CLARKE,JOHN COOPER / CORNWELL,HUGH - This Time It's Personal

Vinyl LP pressing. 2016 collaboration between the punk poet and the former Stranglers frontman. Featuring classic tracks that Hugh and esteemed poet Dr. John Cooper Clarke grew up listening to, the album is the surprising duo's first collaboration. The fact that these two giants of punk and new wave are together on record for the first time is remarkable enough. But the album, which features ten hand-picked songs reflecting the pair's shared love of classic American and British pop they grew up with, has a knockout punchline. With not a spoken word in sight by Dr Clarke, nor a distinctive growling Cornwell vocal, This Time It's Personal announces John's debut, at the age of 67, as a lead vocalist, with Hugh playing all guitars and producing the album. The results are delightful."No one knew he could sing!" laughs Cornwell. "When you tell people they go 'You're kidding me.'" So it is that Hugh and John are celebrating their musical education in 2016, and this time, just as they say, it really is personal. "It's going to be a complete voyage of discovery," they agree. "These are great tunes," says John, "and we've done our very best to respect them, and to bring them... " Hugh jumps in to complete the thought: "... back to life." With tracks by the likes of Lieber & Stoller, Jimmy Webb, Ricky Nelson, Richie Valens and Conway Twitty, This Time It's Personal sees the duo paying their respects to the music that had played such a part in their musical coming of age.