Even 30 years on, the moment he realised the dream was over still has an emotional effect on Rick Buckler.

As the drummer in The Jam he was part of the biggest band of their generation – a band at the peak of their powers when frontman Paul Weller decided to pull the plug after five years of success.

Rick, Paul and bass player Bruce Foxton had formed the band in Woking in the mid-70s and then risen to fame at the time of punk.

By 1982 they had enjoyed a string of number one singles, toured arenas throughout the world and had the music press hanging on their every word.

But unbeknown to the others, Weller had had enough and decided to call it a day.

Rick remembers that he suspected something was wrong when he was told to attend a band meeting in the summer of 1982.

“We never had band meetings, so I thought ‘Where’s this coming from?’,” he said.

“We were in a recording studio to do some b-sides. We sat down at a coffee table – me, Bruce, Paul and Paul’s dad John, who was our manager – and it was almost like John couldn’t get the words out. I’m sure he didn’t want the band to finish.

“He had to speak for Paul, Paul didn’t really say anything. Anyway, John said that was it, Paul was going to leave the band and we – especially Bruce – tried to say ‘Why don’t we just put it on hold for six months and anybody can go and do their solo project and see how we feel?’ It just seemed so sudden, there didn’t seem to be any logic to it.”

Rick continues: “I didn’t really take it in at first, we had six months of commitments in front of us. We had a massive tour which was going to finish at Guildford but then we added a final gig at Brighton (on December 11, 1982).

“It was like we were going to be driving over a cliff at the end of the year, and you keep thinking ‘Maybe he’ll change his mind’.”

For the drummer, the end came way too soon as the band were playing better than ever.

“As a band we were really tight at that time – even if something went wrong no-one would have noticed because we were so used to playing with each other we’d get round it.

“It also came as a shock because everything that we worked for had come true and we thought we’ve finally got to the point where we don’t have to worry about winning audiences over. We’ve done all the graft, the sound of the band was really what we wanted, touring had become relatively comfortable because we had decent hotels and decent transport.

“We’d done all the travelling round in the most difficult circumstances and staying in terrible hotels. We’d got through all of that. Then Paul said that’s it… It was such a huge part of all of our lives.”

Despite his hopes, The Jam played that final gig at the Brighton Centre then went their separate ways.

Rick remembers: “After the last show I just went home and sat there. It was hard, like losing your job, I thought what am I going to do now? It seemed surreal.

“I went through a normal Christmas and in the new year decided I’ll start another band.”

He formed Time UK, later drummed with The Highliners, formed The Gift and then returned to playing Jam songs with Foxton in From The Jam. Despite some success, he was never to return to the glory days of the early 80s.

Of course, the silver lining of splitting up The Jam at the height of their success means their heritage is unsullied – they never entered the downward spiral that afflicts so many bands late in their career.

“I’m very proud of the fact that on each one of our albums we moved on – and they’re all terrific,” he said. “It was a fabulous time and we never hit that downhill slope and we never rested on our laurels.

“The only regret now is that myself and Bruce felt there was at least another couple of decent albums in The Jam. We’d always explored things like having brass players, making the sound bigger and so on.

“Looking back over them, I’m not that keen on In The City but I like a lot of stuff on This Is The Modern World. I hadn’t listened to it for years but I heard Life From A Window the other day and it’s fabulous – I had forgotten how good that was.

“I love them all but actually there’s an album called Live Jam which I think I love most because that’s how I remember the band.”

In recent years, he says he has come to realise why Paul made his momentous decision to abandon the band.

“As soon as we signed to Polydor records in 1977 they just wanted us to work and we were suckers for it,” said Rick.

“The record company set the pace and it just became this huge machine that never stopped. Those five years from 1977 to 1982 were full on.

"I don’t think we had any time off to speak of, putting the brakes on just wasn’t thought about.

“Paul was expected to write to order, we had deadlines to fulfil – once we had an album out we had to go on the road.

“The more successful it became the more people wanted stuff. Nobody had the strength to say ‘No let’s take time out’. In the end it just broke…

“Myself and Bruce have realised this looking back on it, but only with hindsight. At the time we were quite happy to go out there and play. What we lost control of was the business side of it. If you signed this contract to produce product and play in all these countries, you have to fulfil it.

“But for me it was all high points. It was an upward progression all the way, which was fabulous really.

“We ran with a continual six-month schedule in front of us. This is when the album comes out, this is for the single, the tours were organised in advance. There never seemed to be an end to it, which was what we wanted.”

But, although he now understands Weller’s decision, he feels it might have been better to take a break and then push The Jam on to even greater heights.

“Paul said he felt he was on a treadmill to fulfil contractual obligations and I perfectly understand that. The demand was on him as the main songwriter to constantly come up with product.

“It’s almost unbelievable now because we should have taken control of it.

“But one thing I found hard to understand was when I found out that back in the summer – not long after he told us he wanted to leave – he had re-signed another contract with Polydor. He’d jumped out of one frying pan straight into another.

“I suppose that was his way of taking control.”

Read more of Rick’s thoughts on Paul Weller, the early days of The Jam and supporting The Sex Pistols next week