The Bard of Salford

BBC 4' Punk Britannica and the documentary Evidently John Cooper Clarke got me fired up with recollections this week. The Bard of Salford was one of our own. I was brought up in Salford, as were both of my parents, but it was the place that dare not speak its name for my mother. Synonymous with slums. My mother is a Catholic doctor's daughter from Salford - a very troubled heritage if there ever was one. She denies it but her lifetime obsession with Coronation St is a bit of a giveaway. So the punk poet appealed to me on many levels - familiar turn of phrase, wicked sense of humour, literary interest. Before I was sent to boarding school I went to school in Salford - to Adelphi on the Crescent. I worked in Salford Central Library when I left school, before I went to university, all paid for by Salford. Salford was good to me. There were many points of contact with Mr Clarke through my 20s - music venues, performances, mutual friends. I'm not sure he ever really knew who I was - he tended to confuse me with my next door neighbour Jackie, Bruce Mitchell's wife. I was flattered. I've seen him perform several times over the last few years - Buxton Opera House and the Green Man festival. A far cry from the slightly seedy pubs and clubs of late 70s/early 80s Manchester. Some years ago I thought about booking him for the Bakewell Arts Festival but took the advice of a former member of the Invisible Girls and didn't - problems of communication, management, money and reliability were presented to me in a succinct and convincing way.Wise words I suspect at the time, but it could have caused a revolution in Bakewell's cultural life if I'd pulled it off! I'm encouraged to hear that he's part of the National Curriculum. I'm pleased I saw him back in the day.I wish my mum hadn't paid for elocution lessons for me. I'm glad he's recognised as the talent and influence he has always been. I asked someone at work if they'd seen it. 'Is he dead?' was their response. It's something special to have a documentary like this shown when you are still alive and creating. It was very poignant to see film of Martin Hannett as I remember him, and Alan Wise larger than life admitting to putting about the rumours of John's 'long relationship' with Nico. Enough of punk poets. More about punk as it appeared to me next time.