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  The 76-year-old has experience on the station, having fulfilled a similar role in 2013 when he stood in for Pulp frontman, Jarvis Cocker, on his own Sunday afternoon show, ‘Jarvis Cocker’s Sunday Service’. Cooper Clarke’s performance was reviewed by The Guardian, with Nosheen Iqbal saying, “Hearing Cooper Clarke pontificate is probably as close as 6 Music gets to replicating the ‘down the pub’ chatty spirit so many shows work to achieve.”  

The Bard of Salford was on Laura Laverne’s Radio 6 show on Friday, celebrating World Poetry Day, in which he chose some of his favourite readings throughout the show. On the BBC website, the stand-in slot promises “a Sabbath Special, the compulsory Elvis number, and a nod to Iggy via Clarke’s Compilation Corner”.

@bbc6music Happy World Poetry Day John Cooper Clarke joined Lauren to share some of his favourite poetry recordings. Listen on @bbcsounds and on your Smart Speaker #worldpoetryday #johncooperclarke ♬ original sound – BBC Radio 6 Music

This afternoon’s show opened with a tribute to the late Johnny Green, Cooper Clarke’s tour manager and friend. The poet told audiences that Green’s “invisible fingerprints were all over this afternoon’s playlist.” Green found success as the road manager for the Clash, documenting his time with them in the book, ‘A Riot of Our Own’, and also managed US musician Joe Ely. He died earlier this month, with tributes pouring in from across the punk world.  

Cooper Clarke has often mentioned the impact that Iggy Pop has had on him on more than one occasion. He likened himself to the titular passenger in Pop’s song, when revealing his influences, and saying “It’s a poor artist who only paints the picturesque.”

The BBC website for ‘Iggy Confidential’ seems to indicate that Cooper Clarke’s run will last for two shows spread over three weeks, those being 23 March and 6 April. The intervening weekend will feature a wrap-up show for the BBC Radio 6 Music Festival, which takes place next week in Manchester. Cooper Clarke is also set to perform in Manchester next week, headlining an event at the Co-op LIVE arena on Saturday, 29 March, making him the first poet to headline an arena in the UK.  

It will be a busy week for the poet, as he is also set to receive an award at the Northern Music Awards, held in Liverpool on Thursday, 27 March. Cooper Clarke will be awarded the Northern Music Award, which celebrates a legacy act who is a “household name with a long and highly-respected career that is still active in music.”  

This could go down as the best few weeks radio for a long long time. Listening to Dr Clarke tell some stories whilst plying a bit of music for two hours each day. All for free.

— Streetwise Stu (@StreetwiseStu79) March 23, 2025

Reaction to the news of Cooper Clarke’s shows was extremely positive, with one X user saying: “This could go down as the best few weeks radio for a long long time. Listening to Dr Clarke tell some stories whilst playing a bit of music for two hours each day. All for free.”

With an exclusive mix of punk, reggae, and old school rock ‘n’ roll, Cooper Clarke’s first show goes toe-to-toe with Pop’s own renowned playlists. It’s clear to see that the punk poet has meticulously curated the show, from each song, the order, and the dedications to his late friend. 

The show is available on BBC Sounds for 29 days.

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Sponsored by the music therapy charity Nordoff and Robbins, the Northern Music Awards celebrate artists and music whose work has been shaped by the North of England, and this year will be the second ceremony since the awards inception in 2024. The Northern Music Award, of which Cooper Clarke will be this year’s recipient, honours household names with long and highly-respected careers who are still active in music. Last year’s winner was another Salfordian, Tim Burgess, who has followed up his success with the Charlatans with the innovative ‘Tim’s Listening Party’. 

Earning him the unofficial title, ‘The Bard of Salford’, Cooper Clarke was a pivotal figure in the punk scene of the late 70s, opening up for the acts such as the Sex Pistols, Joy Division and New Order, and Elvis Costello with his act that fell somewhere between performance poetry and rapid-fire a capella numbers.

After signing with Epic Records in 1978, he released a trio of classic albums crammed with observational humour and sharp wit. The triad of albums was made up of ‘Disguise in Love’ (1978), ‘Snap, Crackle & Bop’ (1980), and ‘Zip Style Method’ (1982). Backing him on the records were The Invisible Girls, a band made up of Manchester musicians such as Martin Hannett, who was also the producer behind many of Factory Records’ biggest albums, and Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks. The latter two albums also made it into the UK Charts, placing at 26 and 97, respectively.

In a 2023 interview with The Guardian, Cooper Clarke revealed his initial misgivings about putting his words to music. “That wasn’t my idea, I gotta be honest, but I couldn’t think of an argument against it. ‘Who plays spoken word records more than once?’ And I kind of believed that at the time.” He worked with musician Plan B on the 2013 record, ‘Ill Manors’, and has a track named after him on the debut album of Todmorden-based group, Working Men’s Club.

One of his most enduring legacies is ‘I Wanna Be Yours’, a poem from his 1982 collection, ‘Ten Years in an Open Necked Shirt’, also recorded as part of ‘Zip Style Method’ from the same year. After being included on the GCSE English syllabus, the poem inspired, and would be covered by the Arctic Monkeys. Included on their 2013 album ‘AM’, the track has become the bands most streamed song, amassing almost 3 billion streams on Spotify. The sleeper hit has also become a popular wedding song, with Cooper Clarke saying “it is to weddings what ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’ is to humanist funerals.”

Cooper Clarke has remained a regular fixture on the UK live circuit, as well as multiple appearances around the world. His unique blend of poetry and comedy has made him a familiar face on British panel shows such as 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and Would I Lie To You?. In 2023, he was made a freeman of the City of Salford, with the recognition coming a decade after his honorary doctorate from the University of Salford.

2025’s Northern Music Award will recognise a figure who has slowly established himself as a national treasure. Cooper Clarke’s ability to acutely analyse any subject and remove any of the elitism associated with poetry and the spoken word made it accessible to anybody, and through various contemporary artists, is still influencing the music world today. Tickets for the Northern Music Awards are on sale on Ticketmaster, listed for between £40 and £60. Along with Cooper Clarke, The Zutons, Lightning Seeds and Chiedu Oraka will all be performing.

Support acts have yet to be announced; however fans will be delighted to know that Smith will be joined by two of the musicians who played on the original recordings. Guitarist Lenny Kaye and keyboard player and bassist Jay Lee Daugherty have played with Smith throughout her live career. They will be joined by Tony Shanahan, who joined the group in 1996, and Jackson Smith, who joined in 2016.

The shows will see the album played in its entirety. The studio album comes in at a little over 43 minutes, with reissues including a cover of The Who’s ‘My Generation’, taking it beyond three-quarters of an hour. Smith’s shows tend to last around 80 minutes. When she toured ‘Horses’ in 2005, she performed additional tracks taking her shows closer to the typical runtime. Some of those that found their way onto the setlists included ‘Are You Experienced?’ by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and ‘Because The Night’, the Springsteen-penned ballad that was originally recorded by Smith in 1977. 

Produced by Welsh musician and Velvet Underground co-founder John Cale, ‘Horses’ was like nothing that had come before it. The album was a mélange of musical styles, all carried by Smith’s beat-esque prose, sometimes spoken, sometimes sung. UK critics were split on its releases, with Charles Shaar Murray of NME calling it “one in a thousand”, while its detractors called it “amateurish”.

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The album would influence some of the most iconic figures in and around music for the next 15 years. Among them, Morrissey and Johnny Marr, the two guiding hands in The Smiths. Morrissey would also record a live cover of ‘Redondo Beach’ in 2004, released the following year. Michael Stipe of R.E.M. cited the album as an influence, and John Cooper Clarke, who opened for acts like The Clash, The Sex Pistols and The Fall, said “Lyrics became important for a while in the late Seventies. Patti Smith was a poet and a rock star, as much one as the other, the distinctions were a bit blurred and then you get swept up in it.”  

Smith recently made headlines when she collapsed on stage. Performing alongside the Soundwalk Collective, Smith suffered a migraine and was taken backstage in a wheelchair. She later reemerged to perform more songs. The singer later posted on Instagram asking fans not to believe “a grossly exaggerated account being spread by the press and social media.”

 

 

 

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The tagline for the show is: “Please join us to help celebrate the final ride of our irreverent thoroughbred.” Fans lucky enough to snag a ticket to this show will be witnessing history as Smith appears to be winding down, whether that be celebrations of ‘Horses’, or touring as a whole. For those wanting to join in on the final ride, tickets can be purchased here.