John Cooper Clarke has the most streamed poem, plots “I Wanna Be Yours” tour
“Is that a lot?” John Cooper Clarke asks The Guardian when they tell him The Arctic Monkeys' musical cover of his poem "I Wanna Be Yours" recently passed the One Billion Streams mark on Spotify. “An American billion is different to a British billion – and I don’t know what either of them is. But it’s a fuck of a lot of listens.”
The song closes out Arctic Monkeys' mega-hit AM, their most popular album, but the song has taken off thanks to TikTok. "I Wanna Be Yours" originally got vintage style rock-n-roll backing on Clarke's 1982 album Zip Style Method and was already a wedding favorite with lines like its opening couplet "Let me be your vacuum cleaner / breathing in your dust / Let me be your Ford Cortina / I will never rust," but it is truly more popular than ever. Check out Clarke's original and Arctic Monkeys' version below.
At age 74, Clarke is still very active and will be going on the "I Wanna Be Yours" tour starting in September with Mike Garry, including a NYC show on September 8 at Le Poisson Rouge. Tickets are on LPR presale now (password: JCCATLPR) and go on sale Friday, March 24 at 10 AM.
It should be noted at September 8 is the same day that Arctic Monkeys' tour hits NYC's Forest Hills Stadium for two nights, which cannot be a coincidence.
There are also dates in Toronto, Chicago, Boston, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, the Bay Area, Los Angeles and Austin, along with UK shows. All dates are listed below.
JOHN COOPER CLARKE - 2023 I WANNA BE YOURS TOUR
Mar 24 Caerphilly, UK Caerphilly Workmen's Hall
Apr 22 Northampton, UK The Spinney Theatre
May 3 Lincoln, UK Theatre Royal
May 5 Kendal, UK Brewery Arts
May 6 Barrow-in-Furness, UK Forum Theatre
May 18 Hull, UK Hull City Hall
May 19 Nottingham, UK Nottingham Playhouse
May 25 Cheltenham, UK Cheltenham Town Hall
May 27 Telford, UK Telford Theatre
Jun 2 Bath, UK Bath Forum
Sep 5 Toronto, ON, Canada Lee's Palace
Sep 8 New York (NYC), NY, US Le Poisson Rouge
Sep 10 Boston - City Winery
Sep 12 CHicago - Space
Sep 15 Vancouver - Rickshaw Theatre
Sep 17 Seattle - Triple Door
Sep 19 Portland - Mission Theatre
Sep 21 Mill Valley, CA Sweetwater Music Hall
Sep 23 Los Angeles (LA), CA, US The Moroccan Lounge
Sep 25 Austin, TX, US 3TEN Austin City Limits Live