The Jam gig I’ll always remember – along with the last one at the Rainbow in 1981 – is the time my mate filled in for drummer Rick Buckler at a gig.

It was at the Red Cow in Hammersmith, or maybe it was The Nashville. The Jam played both of them every week during March and April in 1977. Me and my mate Adrian went to most of them.

We were at journalism college together in Harlow, where we had bonded late the previous year as punk fans in those early days when no one liked punk (except us).

I’d been converted by seeing Patti Smith and The Ramones make their UK debuts at The Roundhouse in ’76 and Adrian had been at the very first gigs by The Sex Pistols and The Clash the same year.

Those Jam residencies began with a handful of people in the audience, a few more the next time, and a packed house before the end of the run, though by ‘packed’ I mean 50 or 60 people in a pub.

On one occasion, I can’t remember which, they finished their set and the audience kept calling for an encore. Weller leapt back onstage, followed by Foxton, eager to oblige. They looked behind them. “Rick’s gone,” someone yelled. “He got a lift home.”

“Anyone play the drums?” inquired Weller, more in hope than expectation. At which point Adrian jumped up and sat behind Buckler’s drum kit. He already knew that the band’s usual encore was the Batman theme.

And so it was that Adrian Thrills played drums in The Jam; for one night only – or, more accurately, for one song only. If the band ever get back together, I’m sure he’ll be waiting for the call.

RIP Rick Buckler 1955-2025