"All I can say is wow" - Dr John Cooper Clarke given Salford's greatest honour as he's named Honorary Freeman

Acclaimed ‘bard of Salford’ Dr John Cooper Clarke has received his home city’s greatest honour.

The 74-year-old brought up in Higher Broughton, now based in Essex, returned to his native haunt to be made an Honorary Freeman of the city of Salford. Ceremonial mayor Coun Gina Reynolds described Dr Clarke as ‘a true Salford legend’ who had ‘made an indelible mark on our city and beyond’.

She described how he became renowned as a punk poet in the late 1970s. “He was one of a new breed of alternative poets,” she said.

“His unique brand of wit, intelligence and raw emotion as captured the spirit of Salford and the north and made poetry accessible to everyone regardless of their background. John Cooper Clarke is an extraordinary talent. With his distinctive style and unapologetic observations of life, John has become a voice for the underrepresented and a symbol of resilience. He’s never forgotten his roots and embodies the grit, determination and pride which defines our great city.”

Proposing the motion to make him a Freeman of the city, Coun John Warmisham said: “For me he’s the unofficial poet laureate.” 

Dr Clarke said: “[It feels] unique, fabulous. Who would’ve thought that this would every happen. All I can say is wow.”

And he spoke affectionately of the teacher at his Catholic secondary school who turned him towards poetry – John Malone.

He said: “I never learnt to swim, but all those people who went to the pool with him (I was exempt for health reasons). He would apparently dislodge this glass eye and throw it in at the deep end and whoever retrieved it would be ‘king for a day’. It was a regular sort of thing he used to do.

“I always imagined he lost his eye in a fencing accident. He was that kind of guy. He was a bit of a swashbuckler, a bit of an Ernest Hemingway. He went out on speedboats, did mountaineering, surfing, anything like that. He even fell off a precipice in Snowdonia, it might’ve been 100ft. From that day on he had a slight limp.  He was a complex guy, a real tough guy. But he was also a sucker for romantic poetry from the 19th century.”

On his favourite poets, he said: “I used to like stuff by Sir Henry Newbolt. John Malone’s MO was that you had to learn it off by heart, whether you understood it or not. When called upon you had to stand up and recite it. But the one I always remember was Vitai Lampada – [recites the poem]. He [John Malone] was a terrific conveyor of English poetry. None better.”

On the current rock/pop scene he said: “It’s changed out of all recognition. If you were in the rock business when first started, and you got a record deal. They used to write off tours. It was a loss leader. You only did them in order to promote your album. But now nobody buys music anyway, so the earner, if you’re in a group or something, is in gigs. Back then, the record company used to even finance your live gigs to an extent. As luck would have it, that’s always been the bit of what I do that I’ve enjoyed the most. I’m not really a studio guy, I’m very much a man o’ the people.”

Dr John Cooper Clarke plays the Lowry Theatre in Salford on March 24 and 31, 2024.