THE ABSENCE

As a member of Big in Japan The Slits and most famously Siouxsie and The Banshees and The Creatures Budgie became one of the era defining drummers in the much mythologised post punk scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s Growing up in working class St Helens in the 1960s Peter Clarke lost his mum as a young boy and it s her absence that haunts the pages of this book Disenchanted with art school inLiverpool Peter became Budgie and befriended the likes of Jayne Casey Holly Johnson Pete Burns Bill Drummond and other luminaires of the legendary Eric s Club before taking off for London and the big city heat of punk Budgie s unique technique and musical sensitivity endeared him to the all female group The Slits who asked him to play on their debut album Cut Subsequent touring with former members of the Sex Pistols and others from the post punk aristocracy firmly established Budgie s reputation for innovation But the beating heart of this painfully honest and frank account of a life often sabotaged by substance abuse and alcoholism is of course his long term position as Siouxsie and The Banshee s drummer and co writer alongside ex lover and ex wife Siouxsie Sioux In the Banshees and seminal side project The Creatures their creative partnership prod