Rick Buckler of The Jam: A Tribute

Rick Buckler, the drummer for The Jam, passed away this week in his hometown in Surrey, UK at the age of 69.

Considered an integral part of the Jam’s sound, alongside vocalist/guitarist/band leader Paul Weller and Bruce Foxton on bass, Buckler and the band were an important part of the “Punk” movement in the late 70s/early ’80s. Unlike many of that era, The Jam was commercially viable.

Buckler and Foxton proved to be a rhythm section to be reckoned with. This came into focus with their 1982 hit single, “A Town Called Malice.”

It became a #1 hit in the UK, and was their top effort in the US, reaching #45 on the US Dance charts. Buckler and The Jam would have three other #1 singles in the UK, hitting their peak in 1982 with the top album The Gift of March.

Born in the working-class town of Woking and educated at the Sheerwater Secondary School, 17-year-old Buckler met fellow student Weller who possessed the same enthusiasm for the music scene, circa 1972. While a self-taught drummer, he was studying to become a technical drawer. He had to eventually make the announcement to his family (his father was a postman, and his mother was a factory worker) that he was dropping out of the draughtsman trainee program to pursue The Jam as his full-time job.

In the next four years, they cut their teeth on the tough pub/club circuit, with the band playing cover tunes while developing their own writing talents. Their sound emphasized hard-driving English rock, (like that of The Who) that later morphed into the grander punk sound.

In the wake of the sudden success of the Sex Pistols, they were offered the break of a lifetime when The Clash asked them to back them on the White Riot tour of 1977. Their first album, In The City, was released to rave reviews in April of that year.

In 1982, after years of climbing the industry ladder, Paul Weller left to pursue his solo career. Buckler was vocal about Weller’s departure: “We were still doing well commercially. Things were fine, but it was almost like, ‘What could go wrong now?’ and that’s when Paul decided to leave the band for a solo career. We didn’t talk about it. The reason he left was no reason. He gave us rubbish, he said he felt he was on a treadmill and wanted to get off. We thought it was crazy; we worked hard to get to the treadmill! I think I know what the reason was, I think it was how the band was managed. There were a lot of questions about why Paul had all this money and me and Bruce were second-class citizens within our own band. We were beginning to ask questions.”

Buckler set up a series of other bands with mixed success, one with Foxton called Sharp. He later went into production work, running a studio not far from his hometown.

As for his self-assessment of his drumming, Buckler was to the point in his 2015 memoir entitled That’s Entertainment: My Life in the Jam. “I’m not the greatest in the world, but I did take a leaf out of Ringo Starr’s book. I realized that the song is the star. None of us were really outstanding musicians in a lot of ways, but I think we were trying to be as inventive as we possibly could so that we worked well together as a band.”

-Steve Valvano

Photo: Getty Images