A farewell to our friend Terry Slater

photo: janne møller hansen

all fairy tales have a beginning and an end. 

terry slater is dead, but his legacy lives on.

the terry we knew was a great many things: he was an ox, a fighter - in fact a young cockney amateur boxer, a gifted musician, a hit-composer (bowling green), producer, a person whose hair turned grey way too early. an A&R executive, head of a major-label record company…and more.

to us, he was our manager - the one who fought for us. who looked out for us. the one who (without our knowing) threatened anyone doing drugs in our vicinity with breaking their legs. wisely, they believed him. 

it was us against the world.

we learnt more over the years: that terry was a carer - loyal to his friends and dismissive of criticism of them. he was extremely funny and diplomatic…and sometimes not funny and definitely not diplomatic. 

he was tall, he was decisive. he was also always worried…and a bit of a hypochondriac. the paradoxical blend of a warrior and a worrier. 

tough and vulnerable. but always, always, someone you could trust to do his best for you in the ring. the guy in your corner. 

he taught us many lifehacks - among them the crucial but expensive joy of white montrachet wine, how to not spot the perils of a bad oyster (deauville, normandie), how to swing an effective left hook, and much more.

his roaring, coughing-fit laughter when we watched the movie ‘raising arizona’ together (in a cinema in vegas i believe) made that movie so much funnier than when i tried to watch it again afterwards without him.

terry was respected, connected, conflicted, and, sadly, ultimately rejected - by a-ha. well, success makes people believe their own press releases. we grew up in this business under his wing. and then - like all young chicklets - we flew the coup. 

but his impact and imprint was never lost on us, and our love and respect for him not abandoned nor forgotten. 

in our hearts and minds terry is deeply embedded. if ever there was a 4th member of a-ha during those crazy first years, terry was it.

now he is gone. but not really. so many will remember, and we perhaps more than most. we are indebted to him in ways our grandchildren will learn about. 

we may have been one of his many achievements, but he made us stars on the music night-sky.

thank you terry. you were the keystone in the building of our arch. thank you for herding this unruly clowder of cats. 

you helped push our heads into the clouds. and now that is where you reside.

float in peace and may your peace bring us - and the world - more of it.

magne