How CHRIS SLADE rejected AC/DC – “Never change a running system, Malcolm”; Video

In the following video from Chris Akin Presents, drummer Chris Slade talks about how he was removed, or fired, from AC/DC but was asked to stay to see if things would work out with Phil Rudd.

Chris Akin presents: “Well, one of the rumors, and this is a pure rumor, so tell me if it’s just nonsense, but the rumor I always heard was that after Razor’s Edge and after the tour and everything, the band or management or somebody else wanted to try and get Phil (Rudd) back, but they wanted you to kind of wait in the wings in case it didn’t work out. The rumor I always heard was that you said, ‘No, I’m not available for anyone.’ And you left. Is that true?”

Chris Slade: “Yeah, that’s true. Very stupid of me, to be quite honest. If I’d been my dad at the time, I would have said, ‘Look, just sit there and take the money, OK?’ Because they wanted to keep me just in case. Malcolm actually called me. And was a very nice guy. But he’s a brilliant guitarist, by the way. I mean brilliant. I don’t mean he was very good. He’s the best rhythm guitarist I’ve ever worked with in my life, and I doubt there’ll ever be another rhythm guitarist that can match Malcolm. He called me personally, no manager or anything, and he said, ‘Look, it’s nothing bad.’ I remember it very well. ‘There’s nothing you’re doing or not doing, but we’re going to give Phil another go, OK?’ And I said, ‘Oh, that’s it. I’m off.’ Then he said, ‘No, no. We want you to stay here.’ I said, ‘No. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, Malcolm.’

Chris Akin presents: “Did you take it as an insult?”

Chris Slade: “Kind of, yeah. I wasn’t very happy about it. Who would be, right? And I had done the demos for, what was it, Black Ice? I can’t remember one after the other.”

Chris Akin presents: “Black Ice or Ballbreaker. One of them, I think.”

Chris Slade: “Ballbreaker, those were the demos for Ballbreaker. I had played all the demos. I knew that because I went to visit the guys in London after I left the band. They lived there and I knew they were there and I went to Cliff’s flat. They all had a flat. Of course I went to his flat and I could hear my demos playing upstairs. So that was Phil’s flat above Cliff’s. I asked, ‘Who’s upstairs?’ He said, ‘Phil’s up there.’ So Brian, Cliff and I went to the nearest pub and had a couple of beers. We had a really good time.”

The Chris Slade Timeline recently announced that their new album Timescape will be released worldwide on July 19th. Timescape contains completely original new tracks and some of Chris Slade’s most popular cover versions.

“Metal” Tim Henderson of BraveWords Records says: “The legendary Chris Slade never ceases to amaze us as he reinvents the rock world with a unique progressive orchestral vision of intense grandeur. To put it simply, the drummer still means business almost 60 years into his remarkable music career.”

Speaking about Timescape, Chris Slade said: “I am delighted to be releasing our new album The Chris Slade Timeline on BraveWords Records under the management of my old colleague Brian Adams, featuring all new original tracks and some of our favourite covers. I hope you will listen to this latest offering of new music and enjoy it for all fans of Timline and all fans of my previous music career.”

The Chris Slade Timeline album Timescape is available for pre-order here. The physical pre-order includes a limited edition postcard autographed by Chris Slade. Watch a video trailer below.

Chris Slade formed The Chris Slade Timeline in 2012 to celebrate over 50 years as a professional rock drummer. For this project, Slade enlisted the phenomenal vocalists Steve Glasscock and Paul “Bun” Davis, plus the stunning musical techniques of guitarist James Cornford and keyboardist/guitarist Michael J. Clark, and you’ve got a band to be reckoned with that is a fitting tribute to Slade’s illustrious musical career.

This is a concept for Slade, which includes appearances from a varied setlist of Tom Jones, Manfred Mann’s Earthband, Uriah Heep, The Firm, ASIA, MSG, David Gilmour and Gary Moore, as well as a whole host of AC/DC numbers and plenty of surprises revealed along the way.

“After all these years of recording and playing with some of the greatest rock musicians in the world such as Tom Jones, Manfred Mann’s Earthband, Gary Moore, Gary Numan, Denny Laine, Jimmy Page, Paul Rodgers, David Gilmour, Uriah Heep, Asia and of course AC/DC.

Tracklist of Timescape:

Disc 1:
“Sun Dance”
“We will survive”
“Bringer of joy”
“Living the dream”
“Song of Freedom”
“Back with all our might”
“Questions”
“Time goes by”
“End of Eternity”

Disc 2:
“The Knife’s Edge”
“Free”
“Blinded by the light”
“July Morning”
“Thunderstruck”
“Big weapon”
“Hells Bells”
“High voltage”

Trailer:

Chris Slade’s timeline is:

Paul “Bun” Davis – vocals
Stevie Gee – vocals, bass
James Cornford – guitar, vocals
Mike Clarke – keyboards, guitar, vocals

*Andy Crosby plays bass on “Sundance”, “Back With A Vengeance” and “Questions”

About Chris Slade:

Slade began his career at the age of 16 with Tom Jones before changing his name to Tom Jones, which included world tours and recordings throughout the 1960s.

Chris Slade was a founding member of Manfred Mann’s Earth Band in January 1971. He spent seven years with the band, recording eight albums and scoring three UK top ten singles: “Joybringer” (No. 9, October 1973), “Blinded By The Light” (No. 6, September 1976 and a million-selling No. 1 hit in the US) and “Davy’s On The Road Again” (No. 6, June 1978). After “Earthband” he spent two years with Uriah Heep, one year with Gary Numan and one year with David Gilmour in 1984.

He later formed The Firm with Jimmy Page, Paul Rodgers and bassist Tony Franklin. They produced two excellent albums for Atlantic in 1985 and 1986, which brought them several radio hits, including “Radioactive” and “Satisfaction Guaranteed”.

Then Chris joined Gary Moore, taking over from Cozy Powell just four days before the 1989 After The War tour began. At one of Gary Moore’s UK shows, Malcolm Young saw Chris Slade play. After the tour, Chris wanted to form a band with former Aerosmith guitarist Rick Dufay. But a call from AC/DC thwarted those plans, as he would tour and record with them for the next five years, playing on their acclaimed album Razors Edge and delivering a stunning performance on their concert DVD Live From Donington.

After his time with AC/DC, Chris joined the prog rock band Asia, who (despite the many personnel changes over the years) continued to produce excellent music. Chris recorded their studio albums Aura and Silent Nation with them from 2000 to 2004 and delivered his “trademark” energetic live performances on all subsequent tours, which lasted over five years.

In the 21st century, Slade played drums for German guitarist Michael Schenker for five years before forming The Chris Slade Timeline in 2012.