Topper Headon: Difference between revisions

Nicholas Bowen "Topper" Headon (born 30 May 1955, Bromley, Kent, England), known as 'Topper' (because of his resemblance to the cartoon monkey), is a British rock and roll drummer, best known for his membership in the punk rock band, The Clash.

Headon is commonly recognized as one of the better drummers of the late 1970s and early '80s; critic Greg Prato writes, "producer Sandy Pearlman dubbed Headon 'The Human Drum Machine,' due to his impeccable timing and skills."^[1]

A drummer from his childhood, Headon was a jazz fan, citing Billy Cobham as a strong influence. Headon played with a group that opened for American R&B legends The Temptations, but he admits to occasionally lying to claim he actually played with the Temptations.^[2]

Before meeting Headon, the Clash went through several drummers, including Terry Chimes, who recorded on the UK version of the band's self-titled debut. Headon -- something of a 'journeyman' drummer -- originally planned to have only a brief stay with the band, to establish a reputation and then move on. After a period in the Clash, however, Headon realized the full potential of the band, and abandoned his plan to leave the group. He played on the albums Give 'Em Enough Rope (1978), some tracks on The Clash (US version) (1979), London Calling (1979), Sandinista! (1980) and Combat Rock (1982). Also of note are his lead vocal on "Ivan Meets G.I. Joe" (from Sandinsita!) and his work on the hit single "Rock the Casbah" (from Combat Rock), on which Headon composed most of the music and played drums, piano and bass guitar.

Clash singer/guitarist Joe Strummer^[3] said that Headon's drumming skills were a vital part of the band: Headon had strength and stamina, and could play convincingly in funk, reggae and other styles, in addition to traditional rock drumming.

Tensions rose between Headon and his fellow bandmembers due to his growing heroin addiction. Eventually it began affecting his drumming so much that the band gave him an ultimatum: kick the habit or be kicked out. Topper was unable to give up drugs and left the band on May 10, 1982, at the beginning of the Combat Rock tour. The band covered up the real reason for Headon's departure, claiming it was due to exhaustion.

After Headon's departure the Clash re-hired original drummer Terry Chimes for the tour. Strummer later regretted Topper's dismissal from the band, saying that after Headon left, Strummer 'knew it wasn't ever going to burn again' onstage due to the change in band chemistry, and because, 'we'd tried to fix a clock that wasn't broken.'

After his work with the Clash, Topper was considered briefly for the drumming stool in Mick Jones' post-Clash band Big Audio Dynamite. However, this failed to work out because of Topper's continuing addiction.

Headon subsequently focused on recording a solo album, which resulted in the mostly unnoticed Waking Up (1986) and a 12-inch recording "Drumming Man" and "DuKane Road" with his own composition "Hope for Donna." After this album Headon went to jail on drug supplying charges.

Headon has spent time in the Priory Psychiatric Hospital in North London to deal with his addiction; the hospital has an internationally renowned Addiction Treatment Program drug clinic as part of its structure.

Headon was interviewed extensively for the rockumentary Westway to the World. During the movie, he frankly apologized about his addiction and speculated that had he not been kicked out, the band might have lasted longer and might possibly still be together. Given the chance to repeat the experience, however, he states that he has no regrets and would do it all again.

Since the Clash broke up, he has rarely been heard from, though he did produce albums for New York band Bush Tetras.

Although he has mostly moved out of the public eye, Headon continues to play gigs; it was after one of his shows at a pub that he was informed of the death of Clash frontman Joe Strummer. Obviously emotional, Headon said, "It's taken Joe's death to make me realise just how big The Clash were. We were a political band and Joe was the one who wrote the lyrics. Joe was one of the truest guys you could ever meet. If he said 'I am behind you', then you knew he meant it 100 percent."

Headon also lamented the fact that the classic Clash line-up had been considering a reunion at the time of Strummer's death after the positive reunion during the Westway to the World rockumentary.

Headon was extensively interviewed for the Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten, about the late Clash frontman. He related his experiences during this period how he became addicted to heroin and how there were problems before his dismissal. For exemple, Joe once slept with his girlfriend and Mike Jones didn't want any buss-travelling without pot. It appears that his addiction was only part of the growing tension in the band that led to Mike Jones dismissal an year later and the eventual break-up of the band in 1986.

As drummer, Headon often employed a distinctive style which emphasized a simple bass-snare up-down beat, accentuated with closed Hi-hat flourishes. Such a method can be found in the songs "Clampdown", "Train in Vain", and "Lost in the Supermarket". His drumming on "Train in Vain" has been characterized as one of the most important and distinctive beats in rock music.^[4]

One outtake from the 'Combat Rock' sessions entitled 'Walk Evil Talk' and clocks in at a lengthy time of 7:37 clearly demonstrated Topper's skill in drumming beyond the standard drumming style required for The Clash's punk tracks.

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