Remembering Clem Burke: The Blondie Drummer on CBGB, Punk, Disco, Cuban percussion, the Ramones...

An interview.

I’ve been away from the media a bit, so I just read the very sad news of Clem Burke’s death on the NY TImes this afternoon.

I just found an interview with Clem that I did with him over Zoom in 2021- That was when the documentary about Blondie’s trip to Cuba came out. We talked a bit about that for a story I wrote for Billboard, but in the rest of the interview, about old times in New York, I was fishing for quotes for Punk in Translation, an Audible podcast about Latinos in punk that I was working on at the time. Clem gave me some great ones.

I was fondly remembering that interview today, and how Clem was so willing to go down memory lane (yet again) for my benefit, and patiently answer my questions.

Here is an excerpt from that interview. I hope that you enjoy it too.

Thanks to Nacional Records’ Tomas Cookman for connecting me with Clem, who had been his friend since Clem produced Tomas’ band The Colors in those early days. My condolences to Tomas, and all of Clem’s friends, and fans. Rock on in the next world Clem!