Blondie are set to return to the UK with a new tour supporting their already legendary 11th studio album, Pollinator, which soared to number four in the UK album charts in May, making it the band’s first top 5 entry in over 18 years.
Blondie’s 11th album, Pollinator, was released earlier this year. Can you tell us a bit about it?
We’re all really happy with it, and I think it’s the record that Blondie fans have been waiting for. I mean, I think the chemistry of the band really comes across. The three other guys in the band, Tommy, Lee and Matt, have been with us for quite a while, along with me, Chris and Debbie. The idea was to go in and record all the basic tracks together and really have the sound of the band come across. The last couple of albums that we did, the songs were there but they were done in a different method. They were more computer-generated, and then we found when we went to do the songs in our show, we would have to rearrange them and make them band performances. We kind of felt that people were a lot more receptive to the songs when they actually heard the band playing them. We kind of have a history of doing cover songs, starting with things like Denis and Hanging On The Telephone, which was by a band called The Nerves. Tide Is High is by The Paragons and was written by John Holt. I think we have a knack of taking other people’s songs and making them sound like Blondie songs, so that’s what we decided to do with Pollinator. We’re really, really happy with the way it’s turned out, and I think it’s definitely one of our best albums. Blondie fans are all really happy with it too - we’re just trying to get other people to hear it. It was received really well and went in the charts at number four here in the UK. We’re having a good time playing a handful of songs from Pollinator, along with the expected songs, in the current Blondie show, so it’s been good. The album has given us the impetus to want to continue, so we’re going to be making another record. Everything’s great within the band, and we’re really looking forward to the UK tour.
What’s the meaning behind the album’s title - Pollinator?
Deb came up with the name, but it has to do with the fact that we’re kind of infusing other people’s music with our music - and then along came the bee crisis. A weird twist of fate - we were supposed to be doing a gig in London the day after the tragedy in Manchester, and of course everything stopped the next day. We weren’t really aware of the worker bee symbol of Manchester, so that kind of came to light too. And then I was looking at GQ and there was a guy in a Gucci suit with bees on it. Bees all of a sudden seem to be kind of trendy - unbeknown to us, as we were really in our own little bubble when we came up with that idea.
You started playing drums for Blondie in 1975. How did that come about?
We were all hanging out in New York City in a club called Club 82. It was kind of like a dance club that had glam rock bands on one night a week, whether it be New York Dolls or Teenage Lust or other bands. I had a band called Sweet Revenge and Deb and Chris had a band called The Stilettos, and we were all on that scene. It was kind of like the last hold-out of glam rock. Everything kind of moved South West a block or so. People like Bowie informed British punk rock, so the Bowie, Lou Reed thing was going on and that kind of transitioned into a more bohemian, William Borrows, Andy Warhol, Patty Smith vibe. It was all kind of coming together at that point during the mid-’70s.
Why do you think the band remain so popular?
The music is the legacy of the band and obviously Debbie’s image opened the door for the band, and she’s still a lovely, very beautiful woman. Her looks overshadowed her musical ability, her lyrics and everything. Musically, to me, she’s more like Bowie or Jim Morrison, not really like the obvious other blonde singers. Culturally in the mid-’70s there was a lot of really significant stuff going on in New York that was only really influencing the people who were there. We were the sound of New York in a way. We were being influenced by our peers, by certain artists, different areas of the city, the whole hip-hop thing. The internet is a big help now. I think we’re the first generation where our whole band life is on the internet as far as performances and photos go. For younger people, that kind of lets them connect the dots on what Blondie was all about and what was going on. You look at a photo of Debbie from 1976 and it looks very modern, but you look at a photo of somebody from Bon Jovi in the ’80s and it doesn’t look very modern. The Velvet Underground and Andy Warhol had a lot to do with influencing Blondie. They were an underground phenomenon at the time. I think Blondie’s music stands up. I think The Pollinator record is a great record, and I’m not just saying that because it’s the most recent one - it’s definitely one of our better albums.
During Blondie’s hiatus, you played drums for numerous musicians, including Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop and The Ramones. Can you tell us a little bit about that, and who did you enjoy working with the most?
The Eurythmics. I met Annie Lennox at a club in Piccadilly called Planets around 1980, when I was living in London. Lemmy was there, Michael Jackson was there. He was sitting on a chair next to me when Annie came over and started talking to me about the new band that she was starting up with Dave. So I went round to their place and had Sunday lunch, then recorded their first album with them in Germany. I had a great time with them - we became friends. With Iggy, that was a really amazing time. He was promoting this album party, I went on tour with him for six weeks and we opened for the Rolling Stones. Everything that’s come about has been as a result of Blondie, whether that be Debbie’s acting career or Chris’ photography, me working with all these other people. It’s good when people go away and do that stuff because they then bring it back into the band. Working with Dylan was unbelievable - just being in his genius presence. At the end of the day, the love of music is what really comes through. Whether it’s Bob Dylan or a kid in a garage banging on a guitar, they’re all doing it for the same reason. It starts there and goes on from there. If I was a kid today, I’m not sure if I would choose the music business as a career, but then who knows?
How does life on the road now compare to back in the ’90s, for example?
Well, it’s easier now. Something like making a phone call back in the day was a big deal, trying to reach somebody in another country. Once again, technology has brought everyone together. The production’s a lot easier. You live and learn. I was always into taking care of myself. I did this thing, the Clem Burke Drumming Project, which I got a doctorate for a few years ago from Gloucestershire University, and it’s just about having a positive spin on what it means to be a musician. It studies all the mental and physical aspects of being on the road. That’s a big part of the study - the endurance etc. It got a bit controversial because my stats were lining up with premier footballers half my age. I think we just try to take care of ourselves more now. I don’t think I went to the gym or any of that back in the day because I was too hungover or whatever. That’s the great thing about playing an instrument - as time goes on, it just gets better and better.
What’s your first musical memory?
I started playing drums when I was quite young. For my generation, The Beatles on Ed Sullivan in the States was a turning point. I was too young for Elvis in terms of musical memories. Top 40 radio in the States, you’d have Frank Sinatra next to the Rolling Stones.
Blondie are bringing their UK tour to Birmingham this winter. What can audiences expect from your show?
We’ve been on the road in the States for the last seven weeks, touring with the band Garbage. Before that, we went to Australia, so the band is very road-worthy. We’re playing a handful of songs from Pollinator along with the expected hits and some deeper Blondie cuts. A pretty well-rounded show. We’re trying to make people aware of the Pollinator album. It’s all go. Everyone is in a great space and enjoying performing, so it’s going to be good. Along with Holland and Australia, this is where the initial success was with Blondie. The UK has always been a second home - we spend a lot of time here.
Blondie play Arena Birmingham on Monday 13 November.
Blondie are set to return to the UK with a new tour supporting their already legendary 11th studio album, Pollinator, which soared to number four in the UK album charts in May, making it the band’s first top 5 entry in over 18 years.
Blondie’s 11th album, Pollinator, was released earlier this year. Can you tell us a bit about it?
We’re all really happy with it, and I think it’s the record that Blondie fans have been waiting for. I mean, I think the chemistry of the band really comes across. The three other guys in the band, Tommy, Lee and Matt, have been with us for quite a while, along with me, Chris and Debbie. The idea was to go in and record all the basic tracks together and really have the sound of the band come across. The last couple of albums that we did, the songs were there but they were done in a different method. They were more computer-generated, and then we found when we went to do the songs in our show, we would have to rearrange them and make them band performances. We kind of felt that people were a lot more receptive to the songs when they actually heard the band playing them. We kind of have a history of doing cover songs, starting with things like Denis and Hanging On The Telephone, which was by a band called The Nerves. Tide Is High is by The Paragons and was written by John Holt. I think we have a knack of taking other people’s songs and making them sound like Blondie songs, so that’s what we decided to do with Pollinator. We’re really, really happy with the way it’s turned out, and I think it’s definitely one of our best albums. Blondie fans are all really happy with it too - we’re just trying to get other people to hear it. It was received really well and went in the charts at number four here in the UK. We’re having a good time playing a handful of songs from Pollinator, along with the expected songs, in the current Blondie show, so it’s been good. The album has given us the impetus to want to continue, so we’re going to be making another record. Everything’s great within the band, and we’re really looking forward to the UK tour.
What’s the meaning behind the album’s title - Pollinator?
Deb came up with the name, but it has to do with the fact that we’re kind of infusing other people’s music with our music - and then along came the bee crisis. A weird twist of fate - we were supposed to be doing a gig in London the day after the tragedy in Manchester, and of course everything stopped the next day. We weren’t really aware of the worker bee symbol of Manchester, so that kind of came to light too. And then I was looking at GQ and there was a guy in a Gucci suit with bees on it. Bees all of a sudden seem to be kind of trendy - unbeknown to us, as we were really in our own little bubble when we came up with that idea.
You started playing drums for Blondie in 1975. How did that come about?
We were all hanging out in New York City in a club called Club 82. It was kind of like a dance club that had glam rock bands on one night a week, whether it be New York Dolls or Teenage Lust or other bands. I had a band called Sweet Revenge and Deb and Chris had a band called The Stilettos, and we were all on that scene. It was kind of like the last hold-out of glam rock. Everything kind of moved South West a block or so. People like Bowie informed British punk rock, so the Bowie, Lou Reed thing was going on and that kind of transitioned into a more bohemian, William Borrows, Andy Warhol, Patty Smith vibe. It was all kind of coming together at that point during the mid-’70s.
Why do you think the band remain so popular?
The music is the legacy of the band and obviously Debbie’s image opened the door for the band, and she’s still a lovely, very beautiful woman. Her looks overshadowed her musical ability, her lyrics and everything. Musically, to me, she’s more like Bowie or Jim Morrison, not really like the obvious other blonde singers. Culturally in the mid-’70s there was a lot of really significant stuff going on in New York that was only really influencing the people who were there. We were the sound of New York in a way. We were being influenced by our peers, by certain artists, different areas of the city, the whole hip-hop thing. The internet is a big help now. I think we’re the first generation where our whole band life is on the internet as far as performances and photos go. For younger people, that kind of lets them connect the dots on what Blondie was all about and what was going on. You look at a photo of Debbie from 1976 and it looks very modern, but you look at a photo of somebody from Bon Jovi in the ’80s and it doesn’t look very modern. The Velvet Underground and Andy Warhol had a lot to do with influencing Blondie. They were an underground phenomenon at the time. I think Blondie’s music stands up. I think The Pollinator record is a great record, and I’m not just saying that because it’s the most recent one - it’s definitely one of our better albums.
During Blondie’s hiatus, you played drums for numerous musicians, including Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop and The Ramones. Can you tell us a little bit about that, and who did you enjoy working with the most?
The Eurythmics. I met Annie Lennox at a club in Piccadilly called Planets around 1980, when I was living in London. Lemmy was there, Michael Jackson was there. He was sitting on a chair next to me when Annie came over and started talking to me about the new band that she was starting up with Dave. So I went round to their place and had Sunday lunch, then recorded their first album with them in Germany. I had a great time with them - we became friends. With Iggy, that was a really amazing time. He was promoting this album party, I went on tour with him for six weeks and we opened for the Rolling Stones. Everything that’s come about has been as a result of Blondie, whether that be Debbie’s acting career or Chris’ photography, me working with all these other people. It’s good when people go away and do that stuff because they then bring it back into the band. Working with Dylan was unbelievable - just being in his genius presence. At the end of the day, the love of music is what really comes through. Whether it’s Bob Dylan or a kid in a garage banging on a guitar, they’re all doing it for the same reason. It starts there and goes on from there. If I was a kid today, I’m not sure if I would choose the music business as a career, but then who knows?
How does life on the road now compare to back in the ’90s, for example?
Well, it’s easier now. Something like making a phone call back in the day was a big deal, trying to reach somebody in another country. Once again, technology has brought everyone together. The production’s a lot easier. You live and learn. I was always into taking care of myself. I did this thing, the Clem Burke Drumming Project, which I got a doctorate for a few years ago from Gloucestershire University, and it’s just about having a positive spin on what it means to be a musician. It studies all the mental and physical aspects of being on the road. That’s a big part of the study - the endurance etc. It got a bit controversial because my stats were lining up with premier footballers half my age. I think we just try to take care of ourselves more now. I don’t think I went to the gym or any of that back in the day because I was too hungover or whatever. That’s the great thing about playing an instrument - as time goes on, it just gets better and better.
What’s your first musical memory?
I started playing drums when I was quite young. For my generation, The Beatles on Ed Sullivan in the States was a turning point. I was too young for Elvis in terms of musical memories. Top 40 radio in the States, you’d have Frank Sinatra next to the Rolling Stones.
Blondie are bringing their UK tour to Birmingham this winter. What can audiences expect from your show?
We’ve been on the road in the States for the last seven weeks, touring with the band Garbage. Before that, we went to Australia, so the band is very road-worthy. We’re playing a handful of songs from Pollinator along with the expected hits and some deeper Blondie cuts. A pretty well-rounded show. We’re trying to make people aware of the Pollinator album. It’s all go. Everyone is in a great space and enjoying performing, so it’s going to be good. Along with Holland and Australia, this is where the initial success was with Blondie. The UK has always been a second home - we spend a lot of time here.
Blondie play Arena Birmingham on Monday 13 November.
Interview by Lauren Foster