My favorite Blondie: Remembering Clem Burke

Erik’s LA Stories, Chapter 1

Clem Burke (1954-2025). Dave J Hogan/Getty Images.

Clem Burke was Blondie’s engine. He is described as Blondie’s heartbeat by many. An extraordinarily talented drummer and musician who also had the business gene. He mainly worked with Blondie throughout his whole career, but in-between he found time to contribute his musicianship to several other big artists and on many successful projects. The raw energy in his playing was incredible.

It was only after having known Clem a few years that we in one of our business meetings started talking about things other than Blondie. Clem would come to me for anything music royalty and publishing related, because that was one of my main jobs; to look after our clients’ royalties and publishing rights.

Clem was not the band leader. He knew that. And he knew that he had to look after himself and make his case known if he wanted to achieve something within the band dynamics. However, he was one of the few Blondie band members who lived in Los Angeles and therefore had easy access to our office. Something he would take advantage in a good way several times a year. He clearly did enjoy the business side of the band’s operations.

I always liked Clem. Sure, he came in to talk business, but he was never unreasonable. He was persistent. If he thought things were uneven and had to be corrected, he would let us know. He would make his case and ask me to look into a range of matters over the years. He was always appreciative, something you don’t forget when you are in the client services business. Not every client, is. He would accept our findings after a bit of pushback if it turned out he was in the wrong.

Probably within the first year or two of our firm taking on Blondie as a client, Clem came to the office with a one-page agreement signed by the band members, confirming certain favorable royalty terms for Clem. The agreement was at least 10 years old. He said he was pretty sure it had never been implemented and asked me to investigate.

“Why now?” I asked. “Why wait so long?” Apparently, the band’s former business team had received it and ignored it, and since our firm had taken the approach that every band member’s concerns were important to us, he thought we might consider it.

The document was simple and very clear. There wasn’t much more for us to do other than implement it. Clem very much appreciated this. I was happy to help increase his royalty income by doing something that should have been done years earlier.

Blondie was of course a band I knew from growing up in Norway. I first heard a Blondie song, “Atomic,” on a 1980 compilation vinyl called ‘Roller Action’ released by the Canadian record label K-tel’s Scandinavian subsidiaries as the first track on ‘Side B.’ I still have that record with me here in Los Angeles:

My copy of the ‘Roller Action’ compilation album from 1980.

As a teenager, this compilation album always made me think “Atomic” was Blondie’s biggest hit, which it wasn’t, of course. Bigger hits like “Heart of Glass” and “The Tide Is High” also did well in Norway.

In Sweden, however, Blondie had much more success and rose to number one of the Swedish charts with “Heart of Glass” in 1979. The blend of pop, new wave and punk resonated well in the strong pop culture just east of the border.

One of my favorite artists growing up, was Eurythmics. Annie Lennox’ incredible look, sense of style and undeniable voice, was magnetic. The songs she wrote with Dave Stewart, are some of the best pop and rock songs ever, in my opinion.

It wasn’t until I got to know Clem that I started to realize what an impact he had had as a drummer in his heyday, far beyond Blondie.

Clem played drums on several tracks on Eurythmics’ very first album ‘In The Garden’ (1981). He also played drums on the entire ‘Revenge’ album (1986), including the hits and beauties “Missionary Man,” “Thorn In My Side,” “When Tomorrow Comes,” “The Miracle of Love,” and “I Remember You.” What a great album ‘Revenge’ is, and Clem left his footprint without a doubt. Clem also toured with Eurythmics on the ‘Revenge’ tour.

My copy of the ‘Revenge’ album by Eurythmics. Clem Burke plays the drums on every song on the album.

Clem, as Elvis Ramone, played live with The Ramones for two live shows in 1987. He played with several other bands and artists, live and on records, most notably Nancy Sinatra, Iggy Pop, Pete Townshend of The Who fame, and The Romantics, to name a few. Clem joined a supergroup, Chequered Past, led by actor and singer Michael Des Barres with band members from Sex Pistols, Blondie and Tin Machine.

In 2008, Clem started the Clem Burke Drumming Project, exploring the physical, mental and health benefits of drumming.

There is no doubt about the influence of Clem’s energetic and imaginative drumming. His grooves, intros, fills and overall steady hand took punk, new wave, pop and rock songs to great heights.

For me, he was just a cool dude. Down to earth and a good guy in my experience.

When I left the firm, he brought me a special gift. Clem had taken the time to have all the Blondie band members sign ‘The Best of Blondie’ for me. I had it framed, of course. He didn’t have to do this, but I will always cherish this as a memory of someone I enjoyed working with who showed appreciation in return.

A unique gift from the band members of Blondie that I had to frame.