Concert Review: Blondie and Elvis Costello

Review
of Blondie and Elvis Costello at the Santa Barbara Bowl on 8/7/19.

Interview: Clem Burke

Clem Burke is the drummer extraordinaire for Blondie, arguably the most successful of the original punk / New Wave bands. Blondie’s hits include “Heart of Glass”, “Call Me”, “The Tide is High”, “Rapture”, “One Way or Another”, and “Dreaming”. Their 1978 album Parallel Lines is regularly ranked as one of the best albums of all time. Blondie was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.

Burke has also played drums with The Eurythmics, Bob Dylan, Pete Townshend, The Ramones (as “Elvis Ramone”), The Romantics, and many more bands and artists.

This interview was for a preview article for noozhawk.com for Blondie’s performance at the Santa Barbara Bowl on 8/7/19. It was done by phone on 7/12/19. (Danielle St. Laurent photo)

Interview: Chris Stein

The band Blondie got its start in the fertile mid-to-late 70’s New York City punk rock / New Wave scene, and went on to mainstream success with hits like “Heart of Glass”, “Rapture”, “Call Me”, “The Tide Is High”, “One Way or Another”, and “Dreaming”. They recently released their 11th album called Pollinator.

Along with singer Debbie Harry and drummer Clem Burke, guitarist Chris Stein has been with the band since the early days. He co-wrote some of the band’s best-loved songs including the aforementioned “Heart of Glass”, “Rapture”, and “Dreaming”, plus “In The Flesh”, “Rip Her To Shreds”, and “Fade Away and Radiate”.

This interview was for noozhawk.com for the 7/7/17 Blondie concert at the Santa Barbara Bowl, with co-headlining alt-rockers Garbage, and openers John Doe and Exene Cervenka from the band X. It was done by phone on 6/9/17. (Alexander Thompson photo)

Photos: International Swingers

International Swingers at Whiskey Richards, Santa Barbara, 6/26/12 (L. Paul Mann photos, copyrighted and all rights reserved)