Beasley Street

"Beasley Street" is one of the most notable works by punk poet John Cooper Clarke. The poem deals with poverty in inner-city Salford in the 1980s; Cooper Clarke has said that it was inspired by Camp Street in Lower Broughton.[1]

The recorded poem is on Cooper Clarke's 1980 album Snap, Crackle & Bop. When it was released, BBC radio stations censored the line "Keith Joseph smiles and a baby dies/ In a box on Beasley Street."[2]

In the 2010s, Cooper Clarke has performed a "sequel" poem, "Beasley Boulevard" which deals with urban regeneration and mentions Urban Splash.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Salford Star, http://www.salfordstar.com/article.asp?id=106
  2. ↑ Independent, 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
  3. ↑ BBC, http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/john-cooper-clarke-performs-beasley-street-and-beaseley-boulevard/9390.html