened to numerous JJC interviews over the years; the man was convincing. Did you know that he and his monster from outer-space wife faced many difficulties early on in their marraige? A lot of his neighbors didn’t understand, they’d go.. nudge nudge when they got off the bus, saying it’s an extra-terrestrial – not like us. I remember him telling Melvin Bragg in a 1984 In Our Time special that its was “bad enough with another race, but fuck me, a monster from outer space.” Bragg shook his head and sighed, “indeed”.[[User:Ceoil|Ceoil]] ([[User talk:Ceoil|talk]]) 22:27, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

::::New editor [[User:Csw99|Csw99]], who’s been editing for 2 days now, has now removed it, with the edit summary “silly stories that people make up do not need to be reported.” Gosh, Clark wouldn’t want to be known for making up silly stories, would he. But it seems a little mean to deny the reader the faintest glimmer of such colour. [[User:Martinevans123|Martinevans123]] ([[User talk:Martinevans123|talk]]) 14:38, 29 March 2024 (UTC)

::::New editor [[User:Csw99|Csw99]], who’s been editing for 2 days now, has now removed it, with the edit summary “silly stories that people make up do not need to be reported.” Gosh, Clark wouldn’t want to be known for making up silly stories, would he. But it seems a little mean to deny the reader the faintest glimmer of such colour. [[User:Martinevans123|Martinevans123]] ([[User talk:Martinevans123|talk]]) 14:38, 29 March 2024 (UTC)

== Merge to suggestion ==

As any regular editor may have noticed, I have been working on improving this article for a few days now. I am now suggesting a merge of ”[[:Evidently… John Cooper Clarke]]”, a 2012 TV doco with not much to say about it, into the main article. I can’t see it getting beyond a stub stage, and it’s 13 years old already. Thoughts? [[User:Laterthanyouthink|Laterthanyouthink]] ([[User talk:Laterthanyouthink|talk]]) 05:21, 20 November 2025 (UTC)

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We could do with a few short quotations from his poems, to give the taste of them. JM

He should be remembered as the originator of the line “..he makes love like a footballer – he dribbles before he shoots..” from Psycle Sluts. WC

How does the “Cooper” come into the name? Brakn (talk) 18:51, 29 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Right in the middle. Just like the word ‘the’ in Winnie the Pooh.

The article states that he ‘remians unpublished’, what ever happened to ‘Ten Years in an Open-Necked Shirt’ ?

His appearance in Sugar Puffs commercials was also described as “incongruous” in BBC4’s They Came From Manchester. Researching TV shows is so easy these days thanks to Wikipedia! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.183.134.65 (talk) 21:54, 6 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

He is not married.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.4.147.200 (talk • contribs) 17:42, 26 May 2009

Noted. I’ve removed this unsourced claim from the article. —McGeddon (talk) 16:52, 26 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

He was married but they’re divorced. He immortalised his wife in a lovely poem called “Twat.” —194.81.33.10 (talk) 18:24, 8 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

It currently says he is married to Chris Evie. Presumably this should be Christine. It also says “m 1970” which can not be correct as they didn’t meet till well after he was famous. All this assumes they are married. Maybe ‘partner’ would be better? 2A00:23EE:1D20:3052:38F8:B78B:91F:996B (talk) 21:12, 8 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The guardian article that is cited as footnote 34 is dated 2012 & in it it says “Clarke grew up a Catholic and still has faith. “People who believe in God are happier than those who don’t. I’ve never met a happy atheist.” He lives in Essex with his French wife of 22 years, Evie; they have a daughter at college.”

So 1990 it is, also there’s no mention of her being called ‘Christine”. I’ ve edited out the “Chris” & changed the year to 1990 2A00:23EE:1D20:3052:38F8:B78B:91F:996B (talk) 21:23, 8 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Evelynne Plusse is John Cooper Clarke’s partner. They met in the summer of 1984, when John performed at the Colchester Arts Centre. I know because I was there. Ev was involved with the Arts Centre. The last time I spoke to them, in 2017, they wanted to get married, and were trying to locate his first wife, in order to serve her with divorce papers. So, at least up until 2017, they were not married. Their daughter Stella Plusse was born in 1994. ~2025-32661-44 (talk) 23:55, 10 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

We cannot use information supplied by anonymous people on talk pages, even if it is true, I’m afraid. I have done some adjusting of the section according to various refs. Laterthanyouthink (talk) 01:52, 11 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

This isn’t at all unlikely, and while I haven’t restored the information about the documentary for lack of a reliable independent source, the trailer for it that’s on all the usual video sites with contributions from Stewart Lee, Arthur Smith, Bill Bailey, Jarvis Cocker, Mark Thomas, etc. etc. talking about him should be convincing enough I would have thought. —Michig (talk) 20:57, 3 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It’s on BBC4 tonight. —Michig (talk) 20:51, 30 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Will somebody please fix the last paragraph under Early Life? I don’t know much about the guy, or I would do it – but that last paragraph is a mess! nycdi (talk) 10:58, 6 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]

When he was on Desert Island Discs in July 2019, it was said he was known as “The Bard of Salford”. This could go in the article somewhere. Vorbee (talk) 19:25, 29 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Apparently, this is how he’s known on the BBC in general. Martinevans123 (talk) 20:11, 29 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Its a well known accolade, see “Cooper Clarke, beloved Bard of Salford: ‘If you gave me access to the internet, you’d find me dead in six weeks under pizza boxes” for eg. Ceoil (talk) 19:01, 23 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

That’s a good source. I heard him on the radio, mentioning his pizza boxes, the other day. Still makes me laugh out loud. Martinevans123 (talk) 19:12, 23 March 2024 (UTC) p.s. I think it could be added as an aka (with sources).[reply]

In Series 15, Episode 1 of the BBC comedy panel show Would I Lie to You, broadcast on 7 January 2022, Clarke claimed that, in the early 1970s, for six months, in Amsterdam, he shared a flat with a monkey: [1]. Should this be added? Martinevans123 (talk) 18:50, 23 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

No. He has been known to bullshit on telly before. Ceoil (talk) 18:59, 23 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

His appearance was already added. I’ve added the claim, as plot detail. Only he claimed it was true, of course. Martinevans123 (talk) 19:14, 23 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Fine. I was fearing you added it as fact, rather than presenting it as an off the cuff joke in the sardonic style of them upp north. Ceoil (talk) 19:23, 23 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I must say, I believed him totally. (well ok, maybe not the extendable dog lead bit…) Martinevans123 (talk) 19:26, 23 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

You never struck me as gullible, but having listened to numerous JJC interviews over the years; the man was convincing. Did you know that he and his monster from outer-space wife faced many difficulties early on in their marraige? A lot of his neighbors didn’t understand, they’d go.. nudge nudge when they got off the bus, saying it’s an extra-terrestrial – not like us. I remember him telling Melvin Bragg in a 1984 In Our Time special that its was “bad enough with another race, but fuck me, a monster from outer space.” Bragg shook his head and sighed, “indeed”.Ceoil (talk) 22:27, 23 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

New editor Csw99, who’s been editing for 2 days now, has now removed it, with the edit summary “silly stories that people make up do not need to be reported.” Gosh, Clark wouldn’t want to be known for making up silly stories, would he. But it seems a little mean to deny the reader the faintest glimmer of such colour. Martinevans123 (talk) 14:38, 29 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

As any regular editor may have noticed, I have been working on improving this article for a few days now. I am now suggesting a merge of Evidently… John Cooper Clarke, a 2012 TV doco with not much to say about it, into the main article. I can’t see it getting beyond a stub stage, and it’s 13 years old already. Thoughts? Laterthanyouthink (talk) 05:21, 20 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]