Sadly, another musician that I admired greatly has passed away. Clem Burke, best known as the drummer for Blondie, passed away last Sunday at the age of 70.
While Blondie was best known for the gorgeous lead singer Debbie Harry, the band had some amazing musicians as well. Especially amazing was Burke, who was definitely a drummer’s drummer. He knew exactly what kind of rhythm was required for each song. When I first heard “Dreaming” from Eat to the Beat, I was knocked out! The drumming was out of this world. Keith Moon would have been proud. If one heard it for the first time, one would think that it could not be done by one person. Then the band appeared on Saturday Night Live, and Burke showed that he had the chops and energy to play the song live.
(Apologies for the poor sound quality, I really just wanted to showcase Burke’s drumming)
Then listening to the other cuts, one can hear beats from disco, roots-rock, even jazz-influenced. Burke could do it all. He was influenced by so many drummers, and he soaked all of them in. One would think that, listening to those early Blondie albums, there were different studio drummers on the recordings.
Burke was an original member of the band, and remained with it form its beginning in 1975 until his death. When the band took a long hiatus, he continued working with a number of other artists who held him in high regard. He drummed for a few years with the Romantics, and would later work with Wally Palmer in the garage-rock band The Empty Hearts. Other artists he either recorded with or played live with included The Ramones (his moniker was Elvis Ramone), The Go-Gos, The Fleshtones, Dramarama, The Eurythmics, Pete Townsend, The Plimsouls, and Iggy Pop.
The one time that I got to meet Burke was at The Ritz in suburban Detroit. I am not sure what band was performing, this was in the early 1990s, and he was there with Wally Palmer. I knew Palmer from his hanging out at the Hamtramck bar Paycheck’s occasionally (A story for another time). Anyway, Burke was a great person, who truly loved music. Whatever time period he would have been born in, he would have been a musician of some sort.
His drumming may be copied in the future, but he will never be replaced.
Chew on it and comment.
Luegra 