Clem Cattini: My Life, Through the Eye of a Tornado

Product Information

The comedy film The Rutles featured a Ringo Starr-inspired character named Barrington Womble who "shortened his name to save time...he simply became Barry Wom." Unfortunately, Rippen's cheap-piano experiment did not work out and its Shannon operation went belly-up around 1971, dragging the inextricably bound Trixon down with it. With 70 percent of production machinery held in Shannon, Weimer could not continue in Hamburg, although he did offer parts and servicing for several years through his successful Music City store. The first proper kit I bought was an Ajax, then I moved over to Carlton. They gave me a kit free and I used that on most of the recordings.”

Clem Cattini - Drummer On 43 Number 1 Hit Singles - Coda-UK

This is the man who played on ‘We Gotta Get Out Of This Place’ by The Animals; Dave Berry’s ‘The Crying Game’; Petula Clark’s ‘Downtown’; Dusty Springfield’s ‘I Only Want To Be With You’ and thousands of others. Having a long-standing interest in the occult, Meek had become obsessed with the spirit of the American singer Buddy Holly, who died on February 3, 1959. And when I bought my first proper kit, that was it, I was into drumming and would never stop. My first kit was a right Heinz 57. It was from Ted Warren”s drum shop in Bow, London. It was a mixture of bits of everything.I think they had already recorded it before, and it hadn’t quite got what they were looking for. If I remember right, The Kinks had released a couple of records and hadn’t really done what they expected. ‘You Really Got Me’ was like their last chance in a way.

Clem Cattini Interview - Drummer on 43 Number 1 Hit Singles

Over the next two or three years I learned to read. In fact, the musical directors never bothered to write music for me. They would write out the bits and put “Bobby fill”. I also used headphones with the whole orchestra and vocals. Whenever the vocals stopped I put something in.”In 2016, he recorded a new version of the 1960s hit "Telstar", with the North London ska band the Skammers. [6] The lot of a session musician had pros and cons, remembers Graham. On the one hand, the money was good, but until a few years ago, paid then and there and with no royalties. But the legacy is questionable. Graham laughs that he and other sessioneers have claimed the same hits.