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Buck Rogers (song)

"Buck Rogers" is a song by Welsh rock band Feeder. It was the first single to be taken from their third studio album, Echo Park (2001), and was released on The Echo Label. The track reached number five on the UK Singles Chart after its release on 8 January 2001. The group had originally not intended the track to be one of theirs, as frontman and main songwriter of the band Grant Nicholas originally wrote "Buck Rogers" for SR-71, only for producer Gil Norton and A&R staff of Echo to convince the band they could have a hit with it themselves, after hearing a demo recorded by Feeder. It continues to be played on UK alternative radio stations as a classic hit of its genre. The single has been certified gold in the United Kingdom for sales and streaming figures exceeding 400,000 units.

"Buck Rogers"

  • "Purple"
  • "Heads"
  • "We the Electronic"
  • "21st Century Meltdown"
  • "Sex Type Drug"

8 January 2001 (2001-01-08)

Great Lindford Manor

Grunge[1]

3:13

Echo

The song title was inspired by the television show of the same name as Nicholas wanted to create a futuristic sound. Critical reaction was largely positive with the song being named one of Kerrang! magazine's "666 Songs You Must Own" in November 2004, and appearing on various other lists, despite NME giving a heavy negative reaction, claiming that the single would be "Lucky to reach the top 30". The music video for "Buck Rogers" was directed by Markus Walter and features footage of the group performing the song inside an elephant named "Daisy", situated in an underground car park.

Background[edit]

The song was written by frontman Grant Nicholas for their third album Echo Park. During the year the band played festivals in the UK which previewed the material they were working on at the time, and would then play a series of small venues near the end of the year. Amongst the new songs they played, was their then forthcoming new single "Buck Rogers".[2]


The song is about a relationship ending, in which the character in the song meets a person named "Buck Rogers" who owns a "brand new car" that "looks like a Jaguar". His partner leaves him for the "Buck Rogers" character, which leads him to say "but I don't want to talk about it anymore", before looking on a positive side saying that he thinks he's going to make it through if he buys "a house in Devon", and starts "all over again" with her. The character then reunites with his friends to "drink cider from a lemon".[3] Grant has said that the song employs an element of humour upon closer scrutiny.[2]


The track's name came about when Grant was playing on a keyboard and invented a piece of music he said was "futuristic", and asked his engineer Matt Sime what to call the piece. They both thought "Buck Rogers" would sound appropriate for a working title which then stuck.[2] The recorded demo was originally for SR-71, but was convinced by producer Gil Norton not to part with the song as he believed the band could have a hit with it.[4]


The first ever live performance of "Buck Rogers" at Glastonbury in 2000 featured the lyrics "Driving wheel to stone" instead of "Looks like a Jaguar", the song has been played at every gig on tour, one-off gigs and festivals, until the May 2008 tour, which saw the song dropped from setlists (excluding TV appearances and a gig supporting Coldplay), for the first time in its history. Since then the song has made a comeback into the bands sets. It also appeared in the video game Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec, the DVD and VHS versions of the 2003 Human Bodyboarding Teahupo'o Challenge, and in the 2001 film Behind Enemy Lines.

Music video[edit]

The video starts with the band walking out from a spaceship, which is disguised as an elephant. During the first chorus after they walk out they are holding various fast food items, while looking around the velodrome looking complex, wondering where they have landed. After the chorus, shots of the band standing still in mid-air positions are shown, and then the band mostly performing the song in fast motion with occasional freeze-frame shots added in.


Before the last chorus, the band make their way back inside the elephant spaceship and look surprised as the inside is bigger than it looks on the outside. Here the band perform the last verse playing on instruments already inside the elephant, while the camera pans round the band before the screen turns black as the song ends at the same time.


The video was shot in Berlin, Germany in an underground car park and a sports complex.[5]

After "Buck Rogers"[edit]

Feeder continued to have chart success after "Buck Rogers", despite many critics labelling the band as one-hit wonders. Drummer Jon Lee however died in January 2002 after taking his own life, before the band made their return to the live stage in August later that year, with the highlight being a well-received set on the second stage of the Reading Festival. Comfort in Sound became a big success in their homeland and was recorded with Mark Richardson on drums. It propelled Feeder to a brief arena status which ended after Silent Cry fell behind sales expectations, but last played arenas in 2006, two years before the album was released.


After releasing three more top 10 albums from Comfort in Sound onwards, which included a singles album, Mark parted company to return to a reformed Skunk Anansie, before Karl Brazil joined the band as an unofficial member. He was later joined by Damon Wilson and Tim Trotter as additional session drummers. Brazil was however the only drummer in that set-up to have recorded with the band, before 2016 saw Wilson leave the music industry to raise his family, while Trotter has not been heard of Since. Today, Geoff Holroyde drums with the band live and in the studio, with Brazil occasionally in the studio.


Feeder's chart success has however not been on the same level as in the past, but have since charted from Silent Cry onwards six more top 20 albums, with the last four of these going top 10 allowing them to chart in that section of the album chart, for three consecutive decades.


The Echo Label, who released "Buck Rogers", folded as a record label in 2008, leading to Feeder to search for a new deal. There were plans to release a tour only single, but contract obligations saw the release delayed. Although there were deals on the table, Feeder decided to create their own label Big Teeth Music in 2009, releasing two albums on the label before signing with Cooking Vinyl in 2016, Believe Music in 2019 then back to Big Teeth Music. In 2011, Matt Sime briefly retired from the music business only to work with the band again soon after.