Rock legend Chandler would have turned 80
THE great Chas Chandler would have turned 80 today.
Born in Second Avenue, Heaton, Newcastle, on this day in 1938, the young Bryan Chandler took an early interest in guitar as the new rock’n’roll craze swept Britain in the mid-1950s.
Turning his back on a career as a turner in the Tyneside shipyards, he became part of the Alan Price Rhythm and Blues Combo.
With Chas on bass, alongside keyboard player Price, vocalist Eric Burdon, guitarist Hilton Valentine and drummer John Steel, they would soon re-name themselves The Animals.
By 1964-65 the band rivalled The Beatles in terms of popularity in the United States, scoring major hits with the likes of House Of The Rising Sun, and We Gotta Get out of This Place.
After The Animals’ acrimonious break-up in 1966, a hard-up Chandler would continue to be a big player in the music business.
He famously discovered guitar legend Jimi Hendrix playing in a coffee bar in New York’s Greenwich Village.
Years later, Chas remembered: “When Hey Joe entered the charts, Jimi and I had three quid between us.”
The entrepreneurial Chandler struck gold managing Slade, one of the biggest pop bands of the 1970s, for 12 years.
In 1981, he said of his success with the Wolverhampton glam rockers: “You have one hit record, but you don’t relax. You’re always obsessed with finding the next one.”
Then, in 1983, the 45-year-old Chandler re-entered the performing fray as The Animals briefly reformed. The project was short-lived but had some success, especially in the States.
The bass player told the Chronicle: “We were playing in front of audiences of 17,000 in Seattle and 12,000 in Philadelphia.” And he joked: “After sharing the same coach and hotels for the last five months, nobody in the band has a black eye.”
Chandler married twice, his second wife being a former Miss UK, and he had four children from the two marriages.
The lasting testament to one of the region’s greatest musical sons is Newcastle Arena which he masterminded with business partner, Nigel Stanger.
Chas told the Chronicle in 1995: “It’s about time this city saw the big stars. Take That didn’t play Newcastle on their last tour as there wasn’t a suitable venue. Next time there will be.”
The Arena opened that year and has since hosted many of the world’s biggest acts.
Little more than six months later, on July 17, 1996, a heart problem claimed Chas Chandler’s life.