Spoken Word: Jello Biafria, Lydia Lunch, Henry Rollins

ONCE UPON a time, people took to the stage without the blast of music behind them, and people would take them seriously. Poetry and the spoken word were as much a mouthpiece for '60s liberation and the arts movement as more streetwise rock'n'roll, but you won't find the spoken word on Radio One. Aside from punk poet John Cooper Clarke, a virtual recluse nowadays, you'll only find these pioneers listed under "Difficult Art For Tiny Audiences".