Different
versions of The Jam story have been told ever since Paul Weller called time on
the band in 1982. Drummer Rick Buckler tells MALCOLM WYATT the time is right to
tell it his way
It’s been
seven years since my last chat with Rick Buckler, backstage at 53 Degrees in
Preston after a memorable From The Jam performance.
Rick was
on board with bass player Bruce Foxton at that stage in a tribute band with a
difference – joining forces with Jam fans Russell Hastings and David Moore to
celebrate the continued appeal of one of popular music’s most successful bands.
He was on
fine form, joking with me about our shared Surrey heritage and my subsequent
move to the Red Rose county, after a typically-blistering shift on the
drum-kit.
The Jam
always had that great relationship with their fans. There was no elitism, just
a shared love of great and somewhat timeless music.
Paul
Weller was always unlikely to re-join his bandmates, but Bruce and Rick felt a
compulsion to not only re-live the great times but also secure a little closure
on a story that finished so abruptly 25 years earlier.
By the end
of 2009 only Bruce and Russell remained of that From the Jam line-up, Rick busy
with other projects, albeit leaving in seemingly abrupt circumstances.
But now
he’s back, promoting That’s Entertainment – My Life in The Jam, written with
the help of prolific music biographer Ian Snowball for Omnibus Press.
So I guess
the obvious question with regard to the autobiography is ‘why now?’
“There’s
no real reason for now in particular, but I’ve been writing down things I intended
to use as an autobiography over the last couple of years, then got approached
by Snowy, who’d written a couple of other things that were Jam or
music–related.
“He was up
for helping me finish it off, otherwise it could have been one of these things
I just kept adding to it and meandering on.
“He helped
a great deal, giving it shape and form and putting me in touch with various
publishers, making that process fairly easy.
“That
forced my arm to a certain degree and I thought I’d just get on with it and do
it, and it was nice to have a sounding board with regard to what I’d left out,
what I didn’t need to put in and how to structure it.
“Only I
can be a little flaky when it comes to office work!”
There was
an earlier ‘autobiography’ with Bruce and Rick’s name on it, Our Story, written
with Alex Ogg. But that was 22 years ago.
“Yes,
there’s been some mileage since then. Also, Our Story was mostly anecdotal and
really only about stuff on the road in the Jam years.
“Nearly
everything in my life – and I’m sure this is the case for Bruce and Paul – has
been because of our involvement in The Jam, so a lot of it does rotate around
that.
“I’ve also
encompassed the school days, growing up and how the band formed. It does keep
coming back to The Jam, so in one respect it is like Our Story. But I think
it’s got a broader remit. I always felt Our Story could have been done a bit
better, at least presentation-wise.
“From then
on, unfortunately, it fell apart quite quickly, which was a shame.”
“We just sat
down and talked about those stories. I went back and read a few reviews
recently and think people’s expectations of what they were going to get were
higher than what we were going to deliver.
“It was
difficult at the time. We were in a court case with Paul and weren’t going to
get the knives out. I still haven’t got the knives out in this one. There’s no
point.
“Perhaps
people wanted something more salacious, but they weren’t going to get it.
Nearly everyone who was a Jam fan knows the general story, so I’m trying to
convey an insight not just of being part of The Jam but being the drummer
inside The Jam.
“I do
worry that people are going to say the same about this – there’s not enough in
there exposing this and that, but I don’t know if I actually can please
everybody.”
Plenty has
been written about the animosity felt by Bruce and Rick after Paul broke up the
band to form The Style Council, and subsequent fall-outs.
Is there a
danger of this just being a re-tread?
“I’m
actually sick to death of all that griping. I don’t even want to go there. This
was really just from my point of view and the success of the band.
“It
obviously had a big effect on my life as well as Bruce’s and Paul’s, but when I
talk to Jam fans there’s this real connection that it had an effect on them as
well.
“They were
part of The Jam as much as we were. I think that connection was really important.
I don’t think you see that with many other bands.”
Rick had
access to a lot of material to help with the book through involvement with
thejamfan.net website.
“It was an
archive I put together over the years, fantastic to draw upon, all the information
coming from tour itineraries and so on.
“It’s
reasonably accurate, although I am pulled up every now and again by fans about
something or other!”
Rick is
still based near The Jam’s hometown Woking, where they played many shows before
the London circuit helped break them in 1977. And while both Paul and Rick’s
childhood homes have now gone, they have at least an abstract presence in the
town, through a three-stump tree sculpture.
“Yes,
Barratt Homes commissioned three oak sculptures, and some wit described them as
Pole Weller, Stick Buckler and Spruce Foxton!”
Can the
59-year-old still clearly recall day one with The Jam in 1973?
“Yes, it
was Paul and Steve Brookes, and they asked me to join on drums, with one of the
first shows at Sheerwater Youth Club.
“It was a
matter of, ‘There’s a stack of Chuck Berry records there. Learn those!’ It was
a music I wasn’t that familiar with at the time, being around 16 or 17.”
While in
different years at secondary school, a shared love of music brought the band
together.
“Nearly
anybody interested in music or played an instrument would hang around in the
music rooms at lunchtime, and I knew Steve and Paul because of that.
“In the
whole of Sheerwater School, there were three drummers, including myself and ‘Bomber’
Harris.”
Bomber was
Neil Harris, whose place in the band – so the story goes – went to Rick after
he couldn’t make a live engagement.
“I don’t
really know what his place was. I think it was fairly temporary. It was more of
a duet, although Steve and Paul wanted to make it into more of a band and have
a full-time drummer.”
Did Paul
stand out then?
“Not
really. If anything, Steve Brookes was the proper musician, and still is. He’s
a really good guitarist. I bump into him every now and again, which is nice.”
Bruce was
next to join, having been in local prog band Zita, with Steve Brookes soon
quitting as the seminal three-piece took shape, Rick soon honing his skills.
“I pretty
much taught myself by listening to records, but did have an older guy who was
very good.
“He was
into the big band thing and took me to see Buddy Rich play and was really good
in showing me a few fundamentals. The rest I picked up as I went along.”
Rick’s
twin brother Pete played bass around that time, the two of them previously
practising under the name Impulse with a guitarist.
“We’d only
really just started and never did any shows. So when I got offered the chance
to join Paul and Steve and play at the Youth Club, I jumped at it.”
The rest
is history, with many highs and a few lows following, The Jam amassing 18
consecutive UK top-40 singles between 1977 and 1982, including four No.1s, with
success all over the world.
Did Rick
get to the end of this book and think of more great memories he’d neglected to
include?
“It’s
constant! All the time people remind me of things I’ve forgotten. It was for
that very reason I got the idea of doing Q&A sessions.
“I was
talking to a fan who really liked the idea of the stories – not necessarily
what you read in the press but the things that happen behind the scenes.
“I did a Q
& A event earlier this year, and it worked really well. After about 15
minutes people started to open up.
“A few
you’d expect, but a few surprises too.
“If
anyone’s got a question they’ve been bugging to know about, come along and
ask!”
Talking of
questions you get asked all the time, does Rick still think Paul was wrong to
quit when he did, that The Jam had a couple more great albums to come?
“From the
fans’ point of view I still get people saying, ‘You had no right to split the
band up’. Because of this connection we had I think they were almost insulted.
“No artist
is anything without fans, and I think a lot of people think that was out of
order that wasn’t taken into consideration.
“Myself
and Bruce think we probably could have done a couple more albums.
“Looking
back, we should have had the strength to say we’re going to stop, take a break,
do our solo things or put our feet up on a beach for six months. Step away from
it.
“We were
in a position where we could have done that. I don’t think we needed to burn
all our bridges. It’s a real shame he took that view.
“We were
all under pressure. Paul wasn’t so much the first to snap, but the one who
decided he wanted to take control of his life.
“When
you’re in a band, I’m not saying you don’t have a life, but it’s not your own.”
Moving to
From the Jam, why did Rick quit when he did? I got the idea Bruce and Russ
weren’t expecting it.
“To put a
quick answer on it, the fun was literally gone out of that for a couple of
reasons which unless you’re actually in a band you wouldn’t understand.
“I really
started The Gift (the band’s name before Bruce joined) because I wanted to
revisit The Jam songs. That was the itch I wanted to scratch.
“When we
did the last shows in December 1982, I was reading the set-list as I was
playing and had it in the back of my mind I’m never going to play these again.
“This was
my chance to go back and be able to again. I couldn’t really see Bruce coming
on board when I started, but then he found himself out of Stiff Little Fingers
and eventually came on board full-time.
“From then
on, unfortunately, it fell apart quite quickly, which was a shame.”
I still
get the feeling there shouldn’t be any animosity. Shouldn’t you just go round,
make friends, give each other a big hug and get on with it?
“Erm… yes.
I’ve absolutely nothing against Bruce or Paul, despite what people might write
in the press, which is one reason why I get so fed up with it.
“When me
and Bruce got together again, we reached out to Paul, said why not just come
along, do a couple of numbers. We didn’t even get a ‘good luck but no thanks’.
“I didn’t
really understand that and still don’t. I know sometimes the press want to
sensationalise some of this stuff, but sometimes it’s a lot simpler than you
think.”
Since
quitting From The Jam, Rick’s had a spell in a band called If, and helps
promote a band called The Brompton Mix.
“It’s not
very much to give back, but it’s a little. I always remember how difficult it
is as an unsigned band trying to get work, not really knowing much about the
mechanics of the music industry.
”You see
bands not knowing what direction to take. I think they find it a big help.”
There was
also a spell as a furniture restorer. Could that ever have become the ‘day job’
if he’d never got that call from The Jam?
“It’s
really because of The Jam that I found myself in a position that I was able to
do that, and only really because I wanted to take a break from the music
industry.
“I know it
sounds odd but I don’t think I would have taken it up as a career if I’d not
had the opportunity to spend two or three months without having to earn any
money.”
For
details of Rick’s forthcoming Q&A shows go to
www.strangetown.net/q-and-a-tickets/4588154498.
For more
detail about That’s Entertainment – My Life In The Jam, go to the
autobiography’s facebook page or pre-order via Amazon.
For more on this interview, visit Malcom Wyatt, Freelance Writer, who has his own blog at: -
For more on this interview, visit Malcom Wyatt, Freelance Writer, who has his own blog at: -
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