JCC’s 4th album, (the live album “Walking Back To Happiness” was officially the 3rd) which I nevertheless always think of as his 2nd, follows much the same formula as “Disguise In Love” with the poet performing his poems over backing tracks by the Invisible Girls, no solo performances this time. 

One of the great surprises tied to this record was watching episode 14 of season 6 of “The  Sopranos” (the greatest TV drama series of all) titled “Stage 5” and realising as the closing credits music started that you were hearing this albums opening track “Evidently Chickentown”. The clash of cultures between New Jersey organised crime and Salford poet was jarring and perfectly right at the same time. 

Outside of that “Snap, Crackle & Bop” is all about one astonishing piece, “Beasley Street”. Even now, 43 years later, it remains an absolutely brutal but accurate punch in the face for life in early 1980’s (Thatcher’s) Britain. The hopelessness of day to day existence for whole communities in parts of the country is laid bare by John Cooper Clarke’s brilliant words. 

“The boys are on the wagon, The girls are on the shelf, Their common problem is that they're not someone else”

If you’ve never heard it then you must click the link below. 

Beasley Street - https://youtu.be/0oldi8_jH40

The bard of Salford, the Punk Poet, John Cooper Clarke rose to fame around the Manchester Punk scene with an image part Punk and part “Blonde on Blonde” Bob Dylan. His motormouth delivery set a standard for other contemporary performance poets. His poems are equal parts punk themed social commentary and working men’s club comedy. All these years later one of his poems (1982’s “ I Wanna Be Yours”) is part of the GCSE English syllabus in schools, that felt like a “we were right” moment for some of us old Punks. 

I always think of “Disguise In Love” as JCC’s debut but in fact it’s his 2nd album, his old record company beat CBS to the punch by issuing “Où Est La Maison De Fromage?” before this one. It’s a strange beast as there are only two solo poems included (a live hurtle through the single “Psycle Sluts 1&2” and the glorious “Salome Malone” again recorded live). On the rest of the tracks JCC delivers his poems over backing tracks by the Invisible Girls, a band including producer Martin Hannett, Bill Nelson and Buzzcocks Pete Shelley. The backing tracks range from “I Don’t Want To Be Nice” with it’s New Wave reggae-ish groove to the jazzy vibes of “Post War Glamour Girls”. 

But the main focus here has to be JCC’s words which can make you laugh out loud (“Readers Wives” delivers “The fablon top scenarios of passion, Nipples peep through holes in leatherette, They seem to be saying in their fashion, “I'm freezing Charlie - have ya finished yet?” “) while two songs later he can make a very serious point about racism (“(I Married A) Monster From Outer Space” gives us “They'd go…nudge nudge...when we got off the bus, Saying it's extra-terrestial, not like us, And it's bad enough with another race, But fuck me...a monster...from outer space”) wrapped up in sci-fi humour. 

I first saw him perform as the compère at a big New Year show in 1980, at the NEC in Birmingham, also featuring Elvis Costello, UB40 and Madness. Unknown to me at the time my wife to be was at the same gig with her mates. We’re going to see him for the first time since then next month and I canna wait. 

I Don’t Want To Be Nice - https://youtu.be/bjLwUzy340A

“Reality” was released on September 15th 2003, hot on the heels of the “Heathen” tour. What nobody knew at the time was that this was to be the last new David Bowie album release for 10 years. While on the “A Reality Tour” Bowie suffered a heart attack on stage in June 2004 and, after an emergency operation in Germany to fix a blocked artery, withdrew from the stage, the public eye and the recording studio. He took on the role of happily married Dad and to all intents and purposes looked like he had retired from the music business.

Bowie now had his own record label, ISO, and an agreement with Columbia that they would release his records when he had them ready and not against some rigid company release schedule. Reality was recorded very soon after the “Heathen” tour and with many of the musicians he was working with live (Gail-Ann Dorsey, Mike Garson, Earl Slick, Mark Plati, Gerry Leonard and Sterling Campbell) and with Tony Visconti again producing.

“Throughout Heathen and Reality he was in such a good place. On the road he had such a blast, smiling all the day, I’d never seen him happier. We had a good run for about four years straight.” Earl Slick: “David Bowie: A Life” Dylan Jones

“Reality” was recorded at Looking Glass Studios in New York. The idea was to record an album that relied on the musicians and not technology, to make it so Bowie and his band could go out and play it live without relying on banks of synths and sequencers. He wanted a sense of urgency to the music and that comes from people and not machines. It also comes from the environment in which the recordings took place. Bowie had been living in New York for 10 years at this point and the city appears in references throughout the songs. Bowie was keen to explain though that it was not his “New York album“ (the opening lyric on the first song is “See the great white scar, Over Battery Park” and further such NY references litter this album).

“New York informs it, but it’s not the content of the album. It’s a lot more about New York than I expected it to be, but I would not want it to be considered my New York album. It’s more about the times it was made in.” David Bowie, The Word magazine, October 2003

“This album is a counterpoint to the idea of a spiritual search. It started off as a random collection of songs – just whatever I was writing at the moment – that express how I feel right now, in this time. But afterwards, reflecting on the work itself, there are recurrent themes – the sense of anxiety about the times that we’re living through and a strong sense of place. It was unwitting, though, because I wasn’t planning on doing that.” David Bowie, Interview magazine, October 2003

“Reality” contains 11 songs, 9 originals and 2 covers (Jonathan Richman’s “Pablo Picasso” and George Harrison’s “Try Some, Buy Some”). It’s a tougher, more “rock” album than its immediate predecessors, made in the city and sounding of the city. In places “Reality” comes on a bit Indie rock, Bowie had recently covered the Pixies and here he went with Jonathan Richman. “New Killer Star” has a definite Indie feel about it, Side 2’s “Fall Dog Bombs The Moon” has a similar vibe with the loose and low growling guitars driving both along.

“Never Get Old” must have been one of Bowie’s favourites or regarded as a pivotal song on the album. He performed it on at least 3 appearances on US chat shows to promote the albums release. It featured in his live set through 2003 and 2004 and eventually was sped up and mashed up with “Rebel Rebel” as “Rebel Never Gets Old” (https://youtu.be/_n0_jpyMGvY). It’s a great groove based on a simple, funky guitar riff. “The Loneliest Guy” is a beautiful if unnerving song about one of Bowie’s favourite recurring characters, the loner living apart and on their memories.

“Days” is a beautiful pop song wrapped around a lyric of great regret and atoning for past and future misdemeanours. “Try Some, Buy Some” is surprisingly good with some unsettling guitar parts running through it. The title track is a full on turn it up to 11 all guitars blazing rocker. We close on “Bring Me The Disco King”, a cool jazzy vibe led by Mike Garson’s piano and subtle brushed drums. It’s not at all representative of the rest of the album but it’s a real winner to my ears.

I haven’t covered every song, there’s plenty more to discover in here. “Reality” overall sounds very up, optimistic, a result he claimed of becoming a father again. Bowie told Word magazine

“I want the ultimate feeling after hearing it to be a good feeling. That there is something to be said for our future and it will be a good future”

One last strange morsel, the cover artwork has been widely criticised by Bowie fans (!). The anime style Bowie on the sleeve was designed by Rex Ray who commented on the image in 2008 “I can’t begin to describe the enormous responsibility of coming up with a hairstyle for David Bowie“. For what it’s worth, I like it.

Never Get Old - https://youtu.be/7NorNUMoewQ