Richard Paul Buckler was born on 6 December 1955 in the town of Woking in the county of Surrey, England. He received his education at Sheerwater Secondary School, in Woking. While there in the early 1970s, he joined other pupils in a newly formed band named the Jam.[2]
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.[3]

Although the band's creative output came to be attributed primarily to its lead vocalist and guitarist Paul Weller, its rhythm section of Buckler and Bruce Foxton (bass guitar) were integral to its sound, and 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.[4]

The band broke up at the behest of Weller in 1982, and Buckler and Weller – apart from a brief greeting exchanged in passing at a chance meeting – did not speak to one another again.[5]

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".[citation needed]

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.

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).[6]

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.[7][5]

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. After four years of touring, Buckler quit From the Jam in September 2009, being replaced by Mark Brzezicki of Big Country. 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,[8] 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.[5]

In 2011, Buckler joined a short-lived new band named If as its drummer, with Tim V. from Sham 69 on vocals, and Ian Whitewood on second drums, Tony Feedback on guitar and Al Campbell on bass guitar.[citation needed]

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.[9]

In 2013, Buckler moved into a management consultancy role for number of new musical acts, including singer-guitarist Sarah Jane, and the band the Brompton Mix.[10]

Buckler's autobiography, entitled That's Entertainment: My Life in the Jam, was published in 2015 by Omnibus Press.[11][12]