BEASLEY STREET - JOHN COOPER CLARKE

[garcondor]

Was Beasley St the street Hindley was brought up on?.

[TokeBoat]

one of his best ! saw him in bristol in 82 ,told some brilliant jokes as well ,clever geezer 

[zzippyman1]

Would be a good track to play over the credits to Meryl Streep's latest film "The Iron Lady"...

[purplevolcano]

JCC's masterpiece - his wordplay is amazing.

[ToBeQuiteHonest]

MASTER. PIECE.

[Smilliesque]

This is such a monster emotive track...total Adore

[johnacrob]

Discovering this song reminds me of discovering masturbation. It's fantastic and I will enjoy it for the rest of my life.

[purplevolcano]

@johnacrob lol what an association hardly the most erotic of images!

[broadstem]

exist



[ofcoursehesthefarmer]

@broadstem existenz

[Rhyull]

Sends shivers down your spine

[35THIRTYFIVE]

If you havnt hears of Hovis Presly (Bolton) check him out on youtube,

R.I.P. Richard (Hovis)

[LambCouplet]

@35THIRTYFIVE I hear you on that, Hovis Pressley is wikid.

[paulrosewell666]

@35THIRTYFIVE IF YOUR TRYING TO COMPARE THIS FUCKER WITH JCC THEN PISS OFF YOU DONKEY SWAMP WANKER.

[19552552]

still fresh after all these long years

[19552552]

still freash after all these long years

[LittleDrummerBoy234]

we will be dragged back here by the glorious alliance of Tories and Lib Dems...

[hippiegirl1968]

@LittleDrummerBoy234 I thought we already WERE!

[StriderMarcusJones]

This brought back all the horrors of Thatcher's Britain in the 80's to this Salford lad. Brilliant JCC!!

[bblontrock]

@StriderMarcusJones - Please don't reduce this to your narrow political opinions. Adults only.

[jakmack]

John Cooper Clarke is so brilliant the rest of the world is just simply blinded by it!!!!

[parrytonneath]

Sums up the Thatcher and Tory era perfectly.

I hope those bastards don't ever take us back to the day when they filled you with a sense of hopelessness.

[ToBeQuiteHonest]

a sheer masterpiece

[andrewrd2002]

mint

[artkeith1]

first time  aboulely fab

[widlad7]

I heard a shortened piece of this recently were the name 'keith Joseph' was deleted, anyone know why? This was one the most memorable lines: 'Keith Joseph smiles and a baby dies in a box on Beesley Street......'

[davepx]

@widlad7

That must be his OGWT appearance. He'd presumably been told it wasn't allowed ("political" and hence contrary to Beeb section 2272 subsection b.889 para 22(ii).342, IIRC - unlike years of them slagging off unions, the left, ordinary people, etc) and rather than change it he left it silent. It was on Beeb4's Manchester comp last week - cut like The Fall, the only other decent thing in the whole dreary hour.

[widlad7]

@davepx thanks, to be honest I'm suprised that he he conformed in that case.

[dermot51]

Ive seen grown men cry after hearing this "poem" extremely powerful stuff

[philipbebb]

magic

[osomy]

This is one of the best trax ever made.Lyn oakey on Guitar, martin hannet behind it!!!

It sums up the shitty side of life growing up in the north, in a witty way!! Ardwick, Werneth,Hulme,Macclesfield's Viccy flats etc. Oh and Glossop!!!

Great piece of music.......................ma­ybe it was written about the Mayflower club!!!

[archiecat989]

Biggest selling paper in Britain is the Sun,,,,,,,,,work it out from there.

[ToBeQuiteHonest]

@archiecat989 lmao is it any coincidence that the first connotation of the logo of that 'paper' that comes to me is 'incest'?

[henners49]

whatever happened to the heroes? whatever happened to all the angry young men?

[Readingcoops]

@henners49 We're still around. See attila and the like. Those of us who remember this from the 70's and really REALLY cared still care and still hold the faith.

[maxheadway]

This song makes me think of Veasley St, Greensboro NC; there's a huge crime problem around there.

[doctorwithwound]

Each drop of blood a rose shall be, all sorrows shall be dust. Destroy your gun, save a life , world wide web thelifeyoucansave

[sneakyuploader]

Classic

[sneakyuploader]

Classic

[DoWhatYouLove1]

JCC is the best poet on the globe, check out a similar Australian genre (not copy) Allan Dumbleton. Let me know what you think.

[cogangeezer]

Awsommmmmme stuff !

[Michellecization]

still as hard hitting - and relevant as it ever was

[gervase10]

i tought

[hearNyou]

True then

True now

unfortunatly

Time for a change

w3.thevenusproject dotco m

pce

[simianluxoid]

Absolute classic.Seen this guy many times,usually at Band on the wall - a True original.

[Jamesintime]

Salford needs JCC.

[pemoc66]

This is a true classic. The Bard of Salford street alright.

[iluvmrangel]

Johnny Clarke is a genious

[spiralised]

got a whole lot more substance to it than men at work going on about vegamite sandwiches, which the whole world has to suffer at the slightest hint of anything australian...we put you all there, tosser

[abagail4me]

This is the most depressing musical narrative I've ever heard.I'm so glad my parents moved to Australia before I was born.They're both from that 21st century disgrace once known as "Great" Britain.

[smoochym]

Australia is just an extension of Great Britain and it's hardly morally virtuous itself.

[abagail4me]

@smoochym I couldn't agree with you more mate.Every great Western world country is on the verge of collapse, everything's just turning to shit right now whether environmentally,economically,p­olitically,socially,whatever.A­ustralia is no different - I'd rather live under Rudd than Gordon Brown any day though.

[thecolouroffire]

@abagail4me DOUCHE

[ty3165]

i bet you like midnight oil

[abagail4me]

@ty3165 yes I do like some of the earlier material and I've seen 'em live many moons ago.

[ineabriate]

he must be talking very loudly

[LouieLouieCha]

I live in Preston, Lancashire. And I can tell you a man from Blackburn a mile off. There are 6 miles between the two places.

[bonewarrier]

How is it that poms can tell accents

[MrPardleflun]

oops! sorry but you poms all sound the same!!

[MrPardleflun]

saw him at the sydney trade union club in surry hills years ago...absolutely sublime lyrics! and those dulcid brummy tones....

[jimboofharrock]

Not Brummy tones MrPardleflun. Those are obviously Salford tones, lancashire tones, manchester tones. Truly brilliant. Where is the man who resembles 1966 Blonde on Blonde Bob Dylan? Theres a rainbow in the road.

[ZLUGGO]

magnificent!

[teamofhorses]

eyes dead as vicious fish

look around for laughs

[19DerekK]

"Keith Joseph Smiles, and a baby dies". Just about sums up Thatcherism and Britain in the 80's. That would be 20 years after the moors murderers, so Beasley Street is not really related to Myra Hindley and Ian Grady. To me, it's more about social injustice (which Thatcherism exposed/expounded) that the psychotic nastiness that was Grady/Hindley

[thisizhegznogz]

just discovered this.

fukin wicked.

[chalkie69white]

Have we lost track of what this composition is about...... from whence the moors murderers came.... the compost for shit to grow!!!

[edmund184]

Johnny Clarke for Poet Laureat!!

[hottapper]

Have pitty,i can top the four yorkshiremen.

[CarhornAshtray]

Robbie Williams signs a deal for £80 million and EMI go down the pan.

[denpunk666mitsos]

Robbie Williams signs a deal for £80 million and JCC is unknown??? What sort of Britain gots talent world are we living in?

[purbecker]

@denpunk666mitsos your so f-----n right mate

[ellycat]

@denpunk666mitsos Well said, my friend. JCC is a legend..

[fckngnthestrt]

what a class tourist

[denpunk666mitsos]

Fuckin Robbie Williams signs contracts for £80 milliom and JPC Genius

[SSWIKINGgrandson]

Walking the streets of London i see Homeless White People When Immigrants are Housed In Homes paid for by these white kids parents can any one give me a Justifiable reason for this? or does Charity no longer start at home ?

cos i suspect the politicians will sell out the true deservers of this country as, if you are indigenousor an immigrant with a brit passport you both have a vote and thats all they care about and as the native is blinkered and the immigrant ontthe ball ,He wins! AMIWRONG?

[RHutton2710]

@SSWIKINGgrandson: possibly because most people are not gullible readers of the sun and the daily mail, perhaps? Or because they don't attempt to exploit myths and innuendo for the sake of far-right political goals - 'sswiking' indeed. Liebstandardt Whinge would be more appropriate.

[hottapper]

Good comment,nothing to add.

[SSWIKINGgrandson]

@ RHutton2710: Never Read the Sun or D mail that i can remember But before you turned to puerile insults You suggested that people of this country are getting fucked over cos they dont read them or exploit things for the sake of far right groups ...Maybe your right and maybe they should start....What do u think?

[hottapper]

Good comment,nothing to add...........debate is needed.

[maxinpains]

can you imagine I lived much poorer than those kids on this street on this picture?

[5000433]

Half Man Half Biscuit have the same spark of genius in some of their lyrics, with a surreal humour that can be mindblowing.

But JCC is the master. Larkin, Milligan and the imigic power of TS Eliot. Yer man has it all, then some.

[donkiddick08]

northern england's "desolation row" (dylan).

[philwear]

The best by the the 'Best' ... a poet of an era ... saw hm at the Union club in sydney in 1982

[UROTSUKIDOJI1111]

All Tomorrow's Parties thats nico in it

[jonnythewhitefoot]

I suggest a move to Godalming in Surrey. It's really quite nice. And you can buy a 2 bed semi for about half a million (no parking).

[angrysamoan666]

I live there!

[jonnythewhitefoot]

So do I

[starkersboy]

People turn to poison as fast as lager turns to piss.... splendid

[bikedemon99]

Fucking brilliant, who put the manchester acsent in music yep John Cooper Clarke

[Beas80883]

Sadie Beasley

[adyshakes]

Brilliant, Last time I had the pleasure of listening to JCC was a SuZ BansheesGig, long time ago,thanx for posting

[wizardalvin]

@#$@%&*#!!! someone has been 'ere an' made won off dem @#$@%&*# 'bout err plaice. Tol' Mavis not tork dem hoodies. senem flee-n-ear.

All wanna dekko nar.

[JapStrangler]

Twat.

[KMD071]

Fantastic piece of art. Timeless. Is there actually a "Beasley St"?

[RampantBadgers]

According to Eric the Ferret, Beasley Street is the nom de guerre of Murray Street, Higher Broughton. Not sure if true - two degrees of separation.

[pepitojoe]

yeah, i live in manchester centre, places like salford/swinton probably quite common i imagine theres a few beasley streets

[rioter1977]

has the UK changed since then ??/dont think so !!! i bet the rats have still got rickets !!!

[rioter1977]

saw him years ago support siouxsie at the odeon birmingham,mint,what a track,this takes me back,what a night.anyone got any video tape from that night? if so get it on

[ivanbeek]

Wow, amazing!

[8ahimsa]

Genius!

[guthywoodry]

''Their common problem, is that they're not someone else...''

-Even if you only hear this true song once, its words dwell in the mind forever after.

[mbmanray]

gripping! powerful! a masterpiece. poverty - the cruelest violence.

"Where the perishing stink of squalor

impregnates the walls

the rats have all got rickets

they spit through broken teeth"

"fucking sublime" is right!

[5000433]

"..but the smell of yesterdays cabbage, and the ghost of last years wife."

Fucking sublime.

[dylansharmonica]

Agreed... what a line!

[5000433]

One of the great 20th Century English poems.

Can I say that? LOL.

[bobbinz]

a fantastic song...one of my favs...but this vid is shit....the song is not about the bastard 30`s..........its about now.....welll the late70`s early 80`s .....same as today really.....shite

[Yellowdogzz]

hey bobbinz, it's not a video......it's a photograph..and it's not from the bastard 30's.... it was taken by Shirley Baker in the bastard 60's....get with it you goon

[bobbinz]

well....tell her she`s got a fuckin shite camera

[roomineight]

Not a song !

[HarryUpHarry]

It's a dirty Wednesday afternoon.

JCC we need you.

[Telstar62a]

Should be required listening.

[dangrimmy]

ive pretty much always fucking hated poetry, but this guy is amazing, everything works, he speaks to me more than Ian Dury even though I'm from London, and everyone says dury is supposed to be an amazing lyricist it doesnt work with me like clarkes stuff does.

[liam69love]

im sorry but i had to laugh my ass off first time i heard this song. Just his voice and the annoying tune. still sadly a good song somehow.

[mbmanray]

Belladonna is your flower

Manslaughter your meat

Spend a year in a couple of hours

On the edge of Beasley Street

[Northernindex]

I can't believe the bloody awful written English on here but John Copper Clark was brilliant - pis*ed myself laughing and and apparently not the only one

[gedhession]

Does anybody remember the advert he did in about 1987 for Rice Krispies?

[bwishy]

yeah it was for sugar puffs

[gedhession]

Thanks for that. In fact somebody has already posted the Sugar Puffs ad.

[1967dylanwilson]

sorry it was for Sugar Puffs+he was with the Honey Monster!!!

[eehbygum]

sswiking is a skanky retard.

[schmutzgreiffer]

Filmic! Oh aye. Kpitup kpitup!

[smithhedgehog]

this should have way more than 68 thousand hits.

[SSWIKINGgrandson]

When we feed and clothe immigrations TOM ,DICK AND HARRY why are some of our own race still condemned to live in BEASLEY STREET doesn't Charity Begin at Home?

[tiodamo]

I think it's clear that your an idiot. Your failure understand even the most rudimentary rules of basic English grammer and the fact that Tom, Dick and Harry are very obviously examples of English names indicate that if you are an example of where our race is heading then we are are all dammed.

[SSWIKINGgrandson]

Nah! sorry makes no sense to me at all try typing it when your brain's not FULL OF SHIT!!

[roomineight]

Damned

[extrasaucetheman]

did you miss key words in this paragraph on purpose ??........or even read it through before you posted it ??

[roomineight]

Damned

[Metropolitus]

I've always found that for people who say "charity begins at home", charity doesn't begin full stop.

[Reet894]

my last name is beasley

[TheKikidee12]

I haven't heard jcc for years ,,, you are right. It is as relevant now and sounds ageless. "the slick smell of poly cell .. " majorca?

[mocmac]

masterpiece

[nobogroll]

coool stuff seen him at many venues does he still do gigs ,,,,,

[mchughger1]

He's on at the Lowry supported by CP Lee of Alberto Y Lost Trio Paranoias tomorrow night. Sat 1st August.

[swand1984]

jcc is a lyrical genius

[zzippybloke]

Still sounding as fresh now as it did back then, this remains a genuine masterpiece to be savoured. Hardly dated at all, the rainbows in the road have merely moved to the driveways and now sit under the bright and shiny never-never 4x4's... A sociologist's paradise still...

[van88man]

F**king manchester - f**king brilliant

[highonpumpstreet]

The point of poetry is to capture the moment,the essence of life itself.JCC does this effortlessly,why the fuck he is not the poet laureate is a national scandal.The man is simply a visionary,combine that with his salford acid wit, and there you have it a genious of his wordsmith trade

[w88dy]

first heard this at glasto last year QUALITY!

[songyvalj97]

would like to hear a flower, from the dirt.

[eatmypies]

nothing has changed,kids of 12 spend an hour in a flea ridden house,exposes her privates to an half dead woman,thats not how it should be enuff is enuff.the women who give birth shud cry and cry why why why did my baby come to this.its simple.cos the answer is have you got protection the lads think shes on about baseball twats a guns .dont worry darlin when ive shagged you i will be back.but not 4 the kid,its the way you flash your tits.

[Scarecrow901]

don't know where you found the picture but it could be more fitting - good job.

[Scarecrow901]

sorry meant couldn't be more fitting, you get the idea.

[Rawlinson18]

Me and my mate listening to snap crackle n bop stoned on endless afternoons on the dole in the eighties, great times, wish i could go back.

[twiikegg]

I first heard this when me n my dad were in the car, we were just talking casually and this came on his old mix tape. We fell silent and I listened to the whole thing in awe, my first experience of spoken word/performance poetry.

[MrAucklandguy]

JCC is the man , check out Murray Haddow from New Zealand performing Ten Years In An Open Neck Shirt on youtube now!

[cheesyboy5000]

my dad has shook his hand he knows him in person

[youtoobsignupsucks]

big difference between shaking a hand and knowing someone!

[luvinbuzzin]

Powerful & timeless - still too many beasley streets around

[gwynus]

cerddi yma yn treiglo drwy'r oesoedd ac yn atseinio o gromlechi'r oesoedd

[TheBitterWeed]

"Brilliant.!!.thanks for the memories. "

Yes...

[henners49]

'a sociologists nightmare' 'the yellow cats yawn' - this the poet laureate for our times - more power to his pen.

[dadswizz]

I seen J C Clark in, I think 1978 in Newcastle, he had me in stitches all night, the punk poet. if it was happening in the decade of decay 1970s, he had something to say about it. listen here kids and get educated, forget the lies you heard in school , cos this is the truth as it is. .this is your life ! as the politicians wont tell you. music and rhyme from the council estates of the north, .get on it.

[joehughes9]

"Keith Joseph smiles and a baby dies in a box on Beasley Street" ....Brilliant line.K.Joseph was Maggie Thatcher's mentor.

[akabbott]

Brilliant.!!.thanks for the memories.

[supamanluva4]

love this tune! my dad aint soo sad n boring as i thought! haha and TWAT is class too . rock on this man

[eddygortex]

Thanks for posting lyrics ,this takes me back years ,used to have it on an old cassette .

[eddygortex]

A million miles on two bald tyres .tyres are knackered knackers are tired thats all I can remember .can anyone post or know lyrics? would appreciate

[Rawlinson18]

On a bsa with two baldbtyres you drove a million miles, you cut your hair with rusty pliers and you suffer with the pillion piles.Boy friend burned his jacket, ticket expired, tyres are knackered, knackers are tired, you get paid to pedal smut now you've ridden the road to excess that leads to the cyycle sluts. Motor cycle Micheal wants to buy a tank, only twenty nine years old and He's learning how to wank.

[miclewis55]

Check out JCC's live version of this on the album' Snap Crackle & Pop' . No musical backing track and spat out with real venom . Get it off itunes ...... it will stay in your head for YEARS !!

[Stevie800uk]

Saw Johny Clarke a few nights ago at Burnley Mechanics more Stand up than the old Punk Poet but still a great presenter of the spoken word very very good performance ,check out the updated version Beasley Boulevard what a scream

[mccon59]

Original rap that you can listen to without having to rely on the six or seven words that come out nowadays.

[rapidshave7]

genius.

[eddygortex]

like the delivery better than rap ,the backing music makes it quite haunting . What talent!

[Rawlinson18]

easy, cheesy, greezy,queesey, beastley Beasly street.

[kleakleaklea]

eyes dead as vicious fish

look around for laughs

if I could have just one wish

I would be a photograph

[puniks2112]

We used to thrash the fuck out of this album in the early 80's ..... was so stoned tho' i can't remember what it was called ..... thanks for posting , great song.

[mteas1sbinz]

lol same as..........

[theothermurdoch]

So good to hear this again -thanks Youtube. Saw JCC in the mid-80s -awesome, confronting, and entirely spaced out!

[iveco321]

i used this numerous time with my gcse and a level english students, they loved it, the imagery and tone just speaks for it self, very powerful

[crystaltipps04]

I used to live on the same floor as his brother "Paul the postman" in hanover court Salford.

Met him loads of times,top bloke,really witty in real life too!

[andid1957]

didn t hear this for years, just looked it up, fucking JCC !!!!!!!!!!

[sherninefelt]

Hes the dogs bollox in e? Theres a dead canary on a swivel seat, theres a rainbow in the road. Fucking brilliant lyrics. Quick as lager turns to piss. Ive actually been to beasley street, what a shit hole.

[crystaltipps04]

I think Beasley street was demolished in the 70s or 80s.If my memory serves me right it was in lower Broughton and made way for regeneration.

[ButcheredChildren]

my dad made me look up this song and he's like in his 50's :P

im sorry i just cant appreciate this style of music but much respect to John Copper Clarke

[ponzi6]

You will appreciate this 'music' in the coming years ButcheredChildren.

[AutumnCherry]

I'm only 14 and I love this song! :p Its moret that you have different taste. How old a song is doesn't change how good it is :)

[miclewis55]

John COPPER Clarke ??........Now that IS funny !!