Clem Cattini, the London drummer whose rock solid backbeat drove “Telstar” into orbit and then quietly powered an astonishing 42 U.K. #1 singles from the studio shadows, died November 2 in London. He was 89. Few musicians anywhere have been heard on more hit records, and fewer still were so loved by the artists, producers and fellow players who called him a friend and a master raconteur.
Clemente Anselmo Agustino Cattini was born August 28, 1937, in Stoke Newington, London, to Italian parents. As a young man he worked in his father’s restaurant in Elephant and Castle, but the rock and roll explosion of the late 1950s pulled him toward the drum kit. He began at the legendary 2i’s Coffee Bar in Soho, backing Terry Dene, then joined the Beat Boys, the touring band that supported Larry Parnes’s stable of stars, including Marty Wilde and Billy Fury.
He then joined Johnny Kidd & the Pirates and played on their 1960 classic “Shakin’ All Over,” one of the most electrifying British rock records ever made. Visionary producer Joe Meek soon made him his in house drummer, and Cattini backed John Leyton, Don Charles and many more before helping to found The Tornados in 1961. The following year, their futuristic instrumental “Telstar” became an international smash, reaching #1 in the U.K. and making The Tornados the first British group to top the U.S. Hot 100. He also played with The Luvvers, the band that backed Lulu in her early days.
In 1965 he became a full time session musician, and over the next two decades his drumming turned up on records by an incredible range of artists. In the 1960s he played for The Kinks, Herman’s Hermits, Dusty Springfield, The Merseys, the Bee Gees, Marianne Faithfull, Tom Jones, P. J. Proby, The Hollies, Gene Pitney, Love Affair, including their #1 “Everlasting Love,” Jeff Beck, Engelbert Humperdinck, The Yardbirds, The Walker Brothers, Edison Lighthouse, The Ivy League, The Flower Pot Men, Marc Bolan, Georgie Fame, Joe Cocker and Brian Auger. On Donovan’s “Hurdy Gurdy Man,” he played alongside future Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones.
That connection nearly led to one of rock’s great what ifs. Cattini was on Jimmy Page’s shortlist of drummers when Led Zeppelin was forming, and manager Peter Grant tried to set up a meeting with him. “I was very busy doing sessions. I had been on the road for nine years, and suddenly I was at home, getting into my own bed at night,” Cattini later recalled. “Peter Grant (Led Zeppelin’s manager-in-waiting) saw me at a session, phoned me and asked me to go to lunch to him to talk about a project. We never had that lunch. Not for any reason. I was just too busy. He called again, but again we didn’t have that lunch. A year later, when Led Zeppelin’s first album was in the charts I saw Peter again and asked him if that was the project he wanted to talk about. It was, but there’s no point regretting anything. I can’t look back and change things. It wasn’t a conscious decision, just circumstances. But there again, was I the sort of person that could go all around the world in that scene? I don’t know.”
The 1970s brought even more hits. Cattini drummed for Lou Reed, Cliff Richard, Paul McCartney, Hank Marvin, Justin Hayward, Phil Everly, Marvin, Welch & Farrar, the Bay City Rollers, Alvin Stardust, Brotherhood of Man, Carl Douglas, Demis Roussos, The Goodies, Mike Batt, Chris Spedding, Julie Covington and Slapp Happy, along with dozens more. His long list of chart toppers included Ken Dodd’s “Tears,” Clive Dunn’s “Grandad,” Benny Hill’s “Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West),” Windsor Davies and Don Estelle’s “Whispering Grass,” Peters and Lee’s “Welcome Home,” Typically Tropical’s “Barbados,” J.J. Barrie’s “No Charge,” Renée and Renato’s “Save Your Love” and Tony Christie’s “(Is This the Way to) Amarillo.”
He was also a familiar part of the orchestra on BBC TV’s Top of the Pops, and toured the world with Cliff Richard, Roy Orbison, Lynda Carter and The Kids from Fame. In one of his most delightful assignments, he played on the records and the live shows of The Wombles, taking the stage in costume as Bungo.
In the 1980s he revived The Tornados for tours, bringing “Telstar” back to adoring audiences, and in 1989 he played in the West End run of ‘The Rocky Horror Show.’ A new generation heard him on “No Tears to Cry” from Paul Weller’s 2010 album ‘Wake Up the Nation.’ In the 2009 film ‘Telstar,’ about Joe Meek, he was portrayed by James Corden and made a cameo as John Leyton’s chauffeur. In 2016 he recorded a fresh version of “Telstar” with north London ska group The Skammers, and in 2019 he shared his remarkable story in his memoir, ‘My Life, Through the Eye of a Tornado.’
A devoted Arsenal supporter, Cattini and his wife, Anna, opened their north London home to a 15 year old Nicklas Bendtner when the future Danish international joined the club’s academy. Bendtner later described him as a lovely man and a true Gooner, marvelling that he had made music with Paul McCartney, Tom Jones and Nirvana.
From a boy working in his father’s restaurant to the drummer who played on more #1 records than almost anyone in British history, Clem Cattini kept the beat for an entire era of popular music. Every time “Telstar” soars or “Shakin’ All Over” crackles to life, that steady, joyful pulse is his.
English (US) ·