Clem Burke joined Blondie in 1975. He started writing his memoir 20 years ago and just managed to finish it before he died in 2025, encouraged and assisted by his old friend Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go’s, “a chance to reflect on all he’d achieved”. We’re thrilled she’s joined us here to talk about his dramatic life and ‘The Other Side of the Dream’, a conversation stopping off at …
… falling for her “teenage crush” when she saw Blondie on TV, the man who wore red shoes at his audition
… Clem Burke, eternal fan who idolised the Beatles, Bowie and the Stooges, and the brief moment he became Elvis Ramone
... do bands talk to each other?
… Blondie was not a democracy … “in fact bands are an example of how democracy doesn’t work”
… Clem’s powerhouse drumming and showmanship: “you couldn’t take your eyes off him”
… “the night we met we each had a limo and he introduced me to Andy Warhol”
… how it felt to hear Blondie record one of her songs
… how their lives connected: “we both achieved a dream and had it taken away from us”
… why drummers tend to see groups differently
… and life in the Go-Go’s - “married to four girls!”
Order copies of Clem Burke’s ‘The Other Side of the Dream: My Life in And Out of Blondie’ here: https://lnk.to/theothersideofthedream
Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear
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