John Cooper Clarke joins tributes to Tony Wilson
Tony Wilson
Poet recalls Factory Records legend's support for new talent
Poet John Cooper Clarke has paid his tribute to Tony Wilson, who died on Friday (August 10).
The Factory Records legend passed away in Manchester after battling kidney cancer, and the poet – who Wilson was a big supporter of – admitted he was shocked by his friend’s death.
"It's a real tragedy. I was talking to him a couple of months ago, and he seemed to think he was gong to be back on his feet pretty soon. I told him 'Not to worry, Tony. My dad had it, you can beat it’,” Cooper Clarke told NME.COM.
”I honestly can't think of a bad thing to say about him,” added the wordsmith, who toured with many punk bands in the late 1970s as well as recently collaborated with Arctic Monkeys. “He gave me my first television gig, actually. On his Granada show. He came out to see Buzzcocks, and I was third on the bill, and ended up getting chucked out of the venue for something or other, but he noticed me and said ‘No, give him a chance’. It really gave me a leg up – in those days it was really hard to get on TV, and it tripled my audiences overnight.”
Cooper Clarke added that support for new talent was typical of Wilson.
“He was very into giving things a chance. He always had the next big thing in his sights. Just the other week he was talking to me about Enter Shikari, how amazing they were, how they were the new Sex Pistols. He would walk miles to see a new band if he had to,” he explained. “He was also something of a svengali to Joy Division. I remember them when they were called Warsaw, and they were dreadful, but he said: ‘No, change your name to Joy Division, play it like this’. He knew what he was doing - he was very intuitive."
You can ready Tony Wilson’s obituary on NME.COM now.
NME.COM wants your thoughts. Send your tributes, stories and photos to tonywilsonnme@hotmail.co.uk and we’ll publish them.
And see the NME Office Blog for our Tony Wilson comment and tribute, then leave a comment with your own.
Plus see next week’s NME – on UK newsstands from August 15 – for our special tribute issue to Tony Wilson.
The Factory Records legend passed away in Manchester after battling kidney cancer, and the poet – who Wilson was a big supporter of – admitted he was shocked by his friend’s death.
"It's a real tragedy. I was talking to him a couple of months ago, and he seemed to think he was gong to be back on his feet pretty soon. I told him 'Not to worry, Tony. My dad had it, you can beat it’,” Cooper Clarke told NME.COM.
”I honestly can't think of a bad thing to say about him,” added the wordsmith, who toured with many punk bands in the late 1970s as well as recently collaborated with Arctic Monkeys. “He gave me my first television gig, actually. On his Granada show. He came out to see Buzzcocks, and I was third on the bill, and ended up getting chucked out of the venue for something or other, but he noticed me and said ‘No, give him a chance’. It really gave me a leg up – in those days it was really hard to get on TV, and it tripled my audiences overnight.”
Cooper Clarke added that support for new talent was typical of Wilson.
“He was very into giving things a chance. He always had the next big thing in his sights. Just the other week he was talking to me about Enter Shikari, how amazing they were, how they were the new Sex Pistols. He would walk miles to see a new band if he had to,” he explained. “He was also something of a svengali to Joy Division. I remember them when they were called Warsaw, and they were dreadful, but he said: ‘No, change your name to Joy Division, play it like this’. He knew what he was doing - he was very intuitive."
You can ready Tony Wilson’s obituary on NME.COM now.
NME.COM wants your thoughts. Send your tributes, stories and photos to tonywilsonnme@hotmail.co.uk and we’ll publish them.
And see the NME Office Blog for our Tony Wilson comment and tribute, then leave a comment with your own.
Plus see next week’s NME – on UK newsstands from August 15 – for our special tribute issue to Tony Wilson.
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