Chart topping band The Arctic Monkeys took words from iconic punk poet Dr John Cooper Clarke and set them to music.

I Wanna Be Yours is now on their AM album and living proof that the work of the poet, who shot to fame as part of the punk rock explosion, is still as relevant today and appreciated by a younger generation.

The punk poet is performing an intimate, all-seated show at Swindon’s Meca, Regent Circus on Thursday, November 8 with support from Simon Day.

Dr John has been touring this latest show across the UK and Europe performing a mix of classic verse, new material and his wandering ponderings on modern life interspersed with a bit of chit chat.

The Lancashire-born poet was a lab technician before he found his feet in performance poetry. He started performing in the folk clubs of Manchester, where he teamed up with guitarist Rick Goldstraw and his band The Ferrets.

Dr John says that it was the West’s local poet Pam Ayres who influenced his early poetry, but it was his successful run on the TV talent show Opportunity Knocks that set him on the road to stardom. It even convinced his mum he could make a living at performing.

In 1979 Dr John scooped his only UK top 40 hit with Gimmix (Play Loud) and he toured with Linton Kwesi Johnson. They played the same bill as the Sex Pistols, The Fall, Joy Division, The Buzzcocks, New Order and many other punk luminaries.

His rapid fire poems earned him the nickname of the Bard of Salford. In 1982 he was asked to appear in the music documentary Urgh! A Music War, performing his poem Health Fanatic. Also on the film were The Police, Devo and Swindon’s own XTC.

The rest of the 1980s were a bad time for the poet who fell prey to a drug habit. He made an appearance in two UK adverts for Sugar Puffs, co-starring alongside the Honey Monster, but the following decade saw him pulling his act back together and performing again with Suns of Arga.

He got back in contact with Rick Goldshaw, who by this time had been playing with The Fall, Nico and his own band Blue Orchids. Dr John also teamed up with Reverend Jon McClure from The Reverend and the Makers, duetting with Jon at their concerts, and his poem Last Resort was recorded on the band’s B side of the single Heavyweight Champion of the World.

This year Dr John appeared on BBC TV’s Pointless Celebrities partnered with historian Susannah Lipscomb. The reached the head to head round.

Dr John also appeared in the film, Control, playing himself in a re-creation of the 1977 concert in which he supported Joy Division, reciting his poem Evidently Chickentown.

Another of his poems, Out of Control Fairground, was printed inside the Artic Monkeys’ 2007 single, Fluorescent Adolescent, and it was the inspiration for the single’s fighting clowns video, in fact Alex Turner from the Artic Monkeys says that he takes inspiration for his lyrics from Dr John’s poems.

Dr John will be supported by the stand up comic Simon Day from the sketch comedy series The Fast Show and the TV sitcom Grass. Simon will be performing as his alter ego Geoffrey Allerton, an unpublished Yorkshire poet.

Tickets to see Dr John are £25 stalls and £27 balcony. They are available from: http://www.mecaswindon.co.uk/events-tickets/2018/november/dr-john-cooper-clarke/

- Flicky Harrison