'Funeral Pyre': The finest moment of The Jam's powerhouse drummer Rick Buckler

20 February 2025, 12:35

The Jam wouldn't have been The Jam without Rick Buckler.

The Jam were simply one of the greatest bands in pop history.

Much of the credit for their incredible back catalogue rightly goes to frontman and lead songwriter Paul Weller, but the contributions of bassist Bruce Foxton and drummer Rick Buckler shouldn't ever be understated.

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When Weller broke the sad news of Buckler's passing earlier this week at the age of 69, fans immediately went running to YouTube to listen back to the band's greatest performances and pay their tributes.

As well as the band's biggest hits like number ones 'Going Underground', 'Start', 'A Town Called Malice' and 'Beat Surrender', special attention has been paid to 1981 standalone single 'Funeral Pyre'.

It makes sense, as while most Jam singles were written solely by Weller, 'Funeral Pyre' was the only track written by all three members, with Weller, Foxton and Butler sharing songwriting credits.

The Jam - Funeral Pyre

The song actually kicks off without the singer, being borne of a studio jam between that peerless rhythm section of Buckler and Foxton, before Weller makes his entrance.

And as well as his impeccably tight drumming throughout, the song features those powerful but never too-flashy fills that were Buckler's landmark.

The song ends with a 100mph machine gun outro from Buckler that he would re-create to great effect during the band's live shows.

The Jam Live - Funeral Pyre

On listening to the track, Jam fans paid tribute to the drummer.

"This song was your finest hour as The Jam drummer," "R. I. P. Rick. Listening to your wonderful drumming in remembrance of you," and "First track I thought of when I heard about the passing of Rick. What a drummer" were just some of the comments.

Weller abruptly called time on The Jam in 1982, a year after 'Funeral Pyre' got to number four in the singles charts.

After the breakup, Buckler played in Time UK before briefly reuniting with Foxton in Sharp. He late worked in music production and carpentry before forming Jam tribute The Gift.

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Foxton joined that group in 2007 and they rebraned to From the Jam, but Buckler left two years later.

While Foxton and Weller reconciled and collaborated in 2010, it appeared that Buckler had fallen out with Foxton around the same time.

With Weller never being keen on the idea, a full Jam reunion never happened, but their six studio albums live on as a stunning legacy for all three members, including Buckler.