Drummer Chris Slade on how he got the AC/DC gig, and the day he found out he had to leave
Pretty good. I’m in lockdown, as usual, as I presume you are in the States. I can’t really go anywhere. We’re allowed into the pubs now, but I’m not going. Things are pretty nasty.
I had left school at the time and was working a summer job in a shoe shop in Cardiff, which is the capital city of Wales, 12 miles from where I was born, in Pontypridd. I’d heard that Tom’s band had either lost or sacked their drummer the night before. I knew what the guys looked like in the band because they were famous around the towns and villages.
Tell me about recording “It’s Not Unusual.” I know you didn’t wind up on the master recording that came out. He said, “Do you know any bass players?” I said, “Funny enough, just last week I met a bass player called Colin Pattenden.” Manfred also knew [guitarist] Mick Rogers from Australia. We put that band together and it became Manfred Mann’s Earth Band. It was called Manfred Mann in the beginning, but we couldn’t get any work because everybody thought of the pop band, which was not very popular at that time.
Were you shocked to see it hit Number One in the States? To this day, Bruce himself has never even managed that. I was thinking, “Oh, God, that’s the end of it now.” And he goes, “That’s all 0right. We’ll wait.” Holds phone away from face. Stares at phone for about 30 seconds. Couldn’t believe it. “OK, we’re not in any sort of rush, really. How long is the tour?” I said, “I think it’s going to be three months.” “Well, keep me in touch and we’ll see what happens when it finishes. But we definitely want you to play drums.” I went, “OK, thanks a lot.
I was told this by Dick Jones, the drum tech. He auditioned even people that weren’t professionals. He spent weeks auditioning people, like “OK, next …” This was without the band. He had been with them for 30 years by that time. He sorted the wheat from the chaff, and the professional players got proper auditions with the band playing with Angus, Mal, and Brian singing. We did things like “Back in Black.
Angus and Malcolm had already written it, of course, as they write everything. They demoed it, like they always do. Angus or Malcolm were playing drums, real drums. I’ve heard a few demos where they use a drum machine as well. But it’s them hitting the buttons. How was the tour? Those must have been some of the biggest crowds you’d ever played to. They were a stadium act at that point.
When you heard about Phil Rudd’s troubles, did you think maybe the band was going to call you back in?] I didn’t. I had hopes, of course; why wouldn’t I? But time went on and on. Friends and fans and people kept saying, “Have they called you yet? Have they called you yet?” I went, “Look, they’re not going to call me.” “No, they’re bound to.” “No, they’re not going to call me.”
I never got the story. But I had been talking to the crew and they filled me in. All I know is — and this is serious; I don’t know the details — all I know is that Brian went from Miami to home. He lives in Florida anyway. As far as I know, he stayed there. There were rumors at the end of the tour that Angus was going to go into the studio with Axl to make a new AC/DC record. Did you hear anything about that?Rock or BustNo. Absolutely no. [] And he never would, anyway. They used to take five years between albums. They still do, at least. No. There would be no discussion, not even between Angus, Cliff, and Brian. There would be no keeping in touch every week. There’s none of that. It’s like, “OK, that’s over now. We’ll talk again in five years.
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