John Cooper Clarke Ou Est La Maison De Fromage? CD

OU EST LA MAISON DU FROMAGE?, the 1978 compilation of live performances from cult poet John Cooper Clarke, returns in this rerelease.

This reissue also contains 10 exclusive tracks not included in the original.

This reissue of John Cooper-Clarke's very first album is nothing less than a riot -- and shows how well Salford's best Bob Dylan lookalike was able to handle an audience and make poetry into a popular art form again. His stylistic masters are the Liverpool poets of the '60s, and their influence is apparent in pieces like "Film Extra's Extra" or the hilarious social comment "Daily Express (You Never See a Nipple In)." Plenty of his best-known poems get an early airing here (before a relatively welcoming audience), including "Kung Fu International" and "(I Married A) Monster from Outer Space," in addition to his very first single, "Psycle Sluts (Part 1)." For all the humor, though, there's plenty of acute social observation going on in the words once the wit has grabbed the ear. A mix of live performances, demos, and rehearsals (all largely unaccompanied, without the Invisible Girls, who'd accompany him on his later studio albums, although tracks like "Split Beans" actually have fairly accomplished, if minimal, backing). Maybe it's ultimately for completists, but given the small amount of Cooper-Clarke material available, every little bit is to be grabbed at. And this is definitely not the sound of a barrel being scraped. A joy and a shambles, but still a hoot. ~ Chris Nickson

Comprising various odds & ends which he'd recorded for Rabid during 1977, JCC's 'unofficial' debut album, Ou Est La Maison De Fromage, first appeared in 1978, effectively acting as a spoiler for his first CBS album Disguise In Love. Totally unlike the official release, Fromage is a delightful mish-mash of performances, some live, some studio, some mere rehearsals. But it probably presents as good a snapshot of what JCC was all about at that time as anything else he ever recorded (his subsequent CBS recordings were often criticized for being overproduced). It even includes an experimental live version of his later hit single 'Gimmix'. Bonus tracks include the Innocents EP, a trio of cuts from a pair of Rabid Music various artists collections, and four live tracks from a memorable 1979 John Peel Session. It's all utterly priceless! Castle Music. 2005.

CD contains 10 bonus tracks.Mojo (Publisher) (p.114) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[The album] gathers a ragbag of assortment of Clarke's poems in breakneck gigging metred motion or blissed out home delivery."