Leonard CohenSONY Centre 2008-06-06 & 06-072 Nights in TO

Hamilton was nice. First time seeing Leonard in over 14 years and he was in good form...but the first two Toronto shows were outstanding.
On the Friday (Night 1) we had the benefit of an off-day preceeding the show and you could tell Leonard was not wanting for energy or enthusiasm as every word was lovingly delivered when required or powerfully delivered when called for.
On the Saturday (Night 2) we had a much more lively, and intrusive, crowd. In some ways they added to the ambiance...in others, their intrusiveness impacted the flow of the concert, causing them to lose some preambles in front of the songs.
Every night was a different experience, all were top-notch entertainment.

After a lengthy East Coast opening to this tour, where Leonard graced a number of smaller stages, he's now moving the tour into 'big city' mode. The venue is slightly larger in Toronto and, as he moves on from here, he will be playing festivals and large halls in Europe. So the 'cozy confines' part is done, not that the SONY Centre is a cavern or anything.

Having had time to digest the shows since I wrote this report on the Hamilton show, my appreciation only grows with each listen.
Not a single trick was missed with this production. On Friday night my seats were situated in the first balcony so I was able to enjoy the lighting that accompanies the very orchestrated playing onstage. Even it was luscious, with a predominantly blue theme. Much like Leonard's songs. Of course the irony is that no one's misery can make you happy like Leonards.

Did I mention that they don't miss a trick? Not a one, and there are plenty around.

The show opens with the band ambling onstage to a light smattering of applause that grows slowly until Leonard is seen trotting into position, at which time the whole dame place goes crazy; making it twice. Immediately you notice something...the guy's got a smile that could outshine the sun in the sky. Where's the dour, brooding, introspective poet? Well, we'll get introspection, but time's too short and life's too sweet for the dour-brooding part.

Both nights in Toronto he starts a monologue to thank the fans for coming out. His vocal mic is turned waaaaaay down low and though the crowds have been well seated before the start of show, sometimes people don't focus immediately. This little trick brings everyone forward. If they were cats you'd be able to see their ears turn towards the stage as they strain to hear what the master is saying. Except he's saying nothing of consequence, just assorted thanks and mention "that some of you came from great distances," (vocal volume begins to increase), "and at great expense..." by now the crowd chuckles as the volume is at 'speaking level', all can hear clearly and the seat rustling is down to a minimum. He goes on to humbly say that his and his crack ensemble have some songs to "present"...and the music starts, leading us into Dance Me to the End of Love, from the 1984 Various Positions release. A great opening song, it's got a nice beat, you can dance to it, I give it an 82. The beauty is it's not a tune that requires rapt attention. It warms the band and the audience up, and if you don't enjoy the swing, then maybe music ain't your thing. Plus, it's the opening salvo, an invitation to excitation on a journey of discovery.

In a way it's a shame that so much of Leonard's creative musical career fell in and around the 80's...i mean all that synth stuff. This band overcomes that problem, making what was once a cold electronic beat, sound warmer, more inviting, less annoying. It was explained best by my friend Tim Swaddling: "Cohen presented his songs with a band, a real honest to goodness band, one that even came with some steel guitar and a Hammond B3 instead of a Yamaha synth-cheap imitation of an organ...If Leonard is smart, a live album will follow and they won't over polish all the subtle rough edges the band managed to chip into the clean glossy coating Cohen usually paints with. And if Leonard is even smarter, this band will follow him into the studio and he will record drums to sound like drums and guitars that sound like guitars and organs that sound like them. What I wouldn't give to hear a Cohen album produced by someone like Rick Rubin or Steve Albini or even Brendan O’Brien for that matter. And Cohen is a very smart man, so I look forward to the possibility and potential of a future release from him now. Which should make up for the anticipation I had for the release of "Ten New Songs", only to listen to it and find that someone had forgotten to tell Leonard the 80's were over once he had came down from his mountain of monk-dom..."

The Future is evidence that this millenium's Leonard is kinder, gentler and warmer. Not only is the music less 'digital', the lyrics have a slight modification; what once was "give me crack and anal sex", has now become "give me crack and careless sex". Hard to tell if this was changed so as not to offend the sensibilities of the patrons. Perhaps it's a by-product of the realization that the scourge of the '80's, aids, has proven to be more than a gay disease and that the reference to 'anal' sex may marginalize the scope of the problem. Not sure and it's notable only because there are very few lyric changes in any of these songs. Leonard does a lovely little move during the line "white man dancin'" that elicited a different response each night. In Hamilton the audience cheered loudly with the first move...a little less so the second time. On Friday in Toronto there was no response to the first little jig and Leonard skipped the move on the second pass of those lyrics. On the boisterous Saturday night the response to the first dance resulted in a more animated second pass.

Ain't No Cure For Love was prefaced with the "kid with a crazy dream" speech in Hamilton but we don't get it tonight as Leonard leads the band right into the song. The whole setlist is heavily weighted to I'm Your Man and The Future, which serves the show well as those records make up the bulk of what is familiar to the audience and the songs are strong. The backing vocals on this are wonderful and on the Friday night Leonard nails the timing when he implores, "tell 'em angels", as the trio weave their heavenly tapestry. The second night sees him jump in a little early, stumbling into their harmony and kind of spoiling the moment.

Bird on the Wire is Leonard's Blowin' in the Wind , so simple in structure yet so evocative. The audience listens, mesmerized, as each image is unveiled, as each line paints a portrait. It's a very visual song...i can see that woman leaning in her darkened door. The song also contains one of the steepest cliffs in the rock pantheon: "like a baby...still born" For only 5 words it's one roller-coaster ride of emotion. A perfect poem, efficient use of words, for sure.

Everybody Knows doesn't wear quite as well as the other foreboding tales, like The Future or Democracy. If we all knew back then why haven't we fixed anything?

Musical collaborator Sharon Robinson is spotlighted in the melodic In My Secret Life. Honey sweet everytime.

There's an extended solo for string-virtuoso Javier Mas that precedes Who By Fire as Leonard continues to rely heavily on the mid-career songs...to no one's chagrin. It's already been a pretty impressive representation of the best of his career as we near the one hour mark of the show...only 1/3 done.

The opening set closes with Anthem. On the Friday show Leonard moves his "just a kid with a crazy dream" speech to the front of this song. It fits well with the spoken word into that admonishes us to "ring the bells, that still can ring/ forget your perfect offering..." How much time's been wasted in the pursuit of perfection, eh? I always marvel at the economy of words. The song also contains a couplet that is the emotional opposite to the 'still born baby' image from earlier: there is a crack in everything...that's how the light gets in In Bird On A Wire a happy thought is thrashed; in this song a sad thought is elevated. Like I said, roller-coaster. As the song runs into it's musical outro Leonard advises they will return as we're given 20 minutes to catch our breath. As winded as I am...I wanna get back on!!

I don't leave my seat for break. I just wait.

Leonard's in front of a Fisher-Price type piano to open the second set with a joke. Knowing most of his audience is likely techno-phobic he warns them before he turns on the synthesizer and the rhythm-beat to Tower of Song starts playing. Another fan favorite that elicits chuckles at the Hank Williams line and loud roars at the "gift of a golden voice" line. He even interjects a joke after "they don't let a woman kill you in the tower of song"...elsewhere, not there." His feel for the mood each evening is amazing. His patter, jokes and even delivery of the songs seem to change for each dynamic created by the individuals and the surrounding.

With a solo amplified acoustic guitar Leonard stands center stage to deliver Suzanne, a song he reports in interviews, is difficult. It is BIG. Big with imagery, emotion, sentiment and ambiance. I'm making a mental note to go down and stare at that Lady of the Harbour the next time I'm in Montreal. Also got a strange craving for tea and oranges. Some songs are bigger than the artist, this is one.

Now every concert has a 'dead zone', that spot where the show lags just a tad. In a three hour set to have only a momentary lapse in the excitement is pretty amazing. Even Springsteen, the undisputed master of live concert performances, has a 5 song lull in his most recent tour. The next two songs mark that low intensity point in this show but they are put to great use. The Gypsy's Wife and Boogie Street showcase the back up singers and give Leonard a little break, for which we'll all be grateful soon. I saw Anjani perform The Gypsy's Wife twice when she stopped in Toronto last year. It was the highlight of the show...so you know it's not the song, it's where it's placed in the set.

So after that stellar opening set we are three songs into the second one and really haven't been challenged. Everyone's comfortably seated after the short intermission, all drinks are drunk. We've passed the 'dead zone' and now it's time to get the audience back.

Hallelujah starts quickly, with no extended musical intro, and quietly as the first few words are whispered. Leonard stands, knees bent, almost huddled over the microphone and begins his prayer. The vocal level rises from verse to verse in this song as Leonard's delivery increases in intensity. It builds slowly at first but within a minute everyone recognizes this is the center-piece of the show. His voice is strong, the song is stronger still. There's no way to adequately review this performance. The Friday night version is amongst the top 5 most powerful songs I've seen done live (ok, maybe top 10 and maybe I can't name 'em all but it's right up there with the best I've witnessed).

Leonard could have walked off the stage right here and no one would have been cheated but we're only at the half way mark.

Well, the half way mark of the concert...we're just about done with this review.

Democracy is a peculiar song for a Canadian audience. I'm sure most misread the intent...we just love the thought of democracy coming (to get) the USA...that's our nature. But as Leonard's introduction notes, he loves the country and this is his love song to America, "the cradle of the best and the worst." It's a hope, more than a threat. We are blessed to be alive in the time of the American Century...and cursed to live in interesting times. But no empire has been built on loftier ideals, so our best bet still seems to be an ascendant America.

The performance on the Friday night show (Night 1) was excellent but the version of I'm Your Man we received on Saturday night was worthy of it's own spotlight. The crowd had a lot to do with it, the more lively mood during the evening, while robbing us of some sublime moments, opened the door to a more raucous enjoyment of a downright bluesy-dirty song. Cat-calls rained down with every sexy line and Leonard's smile, pacing and delivery showed he was loving every minute.

He follows it with an even more overtly sexual recitation, A Thousand Kisses Deep. Another knockout punch that quiets the crowd.

The second set closes with a lively outing for Take This Waltz and two dance songs have bracketed the evening.

Like I said...not a trick was missed.

The encore on Night 1 opens with the jaunty, country-tinged, Heart With No Companion. Think of it as an upbeat Chimes of Freedom. Where Dylan's chimes rang for the downtrodden and dispossesed, Leonard sings for the lonely, unfulfilled and unrequited. Strange how such a song could be joyous. Guess you had to be there.

Waiting For the Miracle To Come was added to the setlist a week or two into the tour. It's a nice addition and a fan favorite. You can tell it means a lot to Leonard, his phrasing is subtle and attentive.

The first encore concludes with First We Take Manhattan and who can bitch about the biggest radio hit Leonard's ever had?

The band doesn't leave the stage between the first and second encores, just Leonard and only momentarily as he runs back out to the mic to deliver a song about his drinking problems, That Don't Make It Junk, some comedic relief, if you can imagine that.

The sublime Webb sisters are spotlighted in the newly added If It Be Your Will. Leonard recites the first two verses before he dissolves into the shadows to allow the two sisters to perform an angelic version of the song.

All bets are off as Closing Time gives allowance to the crowd to let loose.

A quick move offstage and Leonard's back for the final encore. Standing center stage with guitar in hand he starts I Tried To Leave You and every audience breaks out in laughter. A fitting song as it ends with Leonard standing there, hand outstretched, telling the audience he's simply a man "still working for your smile."

How cool is that? Like I said, not a missed trick...and plenty of smiles.

Job well done.

From a critical perspective I would have preferred more songs from earlier in the canon and a handful less band introductions during the show...but that's like saying honey could be sweeter...maybe it could, but there's not a lot of room for improvement.



1 song from debut album Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967)
Suzanne
1 song from Songs From A Room (1969)
Bird on A Wire
0 songs from Songs of Love and Hate (1971)...c'mon Joan of Arc!
also hoping for Passing Through from Live Songs (1973)
2 songs from New Skin for the Old Ceremony (1974)
Who By Fire?, I Tried to Leave You
0 songs from Death of A Ladies Man (1977)ah, c'mon, where the hardon song?
1 song from Recent Songs (1979)
The Gypsy's Wife
4 (out of 9) songs from Various Positions (1984)
Hallelujah, If It Be Your Will, Dance Me To the End of Love and Heart With No Companion
6 (out of 8) songs from I'm Your Man (1988)
First We Take Manhattan, Ain't No Cure For Love, Everybody Knows, I'm Your Man, Take This Waltz, Tower of Song
5 (out of 9) songs from The Future (1992)
The Future, Waiting For The Miracle, Closing Time, Anthem, Democracy
4 (out of 10) songs from 10 New Songs (2001)
In My Secret Life, A Thousand Kisses Deep, That Don't Make It Junk, Boogie Street
0 songs from Dear Heather

Two Nights In Toronto Set List

t01 Dance Me To The End Of Love
t02 The Future
t03 Ain't No Cure For Love
t04 Bird on the Wire
t05 Everybody Knows
t06 In My Secret Life
t07 Who By Fire
t08 Anthem (w/ Band Intro)

(break)

(Set 2)
t09 Tower of Song
t10 Suzanne
t11 Gypsy Wife
t12 Boogie St

Disc 2

t13 Hallelujah
t14 Democracy
t15 I'm Your Man
t16 A Thousand Kisses Deep
t17 Take This Waltz

(encore#1)
t18 Heart With No Companion (not played on Night 2)
t19 Waiting For The Miracle To Come
t20 First We Take Manhattan
(encore#2)
t21 That Don't Make It Junk
t22 If It Be Your Will
t23 Closing Time
(encore#3)
t24 I Tried To Leave You
Whither Thou Goest (not played on Night 1)

Anjani Thomas in a Leonard Cohen Presents 2 Night Stand at The Drake April 25-26,2007

Anjani Thomas was in Toronto this past week for two shows at the cozy Drake Hotel. She's touring the recently released Leonard Cohen collaboration, Blue Alert.

This showcase launched in Europe back in March with some radio promos and live showcases. I was more than pleased to see Leonard sit in on a couple songs with her at a Warsaw record release promo and thought that was reason enough to get tickets for both nights in Toronto. He introduced her at a couple club shows. It's since been reported that Leonard, who usually sits in a 'Zen-like trance'when she sings, will not be in Toronto. I'm taking them on their word there but will keep a keen eye on the crowd.

The North American leg of this tour consists of only 8 shows so far, I'm betting it will be as sweet as it is short.

Anjani also has the distinction of launching a month of Toronto shows that will feature some classy and talented torch singers, from Maria Muldaur to Amy Winehouse and closing with Joan Armatrading. If fortune smiles they will be joined by a June date featuring Marianne Faithfull. All these women have talent and an edge. I think I'm going to enjoy this.

On the surface, Anjani is the least adventurous of those acts but she has one unique advantage...Cohen's words. Blue Alert is a collaborative effort, something more than Leonard-by-proxy but something less than Leonard. And to say that besmirches no one, you gotta climb a lot of steps in the Tower of Song to reach him, even if he's still looking up at Hank. She plays these songs pretty straight. A little jazzy-scat riff once in awhile, a bit of a diva reach for the high notes on occassion, but nothing that overwhelms the words. She really respects the emotion of the lyrics and you can tell by watching her that she pours all her energy into conveying them

Anjani has been an integral part of Cohen's act since she first signed on to do the backing vocals on Hallelujah in 1984. She's been an even more integral part of his life for most of the past decade as she and Cohen are...well, at the very least, friends-with-benefits. It's said that when Anjani sings Leonard sits front-and-center, enthralled. Well Leonard may have been born at night but it wasn't last night. I mean, how long can anybody sing in a given day? If I was 73 I'd sit enthralled in front of this 48 year old songstress and think it was a small price to pay for her company. Even if she couldn't sing. But she can.

The Drake Hotel is an upscale establishment on the western outskirts of Toronto's alt-club mecca, the Queen St West Strip. On his end of the neighbourhood there's a whole slew of less dangerous lounge-type bars for the more chronologically-challenged. Prime among those, the Gladstone, a Rolling Stones themed bar and the Cadillac Lounge. In the same league, The Drake. If it weren't for gentrification we boomers would have nowhere to drink.

The Underground Room holds about 200 people. Bench seats and fold out chairs provide a comfortable environment for an hour of soothing jazz stylings. Too bad we had to sit for an hour and a half before the start of the show. It'll be better tomorrow, I'll drink more, sit less. Wine glasses out numbered beer and liqour glasses combined. Broken wine glasses tied broken beer bottles, 1-1. Maybe I won't drink more, there's people here who have that under control.

So we await the arrival of the engenue, Anjani. Oh right, forgot to mention. The emphasis in on the last syllable. Read that sentence again and see how it sounds now.
That kind of pretentiousness is just perfect for this chandeliered basement room. There was a day it would have been a smoky, hazy, hole-in-the-wall but we're past that now. The disco ball looks a little out of place.

Any sense that we're putting on airs is immediately quelled when the very personable performer lights on stage with a 'girl-next-door-aw-shucks' appreciation for all the attention. Most photo's we see of her online are glamour shots. The moving version of Anjani is much more accessible, more magnetic, doesn't look like she'll break if you touch her.

She's backed by a four-man band and a female backup singer. Every one of them has their damper on. The music is soft, the vocals are soft, almost whispered, most every song. And no one is in a hurry to get to the end of the tune, each one drifts. Her voice is the vehicle that transports you along this emotive river of life. Or at least, that's how it's supposed to come off. As Blue Alert is a 'mood' record, this atmosphere works very well. It would have been nice to see more of the pace displayed in the lone non-album cover this evening, The Gypsy's Wife, but it's not my show to arrange, just to watch.

The show opens with a vow, No One After You. A story about how love can be revealed to even the most experienced practioner well after you think you've mastered all the gadgets.

That vow is juxtaposed with a peek through the Innermost Door to view final moment of another relationship. One where memory is the last tangible asset, where the starting comes after the parting.

Anjani, who has been standing center stage with a hand mic for the opening numbers, moves to the piano to deliver a Blue Alert, a sensory assault on the mind. A vivid word-picture of the power of passion and how wanting something can be an emotional minefield. There's perfume burning, shrapnel flying, soldiers hitting the dirt, bits of beauty everywhere, a woman telling you no and somebody bleeding from the lip.

And that's only the first verse.
It's woman as supreme being. Be careful what you wish for, you may not be able to handle it.

The Golden Gate is a travelogue of sorts, a descriptive narrative of the streets of San Francisco. A little lighter fare to ease the angst.

On the Leonard front she said he'd been with her in Europe and in New York on Tuesday but had grown tired and decided to go home to Montreal rather than come to Toronto. A shame, it would have been cool just to have him do the introduction

Half the Perfect World sounds like it could be a biographical account of the beginning of Leonard and Anjani's relationship. The woman in question was in her 30's when they met, already self-sufficient, already experienced. It's like a gender-mirror of Suzanne as the author finds himself serving her tea. It's really about two perfect worlds, equal halfs, finding themselves at the right time. Neither has a need that would weigh down the coupling, having found themselves at a time when they are weightless and transparent. At a time when 'no counting had begun'. There's a lot packed into a very few words and there's no mistaking the joy Anjani gets from singing this song with images of sex under mosquito netting where the giving and getting is shameless and reciprocal.

That is one raunchy song and even the 'blouse all undone' in Crazy To Love You, doesn't come close to the same heat level.

Band introduction to let the audience cool down. It's getting steamy in here. Actually we're past steamy to sweaty hot. The chlorine dripping from the ceiling pipes kind of gives the room an overall locker-room scent. Tomorrow I'm sitting on the left side.

The Gypsy's Wife is about as close to 'rocking' as we're going to get tonight as we take a brief break from the performance of the complete Blue Alert album.

Never Got To Love You is a song about the regret left behind when opportunity knocks and you're busy elsewhere. It's about pining for the time you could have put to better use. The moments you could have told her the things that would make sure she'd never leave. What I can't tell is if that time covered an entire relationship or a single night at a sky resort in Quebec. Having done a name-check during this song for the town of St Jovite, she tells us that Leonard warned her never to go there, she wouldn't like it. Of course she'd already asked the audience if any one had been there and a half dozen excited fans pumped their hands. She counted only two of them. When asked why Leonard would say that she found herself back-tracking and mumbled something about him not being 'that kind of bar guy', or something to that effect.

The lilting Thanks for the Dance, somewhat reminiscent of Take This Waltz, swings back and forth in a call-and-response kind of way, presenting words and lines as a counter-weight to each other. It's a throwaway song about throwaway emotions. The nonchalance of the brush-off is the antithesis of the sentiment found in the song that preceeded it tonight.

For her first encore Anjani covers a second Cohen original, As the Mist Leaves No Scar then closes the show with a 'fare the well' solo piano version of Nightingale.
Before As The Mist Leaves No Scar she talked about Leonard having written that when he was 17. She compared it to the stuff she was writing at that age and was humbled.

All in all a very enjoyable and successful Canadian debut.


Visit Anjani's MySpace Page

Artists Spotlight #1 John Cooper Clarke

back in the early '80's the post-punk, new wave scene was at it's zenith. with the demise of punk, brought about by the death of the Sex Pistols,
the late-breaking news that being 'against' everything and 'for' nothing eventually leads to a philosophical dead-end and the actual improvement
in the quality of material produced by the seminal punk bands, the industry was looking for a new, next-big-thing. a new wave, so to speak. and for
a few years there, it was just like heaven. a time where anything went and we went to anything.

the scene contained a plethora of disparate elements. punk fractured into about 10 different formats; reggae and ska gave us the Clash and the
Specials; the minimalists came out sounding like the Ramones (if they played fast) or the artistes like Talking Heads and Magazine (if they didn't);
the hardcore scene went underground and out of that grew the Industrial/techno bands Skinny Puppy, Cabaret Voltaire and the likes of Bauhaus and Joy Division and Ministry,leading up to NIN today.
there was electronic dance music or synth pop in the form of SOft Cell and Human League...pop dance music from Cyndi Lauper to Boy George.


a little bit of something for everyone. there was a long list of "15 minutes (or less) of fame" bands like Mi-Sex, The Fast,Split Enz, Icehouse and
John Otway. and that barely includes the freak acts...of which i saw a few. prime among them would be Wayne County and, or Jayne County and the Electric
Chairs, depending on what side of the knife you saw the show (i got both). also the sexually confusing Rough Trade...i mean, i like the S&M/leather look
but those songs about rubbing other girls...quite the dissonance. we still had boys who wanted to be rocknroll stars so The Romantics and Simple Minds
could make records. man, there was so much going on, you couldn't turn around without ending up in a club watching live acts. and the clubs too, from
Larry's Hideaway, the Horseshoe, the Edge...and tucked away on St. Joseph's St, the Voodoo Lounge, where we saw John Cooper Clarke - a singularly unique
individual...even in this crowd.


The Bard of Salford was born only minutes from where Jim Johnson now works. (that would be Manchester's west end) he started out as a stand-up comic but
got pulled into a punk band that went nowhere and did nothing. he turned to spoken-word performances of poetry...and then they forced a band on him when
they thought money could be made.(for you Americans, think Jim Carroll but on speed, not heroin) we saw him after a 'composite' album of his early material
was released in NA. he had an alternative-radio hit with the beastly, breezy, Beasley Street single. and that's about it for this side of the ocean.
assorted lifestyle problems turned JCC into the Sly Stone of the UK. which is to say, not too dependable. would have made a great beat-poet if he hadn't been born to late.

quite the talent wrapped up in this tasmanian-devil like artist. his machine-gun delivery, combined with a regional accent, makes him a challenge on first
listen. he's got a biting wit, acerbic and sardonic, reminiscent of Oscar Wilde. he peppers his act with jokes, some silly, others sharp and cutting.
we didn't have much to go on when the tickets went on sale but eventually found ourselves in the dark, dank, cozy confines of the Voodoo. onstage, a
Bob Dylan look-a-like, circa 1966. or just some lanky brit with curly hair in stovepipe pants with a pair of wayfarers sitting on his face.














first surprise for the assembled few was the lack of a band. and not a lot of setting up the pieces either, you were pretty much on your own to try to
decipher what you could. fortunately, even at this early age, i'd taken to studying acts I was going to see. didn't have the benefit of the internet but
I did purchase all the JCC they had (3) in our local independent record store. my guests were a little more bewildered by the whole spectacle. a good
part of the audience was also put off by the lack of musical backing and by nights end there were chants of "bring on the band" and "where's the music."
JCC, who is a master of the witty reparte, scowls back: "If you want the fuckin' music, buy the fuckin' album."

he's still alive, having survived the worst of what his psyche did to his body, and performs sporadically. on our trip to the UK last fall we missed the
opportunity to see him in Nottingham by one-travel day...a shame as he doesn't seem to cross water much. a recent performance from 2005 sees him returning
to his first love, comedy. his act seems to consist of 30 minutes of stand up jokes and 15 minutes of poetry...still no music. it's rumoured the crowd in
Edinburgh was shouting "bring on the poems" and "do some readings", to which JCC, who is the master of witty reparte, replied: "if you want the fuckin'
poetry, buy the fuckin' book."

ok, i made that last part up.

here's a link to JCC performing "Health Fanatic" on YouTube















and a file available at rapidshare containing some samples of his work from the 1981 Glastonbury festival.

JCC Samples

(I Married) A Monster From Outer Space
TWAT
Kung Fu International
Beasley St.

here's a link to his website page containing a sampling of jokes

here's a link to the lyrics page so you can suss out what he's saying

take some time to browse through the other poems, it's not an onerous task.