\n<\/p>\n
Clem Burke, whose energetic, versatile drumming provided the beat for the band Blondie as it churned out post-punk, disco and rock hits in the late 1970s and early \u201980s \u2014 and then again after the band re-formed in 1997 \u2014 died on Sunday. He was 70.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the band said the cause was cancer. It did not say where he died.<\/p>\n
Though Blondie is best remembered for its charismatic lead singer, Debbie Harry, Mr. Burke\u2019s relentless percussion<\/a> was just as important to its success as one of the most popular American rock groups of its era.<\/p>\n He can be heard tumbling forth with a rapid disco beat in the intro to \u201cCall Me\u201d<\/a> (1980), only to switch to a tropical lilt on the reggae-inflected \u201cThe Tide Is High\u201d<\/a> (1980).<\/p>\n Like other post-punk bands that slid into the New Wave movement \u2014 the Cars, Devo \u2014 Blondie was known as much for its image as for its substance. The band\u2019s album covers and press photos often featured Ms. Harry, with her angular face and wispy blonde hair, framed by her four male bandmates, usually in black suits and skinny ties.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mr. Burke stood out with his boyish cheeks and vertiginous mop of hair. But he and the band were about more than their sharp looks: In one survey, Rolling Stone ranked him the 61st greatest drummer of all time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe American roots of rock \u2019n\u2019 roll \u2014 Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochrane \u2014 that was the foundation of what I loved from an early age,\u201d Mr. Burke told Mixdown magazine<\/a> last year. \u201cIt just spiraled from there.\u201d<\/p>\n He played on all 11 of Blondie\u2019s studio albums \u2014 six recorded between 1976 and 1982, and the rest after the band restarted in 1997.<\/p>\n The son of a professional drummer, Mr. Burke was already well known around the various music scenes of Lower Manhattan when, in 1974, he answered a want ad in The Village Voice placed by two musicians, Ms. Harry and the guitarist Chris Stein, looking for a drummer for their new band, Blondie.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mr. Burke showed up for an interview wearing the shirt component of a sailor suit, a tribute to a look once sported by his idol, Keith Moon of the Who. The three bonded over their shared admiration for acts like David Bowie, Iggy Pop and the Velvet Underground. They soon added Gary Valentine on bass and Jimmy Destri on keyboards.<\/p>\n Within a year, the band was playing regularly at storied East Village venues like Max\u2019s Kansas City and CBGB, a musical archipelago where other bands in the punk, post-punk and New Wave movements found a home.<\/p>\n Blondie embraced all three genres, while breaking into the mainstream with radio- and dance-floor-friendly tracks like \u201cHeart of Glass\u201d<\/a> (1979) and \u201cRapture\u201d<\/a> (1980), both of which reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts.<\/p>\n Thanks in part to Mr. Burke\u2019s infectious beats, the songs managed to embody a genre, and range beyond it, as well: \u201cHeart of Glass\u201d is both pop and disco, while \u201cRapture\u201d borrowed heavily from a new style, hip-hop, that was then taking shape in the Bronx.<\/p>\n \u201cOur records were always all over the place,\u201d he told The Sarasota Herald-Tribune in 2004. \u201cI always admired bands that didn\u2019t stick to one particular style.\u201d<\/p>\n Clement Anthony Bozewski was born on Nov. 24, 1954, in Bayonne, N.J. His father, Clement J. Bozewski, played in clubs around northern New Jersey, and his mother, Antoinette (Terracciano) Bozewski, managed the home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Clem learned to drum from his father and played in school bands growing up. By his late teenage years he was crossing the Hudson River into New York, where he performed in a variety of rock bands before meeting Ms. Harry and Mr. Stein.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n He styled himself as something of a throwback to the rock-star drummers of the 1960s, like Ringo Starr, John Bonham and Mr. Moon, who were known as much for their charisma onstage as for their virtuosity behind their kits.<\/p>\n Mr. Moon was his north star. Mr. Burke was just going onstage in 1978 when he learned that Mr. Moon had died, at 32; when the set was done, he kicked his drums into the crowd, shouting, \u201cThat\u2019s for Keith Moon \u2014 the greatest drummer in the world!\u201d<\/p>\n After a marathon run of six albums in just over six years, Blondie went on hiatus in 1982.<\/p>\n Over the next 15 years, Mr. Burke became an A-list session drummer, working with artists like Mr. Bowie, Eurythmics, Bob Dylan and Pete Townshend.<\/p>\n