Roger McGough OBE is a well-known
British performance poet.
He was born in north Liverpool, a city with which
he is firmly associated in most people's minds. He
was educated at the University of Hull at a time when
the chief librarian was Philip Larkin. Returning to
Merseyside in the early 1960s he met Mike McGear and
John Gorman – both multi-talented entertainers.
Together they formed The Scaffold, a comedy group,
hitting number one in the British charts in 1968 with
Lily the Pink. McGough co-wrote many of their songs.
He continues to perform widely.
McGough was also responsible for much of the humorous
dialogue in The Beatles' animated movie Yellow Submarine,
although he did not receive an on-screen credit for
it.
Along with Adrian Henri and Brian Patten, with whom
he published two best-selling volumes of verse, McGough
won fame of a slightly more serious nature as one of
the "Mersey Poets" of the 1960s and 70s.
He now presents the BBC Radio 4 programme Poetry
Please and records voice-overs for commercials. |