Burke was pretty obviously the best drummer to have emerged from the whole late 70s/early 80s punk/new wave hoohah -- a guy who channelled, convincingly, the likes of Ringo, Keith Moon and Dino Danelli -- and as you can see from the clip above, he was pretty much Blondie's secret weapon, as crucial to their sound as Debbie Harry's New Yawk Girl Group vocalese.
I saw him live a bunch of times -- mostly with Blondie and at least once with Dramarama -- and he never failed to impress. Met him once, briefly, at somebody's gig, and he couldn't have been more charming.
And now a desperate plea for help: If memory serves, I saw Burke once, in the early 90s, drumming in the band of some solo late-punk guy who had a very good sort of guitar oriented album out on (possibly) SubPop at the time. I remember enjoying the show thoroughly (I think it was at Trax), but for the life of me, I can't remember who the guy was, and a search of the Burke discography over at Wiki has been unavailing.
Anybody have an idea who I'm talking about? I'll be your best friend...
Also, have I mentioned that this death shit is really pissing me off? Thank you.
16 comments:
Are you thinking of Chequered Past with Steve Jones? That was 1984, which makes more sense than then 90's if you saw them at Trax.
Than "the" 90's.
I guess it wasn't Trax, then. But it was definitely the 90s.
Sad to loose yet another great musician.
Could it be the L.A.M.F. tribute band? https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/punk-legends-glen-matlock-walter-lure-preview-40th-anniversary-lamf-8031489/
- Paul in DK
Was it Peter Case and The Plimsouls?
As far as I can remember, it was a solo artiste who was fairly obscure at the time.
His 90's credits: Adult Net, Dramarama and Mark Owen.
Maybe I imagined it. Or maybe it was Dramarama. Hey -- I'm senile, so who knows. 😎
His snare snap was unmistakable. Sigh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AmkmqYEarw&list=RD_AmkmqYEarw&start_radio=1
Upon careful reflection, it WAS Dramarama. I regret the error.😎
Obviously, you all fell into Steve’s “comments thirst trap” today.
Jai Guru Dave
You found me out.😎
The New Wave/Punk era gave us some all time great drummers and Clem was one of the greatest.
Captain Al
You are right, sir. Also lost recently was the Jam's Rick Buckler. I saw them in '78 and was impressed with his power and speed. Topper Headon was another. But Clem had the most distinctive sound.
"Mr. Moon was his north star. Mr. Burke was just going onstage in 1978 when he learned that Mr. Moon had died, at 32; when the set was done, he kicked his drums into the crowd, shouting, 'That’s for Keith Moon — the greatest drummer in the world!'" -NYT 4/7/25
Someone should do the same for Clem...
only met him once and i can confirm he couldn't have been nicer. had a nice chat at the bar and he actually went out of his way to introduce me to cyril jordan. forever indebted to you for that clem.
e***
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