Jesus, another gone, Clem Burke, one of the greatest drummers of the punk/new wave scene. I never got to meet him (he was it seems an all round good chap!). I did however get to see him playing with Blondie, both here in the UK and thrillingly in Manhatten (surely the best place to see Blondie). I did also get to see him play with others too. The last time I saw him was when he guested, along with Glen Matlock, with The Small Fakers at the 100 Club for a storming version of 'All Or Nothing'.
It's easy to forget what a big deal Blondie were. Looking beyond the adolescent appeal that Debbie undoutedly had, the music was something else, that melding together of new wave and disco in a way that worked perfectly. Their music has stood the test of time and it was the immaculate drumming of Clem Burke that held it all together. My first memory of Blondie was hearing them at the under 14 youth discos that occured on Saturday mornings at the Martlets Hall in Burgess Hill down in Sussex, this would have been in 1979/1980 and I was just 10. Up to that point I had only really been exposed to Radio 2 on a school morning or the music of my parents (Roy Orbison, The Carpenters, Jim Reeves and the like) so to hear something like 'Atomic' at volume was quite an experience. Later we would be able to get into the under 18 disco (as my mates Dad was the DJ!) and hear that stuff all over again.
Here is a short compilation DVD that I did recently of promotional stuff that the band did at the time of the release of 'No Exit', an album that against all odds saw Blondie back in the charts 20 years after their heyday.
DVD image: https://we.tl/t-NDknvFqXMi
Artwork: https://we.tl/t-BIlPHUW6ON
Thx! - Adam
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