Former AC/DC drummer Chris Slade revealed that Tom Jones gave him a terrible paycheck, leading him to quit.
He told Vinyl Writer Music, “Money, actually. I was with him for seven years because Tommy Scott became Tom Jones, and the band became Tom Jones and The Squires – we were just the backing band to Tom Jones.
“We [The Squires] did tours of America with Tom, and after seven years, I found out that most people were getting paid three times what I was getting paid.
“They didn’t want to get rid of me; why would they pay me a third of everybody else?
“Nevertheless, they must have liked something I did because I was there for seven years, in fact, after The Squires. The other guys were all sort of real, session men, so they demanded real money to go on the road.
“And there was me, who was still stuck back in that shoe shop. I didn’t want it – that’s not true. I did want more, and I talked to the manager… he gave me like 50 bucks extra a week.
“So, I just went, ‘Well, screw you guys! I’m gone.’
“And when I say I’m gone, I’m gone; there’s no, ‘Oh, come on. We’ll give you another $200 a week.’ … ‘No, sorry guys, I’m gone.’ Then I ended up getting a phone call from Manfred Mann, who was a big name in those days.”
