Drummer Chris Slade says he felt insulted when AC/DC asked him to stay on as a replacement for Phil Rudd in 1994.
Slade played drums on AC/DC’s 1990 album The knife’s edge and retained his post for the subsequent tour in support of the hugely successful album.
But in 1994, the band wanted to bring back Rudd, who had been fired in 1983. Instead of simply letting Slade go, guitarist Malcolm Young offered the Welshman Slade the opportunity to stay on the payroll if things didn’t work out with Rudd.
Not surprisingly, Slade was a little upset and decided to leave.
When asked if he felt insulted by the request, Slade told 1 Question With: “Kind of, yeah. I wasn’t very happy about it. Who would be, right? They wanted to keep me just in case. Malcolm actually called me. And was a very nice guy.”
“He called me personally, no manager or anything, and 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 gone.’ Then he said, ‘No, no. We want you to stay here.’ I said, ‘No. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, Malcolm.'”
Despite feeling slighted, Slade has nothing but praise for the late Malcolm Young, adding: “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 will ever be another rhythm guitarist who can compete with Malcolm.”
“If I had been my father at the time, I would have said, ‘Look, just sit there and take the money, OK?’ Very stupid of me, to be quite honest.”
Slade finally returned to AC/DC in 2015 for the Rock or bust Tour after Rudd got into legal trouble.
