The shock news this morning is that legendary Blondie drummer Clem Burke has passed away aged seventy, following a 'private battle with cancer.'

A rock n' roller through and through, he cut his teeth during the late 1960s/early 1970s with one of New Jersey's premier covers bands, Bayonne, before moving to New York in '75 and joining the first Blondie line-up. After establishing themselves a year later with their eponymous debut album, the band scored a massive international hit with 1978's Plastic Letters, which slotted in perfectly with the prevailing punk/new wave mood.

Very much on a roll, Blondie had even bigger smashes with Parallel Lines, which also came out in '78, 1979's Eat To The Beat and 1980's Autoamerican.

Like Charlie Watts, Burke didn't have a big kit but made one hell of a noise with his powerhouse drumming underpinning Blondie hits like 'Denis', 'Dreaming' and 'Union City Blue'. As demonstrated by 'Heart Of Glass' and 'Rapture', Clem also knew how to get a groove on and loved to push himself musically.

A livewire on stage, his stick-twirling and end of set leapfrogging over his kit was a major part of Blondie's live appeal when they first ventured across the Atlantic.

A great one for extracurricular activities, he played with The Romantics and Eurythmics, had a brief spell as a Ramone and was part of the Chequered Past supergroup. We have very fond memories of seeing Clem, Mani, Brian James and Wayne Kramer ripping it up in Whelan's in 2000 as part of the latter's Mad For The Rocket project.

He was also part of the Shane MacGowan 60th birthday tribute in the National Concert Hall; drummed with the Bootleg Blondie tribute band; was a member of another ongoing supergroup, The Chesterfield Kings; and appeared on records by Joan Jett, Pete Townshend, and Nancy Sinatra.

In 2014, Clem popped in to the Hot Press Chatroom at Electric Picnic with Debbie and Chris Stein and last year contributed to a new album by fellow New York legends The Dead Boys.

With his moptop Beatles hair, encyclopaedic musical knowledge and boundless enthusiasm, Clem was a total one-off who will be sorely missed. Our deepest condolences to his friends, family and fans.

Stay tuned for some of the tributes that are pouring in...