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Blondie Drummer Clem Burke Dies at 70

Blondie drummer Clem Burke has died at 70; the band's founding time-keeper also played with a wide variety of other bands during a half-century career.

He was behind the kit during a pivotal, world-changing time in mid-1970s New York when Blondie, along with The Ramones, Patti Smith, Talking Heads and Television, were regularly playing in such legendary bars as CBGB and Max’s Kansas City, setting the stage for the punk revolution in America, and across the world. After Blondie’s split in 1982, Burke stayed very busy performing and recording with a wide variety of bands, including the Romantics, Pete Townshend, Iggy Pop, Plimsouls, Bob Dylan, the Eurythmics, Joan Jett, Wanda Jackson, Dramarama, Nancy Sinatra and Johnny Thunders. In keeping with his indefatigable work ethic and affection for fellow punk-era players, Burke formed another all-star group in 2011, the International Swingers, which featured another Sex Pistols refugee, bassist Glen Matlock, as well as Generation X guitarist James Stevenson and Supernaut singer Gary Twinn.

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