{{Short description|English drummer (1955–2025)}} {{Use British English|date=February 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Rick Buckler | image = rickbuckler.jpg | caption = Buckler performing in 2006 | image_size = 250 | background = non_vocal_instrumentalist | birth_name = Paul Richard Buckler | alias = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1955|12|06|df=y}} | birth_place = Woking, Surrey, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|2025|02|17|1955|12|06|df=y}} | death_place = Woking, Surrey, England | instrument = Drums | genre = {{hlist|Punk rock<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/were-jam-best-punk-band-2353957|title=Were The Jam the best punk band?|newspaper=Wales Online|date=16 February 2006|access-date=11 January 2022}}</ref>|new wave|rock}} | occupation = {{hlist|Drummer|percussionist|songwriter|producer}} | years_active = {{hlist|1972–1995|2005–2025}} | label = {{hlist|Polydor|Detour|Invisible Hands Music}} | past_member_of = {{hlist|The Jam|Time UK|Sharp|The Highliners|The Fourth Wall|The Gift|From the Jam|If}} | website = {{URL|thejamfan.net}} }}
'''Paul Richard Buckler''' (6 December 1955 – 17 February 2025) was an English musician who was the drummer of the rock band the Jam.
Although the Jam's creative output came to be attributed primarily to Paul Weller, its rhythm section of Buckler and Bruce Foxton (bass guitar) were integral to its sound. In retrospect, Buckler felt that Weller had been given undue credit for the band's song catalogue to the detriment of its other members' contributions.
In the mid-1980s, Buckler briefly reunited with Foxton, and with Jimmy Edwards they performed in a new band called Sharp, recording some new songs for the short-lived Unicorn record label. After Time UK broke up, Buckler moved into production, running a studio in Islington, working on the album ''Bound for Glory'' by the Highliners (which he also drummed for briefly in 1990). He was also involved in the production of the debut studio album of the Family Cat, ''Tell 'Em We're Surfin'' (1989).
In the mid-1990s, Buckler abandoned professional music and went into business as an ad hoc carpenter, fashioning cabinets and 'distressed' furniture in Woking, Surrey. In 2005, Buckler re-entered professional music when he set up a new band called the Gift,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rick Buckler obituary: Drummer with The Jam |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/rick-buckler-obituary-drummer-with-the-jam-7ls883jnf |access-date=20 February 2025 |newspaper=The Times|date=19 February 2025 }}</ref> named after the final studio album release by the Jam, with Russell Hastings and Dave Moore, with himself on drums, playing exclusively old material from the Jam's back catalogue. In 2007, Foxton joined as the bassist and the new band began touring under the name of From the Jam. After four years of touring, Buckler left From the Jam in September 2009.
== Early years == Paul Richard Buckler was born on 6 December 1955 in the town of Woking in the county of Surrey, England, to Bill and Peggy Buckler (nee White), a telephone engineer and factory worker respectively.<ref name="Guardian-Obit">{{cite news |last1=Mason |first1=Peter |title=Rick Buckler obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/feb/19/rick-buckler-obituary |access-date=24 February 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=19 February 2025}}</ref> He received his education at Sheerwater Secondary School, in Woking. While there in the early 1970s, he joined other pupils Paul Weller and Bruce Foxton in a newly formed band named the Jam.<ref name="Guardian-Obit" /><ref>{{Cite news |last= Rutter |first= Barry |date= 7 March 2012 |title= Break-up of The Jam was bitterest pill for Rick Buckler |work= Woking News and Mail |url= https://www.wokingnewsandmail.co.uk/?p=365 |access-date= 10 May 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160411111825/https://www.wokingnewsandmail.co.uk/?p=365 |archive-date= 11 April 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://louderthanwar.com/rick-buckler-has-passed-away-aged-69/|title=Rick Buckler has passed away aged 69|work=louderthanwar.com|first=Iain|last=Key|date=18 February 2025}}</ref> Buckler began an A-Level in technical drawing but abandoned his studies after a year. He worked as a trainee draughtsman for four years until the Jam's breakthrough.<ref name="Guardian-Obit" />
== The Jam == {{Main|The Jam}} The Jam emerged at the same time as punk rock bands such as the Clash, the Damned, and the Sex Pistols. The Clash were early advocates of the band, and added them as the support on their White Riot tour in May 1977.<ref>{{cite web |date=1 May 2020 |title=Remembering The Clash's 'White Riot' tour with The Jam and The Buzzcocks |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-clash-the-jam-buzzcocks-white-riot-tour/ |access-date=23 September 2024 |website=Far Out |language=en-US}}</ref> [[File:Thejam.gif|right|thumb|The Jam performing live in Newcastle upon Tyne during their ''Trans-global Unity'' tour, April 1982.<ref>{{cite web |date=11 April 2007 |title=The Jam Information Pages – by Kevin Lock |url=http://www.thejam.org.uk/gigs.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130816015007/https://thejam.org.uk/gigs.html |archive-date=16 August 2013 |work=Thejam.org.uk}}</ref>]] The Jam's first single, "In the City", took them into the UK Top 40 in May 1977.<ref>{{Cite web |title=In the City by The Jam |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/jam-in-the-city/ |access-date=28 February 2024 |website=Official Charts Company}}</ref> In 1979, the group released "The Eton Rifles" and first broke into the Top 10, hitting the No. 3 spot in November.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Eton Rifles by Jam |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/jam-the-eton-rifles/ |access-date=28 February 2024 |website=Official Charts Company}}</ref> The increasing popularity of their blend of Weller's barbed lyrics with pop melodies eventually led to their first number one single, "Going Underground", in March 1980.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Going Underground/Dreams of Children by Jam |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/jam-going-undergrounddreams-of-children/ |access-date=28 February 2024 |website=Official Charts Company}}</ref>
The Jam became the first band since the Beatles to perform both sides of the same single ("Town Called Malice" and "Precious") on one edition of ''Top of the Pops''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 February 2021 |title=Retro Chart: Writing on wall for Jam as Town Called Malice hits top |url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/kerry/lifestyle/retro-chart-writing-on-wall-for-jam-as-town-called-malice-hits-top/40072671.html |access-date=7 March 2024 |website=Independent.ie |language=en}}</ref> They also had two singles, "That's Entertainment" (1981) and "Just Who Is the 5 O'Clock Hero?" (1982), reach No. 21 and No. 8 respectively in the UK singles chart<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |title=Jam |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/14105/the-jam/ |access-date=7 March 2024 |website=Official Charts Company}}</ref> despite not being released as singles in the UK—on the strength of import sales of the German single releases.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Reed |first=John |title=Paul Weller: My Ever Changing Moods |publisher=Omnibus Press |year=2005 |isbn=1844494918 |edition=4th |pages=100, 125, 268-269 |language=en}}</ref> At that time, "That's Entertainment" was the best-selling import-only single to date in the UK charts.<ref name=":3" />
Buckler was the drummer for the Jam from its formation in the early 1970s through to its break-up in the early 1980s, during which time it became a critically acclaimed and commercially successful rock band with an original sound as part of the mod revival movement in England's music and fashion scenes of the period.<ref>''The Jam: Sounds from the Street'', by Graham Willmott (Pub. Reynolds & Hearn, 2003), {{ISBN|978-1903111666}}</ref>
== Later career == In 1983, Buckler set up a new band entitled Time UK, featuring himself on drums, Jimmy Edwards and Ray Simone, Danny Kustow, and the bassist Martin Gordon.<!-- Time UK sold nearly 6,000 copies of their first single release "The Cabaret" --><ref>{{Cite web |last=Minton |first=Matt |date=18 February 2025 |title=Rick Buckler, Drummer for the Jam, Dies at 69 |url=https://variety.com/2025/music/news/rick-buckler-dead-the-jam-1236312203/ |access-date=19 February 2025 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="stone"/> In the mid-1980s, Buckler briefly reunited with his former Jam bandmate Bruce Foxton, and with Jimmy Edwards they performed in a new band called Sharp, recording some new songs for the short-lived Unicorn record label. These recordings were subsequently reissued on a Time UK anthology release.<ref name="stone">{{Cite web |author= Charisma Madarang|date=19 February 2025 |title= Paul Weller leads tributes to The Jam's Rick Buckler following his death at 69 |url= https://www.rollingstone.co.uk/music/news/paul-weller-leads-tributes-to-the-jams-rick-buckler-following-his-death-at-69-47877/ |website=rollingstone.co.uk |access-date=19 February 2025}}</ref> After Time UK broke up, Buckler moved into production, running a studio in Islington, working on the album ''Bound for Glory'' by the Highliners (which he also drummed for briefly in 1990). He was also involved in the production of the debut studio album of the Family Cat, ''Tell 'Em We're Surfin'' (1989).<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://writewyattuk.com/2015/04/02/time-for-truth-the-rick-buckler-interview/|title=Time for Truth – the Rick Buckler interview|website=Writewyattuk.com|date=2 April 2015}}</ref> In the mid-1990s, Buckler abandoned professional music and went into business as an ad hoc carpenter, fashioning cabinets and 'distressed' furniture in Woking, Surrey.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3tb4Ve5dB0 |title=Rick Buckler (The Jam) After They Were Famous (ITV 15th June 2002) - YouTube |website=YouTube |access-date=2 October 2019 |archive-date=2 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502184651/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3tb4Ve5dB0&gl=US&hl=en |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite news|url=https://www.wokingnewsandmail.co.uk/?p=365|title=Break-up of The Jam was bitterest pill for Rick Buckler |newspaper=Woking News and Mail|access-date=10 May 2020}}</ref>
In November 2005, Buckler re-entered professional music when he set up a new band called the Gift, named after the final studio album release by the Jam, with Russell Hastings (lead vocals/guitar) and Dave Moore (bass guitar), with himself on drums, playing exclusively old material from the Jam's back catalogue. In 2007, Bruce Foxton joined as the bassist (Moore moving to rhythm guitar and keyboards) and the new band began touring under the name of From the Jam.<ref name="stone"/> After four years of touring, Buckler left From the Jam in September 2009, being replaced by Mark Brzezicki of Big Country.<ref name="stone"/> Criticism of the new act from a distance by Paul Weller confirmed that it was not going to be a means of a reformation of the original band,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkT99W7y1FI |title=Terry talks to Rick Buckler - Part Two - YouTube |website=YouTube |access-date=11 April 2018 |archive-date=5 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200505134056/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkT99W7y1FI&gl=US&hl=en |url-status=dead }}</ref> and Buckler felt that to continue performing with it without Weller, ran the risk of his and Foxton's finding themselves in the situation of becoming a Jam tribute band.<ref name="auto"/>
In July 2012, Buckler ceremonially unveiled an oak wood abstract art sculpture by Richard Heys, entitled "The Space Between", on the Guildford Road in Woking, commissioned at a cost of £45,000 by Woking Borough Council to commemorate the Jam in the band's home town.<ref name="sculpture">{{Cite web|title=Fans turn out in force to see unveiling of sculpture tribute to The Jam |url= https://www.wokingnewsandmail.co.uk/news/fans-turn-out-in-force-to-see-unveiling-of-sculpture-tribute-to-the-jam-574886 |author=Barry Rutter |work=Woking News and Mail |date=13 July 2012}}</ref> In 2013, Buckler moved into a management consultancy role for new musical acts, including singer-guitarist Sarah Jane, and the band the Brompton Mix.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGR3LhKy_14&list=PL765C411C413E0C60 |title=Rick Buckler (The Jam) talks about 'Mad, Bad and Dangerous' |date=29 March 2013 |publisher=YouTube |access-date=28 June 2014}}</ref> Buckler's autobiography, entitled ''That's Entertainment: My Life in the Jam'', was published in 2015 by Omnibus Press.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.modculture.co.uk/coming-in-2015-rick-buckler-autobiography-on-omnibus-press/ |title=Coming in 2015: Rick Buckler – Autobiography on Omnibus Press |website=Modculture.co.uk |date=19 December 2014 |access-date=14 January 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Cole |first=Angela |url=http://www.kentonline.co.uk/maidstone/news/chance-to-question-music-legend-32766/ |title=Former drummer with The Jam, Rick Buckler, will be in Maidstone in June to promote his autobiography |website=Kentonline.co.uk |date=3 March 2015 |access-date=14 January 2016}}</ref>
== Personal life and death == Buckler lived with his wife Lesley in Woking; they had two children.<ref name="kent">{{Cite web |url=http://www.kentonline.co.uk/sheerness/news/drumming-legend-beats-a-path-34020/ |title=Former drummer with the Jam, Rick Buckler, took a whistle-stop tour of Sheppey to talk about his new book |access-date=30 March 2016 |archive-date=16 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316214737/http://www.kentonline.co.uk/sheerness/news/drumming-legend-beats-a-path-34020 |url-status=dead }}</ref> After leaving the Jam he authored several publications on the act's history.<ref name="kent"/> Buckler died following a brief illness in Woking, on 17 February 2025, at the age of 69.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Winston |first=Fran |date=18 February 2025 |title=The Jam's drummer Rick Buckler dies aged 69 as bandmates pay tribute |url=https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/uk-news/jams-drummer-rick-buckler-dies-31032794 |access-date=18 February 2025 |website=Chronicle Live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=18 February 2025 |title=The Jam drummer Rick Buckler dies aged 69 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c99n0p2x94vo |access-date=18 February 2025 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Weller paid tribute to Buckler, saying, "I'm shocked and saddened by Rick's passing. I'm thinking back to us all rehearsing in my bedroom in Stanley Road, Woking."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Madarang |first=Charisma |date=19 February 2025 |title=Paul Weller leads tributes to The Jam's Rick Buckler following his death at 69 |url=https://www.rollingstone.co.uk/music/news/paul-weller-leads-tributes-to-the-jams-rick-buckler-following-his-death-at-69-47877/ |access-date=20 February 2025 |website=Rolling Stone UK |language=en-GB}}</ref>
== Publications == * ''The Jam: Our Story'' (1994) {{ISBN|9781898141105}} * ''The Jam Unseen'' (2007) {{ISBN|9781905736836}} * ''That's Entertainment: My Life in the Jam'' (2015) {{ISBN|9781783057948}} * ''Dead Straight Guide to the Jam'' (2017) {{ISBN|9781911346081}} * ''The Start to '77'' (2017) {{ISBN|9781527211612}} * ''This Day in Music's Guide to the Jam'' (2018) {{ISBN|9781999592776}} * ''The Jam 1982'' (2022) {{ISBN|9781913172695}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [http://www.thejamfan.net The Jam Fan] (official website edited by Rick Buckler) * {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=mn0000298847}} * {{discogs artist}} * {{IMDb name| 1372615}} * [http://www.mudkiss.com/rickbuckler.htm Interview with Rick Bucker for Mudkiss] * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGR3LhKy_14&list=PL765C411C413E0C60 2013 video interview with Buckler]
{{The Jam}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buckler, Rick}} Category:1955 births Category:2025 deaths Category:20th-century English drummers Category:21st-century English drummers Category:English male drummers Category:English punk rock drummers Category:English new wave musicians Category:English rock drummers Category:English autobiographers Category:Mod revival musicians Category:New wave drummers Category:People from Woking Category:The Jam members Category:English draughtsmen