Buck-Tick was originally called 非難Go-Go (Hinan Go-Go), which started off as The Stalin cover band in 1984. They were formed in Takasaki city, Gunma prefecture. 非難Go-Go's lineup included the original singer Araki on vocals, Atushi Sakurai on drums, Hisashi Imai on guitar, Hidehiko Hoshino on guitar and Yutaka Higuchi on bass. They were already playing many of the early Buck-Tick songs.
During the summer of 1984, they renamed to Buck-Tick (爆竹; pronounced Baku-Chiku, meaning firecracker) while Araki was still a member. On August 4th 1985, they played their first live show as Buck-Tick at the Shinjuku Jam after relocating to Tokyo. Araki left the band after playing a show at the Shinjuku Jam on November 8th 1985. Atsushi Sakurai became the band's new singer and Toll Yagami (Yutaka's older brother), who previously played in a Takasaki-based punk/wave band called S.P, joined Buck-Tick as their new drummer. (Some of the very early Buck-Tick songs were actually originally played by S.P.) The first show with their new and current lineup was at the Shinjuku Jam on December 4th 1985. Buck-Tick's lineup has not changed from 1985 to October 19, 2023, which saw the passing of vocalist Atsushi Sakurai.

Though he's not a member of the group, Kazutoshi Yokoyama has contributed to every album since 1992's 殺シノ調ベ This Is NOT Greatest Hits, and is considered by many to be Buck-Tick's unofficial sixth member.