Clem Burke, the driving force behind Blondie’s insistent sound, died last week.
While singer Debbie Harry grabbed most of the attention it is doubtful if Blondie would have achieved the success they did without Burke’s powerful drumming propelling them along.
This was their second UK hit.
Blondie: (I’m Always Touched by) Your Presence, Dear
Clement Anthony Bozewski (Clem Burke:) 24/11/954 – April 6/4/2025. So it goes.
Kris Kristofferson, who died last week, was a man of many parts (literally as an actor but also a Rhodes Scholar, a soldier, helicopter pilot, singer and songwriter.)
It is for his songwriting and acting he will most likely be remembered for. Classic songs like Me and Bobby McGhee, For the Good Times and this one.
Kris Kristofferson: Help Me Make It Through the Night
This is the track from which I first became aware of Genesis, though a schoolfriend of mine had seen them perform as support to Lindisfarne and came back raving about them.
This utterly sui generis song with its bizarre lyric was their first hit – a no 21 in 1974.
This is a live performance – possibly from that same tour.
This is one of those songs that is instantly recognisable. It is also one of those which is more known in retrospect than it was on its original release in 1978. It only reached no 87 in the UK charts. (A no 8 in Australia though, and no 21 in the US.) Its later use in a film helped keep its profile up though.
