this 1980 album, 'snap, crackle and bop' was his best release and included the classic emotional track 'beasley street'. to promote the album he toured with durutti column, for the first time using a backing band, the invisible girls. john cooper clarke was born in salford, 1949. as a teenager, he performed his poetry in manchester's folk clubs, where he met rick goldstraw who invited him to join his band, the ferrets. in 1977, having given up on becoming a stand-up comedian, john joined the likes of ed banger and jilted john on the books of manchester punk label, rabid. supporting the likes of the buzzcocks and warsaw, he amazed audiences on the local punk circuit with his good-humoured high-speed salfordian poetry.