Punk poet John Cooper Clarke touring after 35 years, stops in Philly

Here's a poetry reading Monday night at a venue in University City, and before you turn the page at the sheer boredom of that idea, think again — of "The Sopranos" and punk rock and a whole lot of bad language dressed in black.

If you were interested in a poetry reading in University City, though, and spilled your wine and cheese on your cat at the mention of "The Sopranos" and punk rock, go find another newspaper to read, because this is just a small sample of what you might hear at a John Cooper Clarke show:

"The bloody train is bloody late/ You bloody wait you bloody wait/ You're bloody lost and bloody found/Stuck in f--king chicken town"

That's from Clarke's performance poem "Evidently Chickentown," which was featured at the end of an episode of "The Sopranos," during the show's final season. It's a chaotic mix of machine-gun rhythms and Clarke's working-class English accent. Expect more of the same Monday night at World Cafe Live.

"There ain't going to be no wine and cheese there," Clarke said with a gravelly laugh during a telephone interview from Las Vegas. "You're going to have to make some previous arrangements for that. Don't expect nothing too high-falutin'. We're all going to be enjoying ourselves."

Clarke, a native of Salford, Lancashire, came to prominence with the punk movement, his onstage performances the equivalent of a fast, three-chord ripper. Clarke, according to his biography, toured with the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Buzzcocks, Elvis Costello and Joy Division.

New audiences found Clarke when "Evidently Chickentown" was used in a "Sopranos" episode called "Stage 5," which first aired in 2007. In 2013, the Arctic Monkeys covered Clarke's 1982 poem "I wanna be yours." It's Clarke, doing love:

"I wanna be your vacuum cleaner/Breathing in your dust/ I wanna be your Ford Cortina/I will never rust"

Clarke, who wears tight black suits, dark shades and a rooster-like mop of hair, is in the middle of his first U.S. tour in 35 years, which is odd, he said, because his biggest influences were and still remain the American entertainment industry.

"I like cowboy movies, John Wayne and Robert Mitchum, all the American music," he said. "Los Angeles mainly did it for me. That place is responsible for my whole inner world."

The "Sopranos" episode, Clarke said, rocked his world. He was already a big fan of the show before he heard they wanted to use it. "Yeah, what a gift, man," he said. "That 100-percent jacked up my profile."

It's been more than 30 years since Clarke was in the U.S., he said, even for a visit, but he hasn't sensed all that much change since he's been back.

And he loves Las Vegas.

He spoke with the Daily News while he was walking around the Mob Museum there. "America is eternal, it's a magical place," he said. "Vegas is like dream land."

Clarke was last in Philly in 1981 and has fond memories of the city, particularly the music scene. "The world wouldn't have been the same without Philadelphia, literally," he said. "It's a great musical town. You've got the Gamble and Huff hit machine and Dick Clark. Great stuff."

His tour includes new and old material, and Clark said it's all accessible and unintimidating.

"Philly's going to love it," he said. "Everyone's written a poem once in their life, on their wedding days or for a funeral. We all know poetry."

World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St., 8 p.m. May 11, with Mike Garry

$20, 215-222-1400, worldcafelive.com