I was honored to create this tribute print of Clem Burke, the powerhouse drummer of Blondie, based on a couple of photos by Bobby Grossman. Blondie is part of my musical DNA. Clem, Chris, Debbie, the core members of Blondie —are all heroes of mine, but we're talking about Clem right now. My first almost encounter with Clem was in Los Angeles when our studio was in the Wiltern Theater building. I used to park at the top of the parking garage, and one day, I pulled up in what I thought was my space, only to find a sign that said "Reserved for Clem Burke." I thought maybe I should just hang out there until he arrives, but then I thought that might be a little bit uncool. So instead of waiting and stalking him, I just put an Andre the Giant Has a Posse sticker on the sign, hoping that that would be a little message of recognition and solidarity. Later, I got to become friends with Clem, Debbie, and Chris, which felt like a miracle. Everybody in Blondie has been incredibly cool, but Clem was living in LA, so we would see each other fairly frequently. He invited me to some music shows, he would come to art shows, and we'd see each other at a lot of events around town. He was always so cool and friendly to the point that he even voluntarily played drums with a pretty amazing group of musicians: Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols, Billy Idol, and Lee Gorman from Bow Wow Wow as part of an art show at our gallery. They did Sex Pistols, Iggy, and Velvet Underground covers in our parking lot, and Clem didn't ask for a cent. He just did it because he thought it would be a fun thing to do. Everything I experienced from him was always very kind and generous, so I'm very sad that he is no longer around to enrich people's lives in that way. However, I thank him for being part of mine.
-Shepard
PRINT DETAILS: Clem Burke Sonic DNA. 12 x 16 inches. Letterpress on cream cotton paper with hand-deckled edges. Signed by Shepard Fairey. Numbered edition of 500. Obey publishing chop in lower left corner. Comes with a Digital Certificate of Authenticity provided by Verisart. $90.
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