John Cooper Clarke in The Independent on Sunday

A life of rhyme: John Cooper Clarke, the 'punk Poet Laureate', grants Robert Chalmers his first major interview in more than 20 years

Who'd be the 'punk Poet Laureate'? There's the heroin addiction, the gobbing hecklers, not to mention the cold shoulder from the literary establishment. In his first major interview for two decades, John Cooper Clarke delivers chapter and verse about life with Nico, 'keeping the dream alive' in Milton Keynes and being mistaken for Ronnie Wood

The Robert Chalmers Interview

'...We travel back to my house in north London – he has a performance nearby this evening – then walk to Banners café in Crouch End. Cooper Clarke struggles to suppress a flinch when I produce a recording device. His one significant interview in the past 21 years – given to Paul Morley for Radio Four – sounded, he complains, "like an obituary". This was hardly anybody else's fault, in that the poet's recollections were circumspect to the point that other voices ended up propelling the narrative of the half-hour broadcast. Actually, the poet is unenthused by the memory of almost every project he's ever been involved in. Two years ago, Sky TV presented a "John Cooper Clarke Night" for which he chose a whole evening of programming. His selection included a documentary on painter William Hogarth, and a concert by crooner Paul Anka.

"How did it feel when you watched TV that night?"

"I missed it."'

All this and much more at:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/a-life-of-rhyme-john-cooper-clarke-the-punk-poet-laureate-grants-robert-chalmers-his-first-major-interview-in-more-than-20-years-1814712.html