Drummer Chris Slade says he felt insulted when AC/DC asked him to stick around as Phil Rudd's understudy in 1994.
Slade was behind the kit on AC/DC's 1990 album The Razors Edge and held 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. Rather than simply let Slade go, guitarist Malcolm Young offered Welshman Slade the chance to stay on the payroll in case things with Rudd didn't work out.
Not surprisingly, Slade was somewhat put out and decided to walk away.
Asked if he felt insulted by the request, Slade tells 1 Question With: "Sort of, yes. I wasn't very happy about it. Who would be, right? They wanted to keep me on in case. Malcolm called me actually. And was a very nice guy.
"He called me personally, not a manager or anything, and he said 'Look, it's nothing bad.' I remember it very well. 'There's nothing you are doing or have not done, but we're going to trying Phil out again, OK?' And I said, 'Oh, well, that's it. I'm gone.' Then he said, 'No, no. We'd like you to stay around.' 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 is a genius guitarist by the way. I mean genius. I don't mean he was very good. He's the best rhythm player I have ever worked with in my life, and I doubt if there'll be another rhythm player that could possibly touch sides with Malcolm.
"If I'd 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 very honest."
Slade would eventually return to AC/DC in 2015 for the Rock or Bust tour after Rudd ran into legal trouble.
