Rick Buckler, former drummer with The Jam, will have a new history of the band’s final year published by Omnibus Press on November 17.
Shop the best of The Jam’s discography on vinyl.
The Jam 1982 is written by Buckler and Zoë Howe and, in full color, glossy format, tells the eye-witness account of the band’s epic last year together, featuring previously unseen images from Buckler’s own collection. A strictly limited edition, signed hardback of the volume, including an exclusive print, will be available on the same day, and can be pre-ordered here.
The book also includes contributions from key members of those in and around the ever-influential band at the time, including DJ Gary Crowley, producer Peter Wilson, A&R manager Dennis Munday, photographer Neil “Twink” Tinning, Jennie Matthias (the member of chart group the Belle Stars who sang on “The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had To Swallow”), and touring musicians Jamie Telford and Steve Nichol. Other friends and acolytes sharing their tales of 1982 include Eddie Piller, Paolo Hewitt, and Mat Osman.
“From the moment I teamed up with Paul [Weller] at school to start a band, everything else became secondary,” says Buckler. “We started out as a three piece with Steve Brookes on lead guitar and vocals, Paul on his prized Hofner violin bass and backing vocals, and myself on drums. We also had a name – not a very good name we thought – but it would do until we thought of a better one: The Jam. Dave Waller joined on rhythm guitar, learning to play on the way.
“Rehearsing in Paul’s bedroom,” he continues, “we got together a set of sixties covers and put on an hour of music as we worked towards our first gigs in Sheerwater Youth Club, county fairs, and anywhere around the Woking area we could secure a booking. Dave soon dropped out and in the meantime we continued to go out as a three piece, improving our set and adding in some rather dodgy self-penned love songs along the way.”
Bucker concludes: “Forty years after the split of The Jam, the real inside story hasn’t been fully told. The Jam still means a great deal to me and to so many others. I have always thought it was a great shame that we did not take it as far as we should.”
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