AC/DC
William and Margaret Young left Glasgow, Scotland in 1963 for Sydney, Australia. With a low population and abundant resources Australia promised a better life.
A decade later their sons Angus and Malcolm Young (lead and rhythm guitar, respectively) launched AC/DC playing their first performance New Year Eve ’73. Their set included covers of the Rolling Stones and Chuck Berry. And while they soon wrote their own material, the band never strayed from their roots.
AC/DC took its name from a vacuum cleaner voltage label – Alternating Current/Direct Current (AC/DC). Angus and Malcolm’s sister Margaret came up with the idea. However, the term also had bi-sexual connotations that caused the band some embarrassment in the early days.
Visually, the most striking thing was Angus Young’s schoolboy outfit. He came home from school and without changing, rushed off to band practice. Margaret suggested he wear the uniform on stage. Angus thought it was a horrible idea until his older brother George said it would help people remember the band.
In ’74 Bon Scott replaced Dave Evans as lead singer. Scott had first auditioned as a drummer. However, a second audition, this time as a singer, did the trick.
Scott’s major claim to Rock immortality was singing “It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Want To Rock n’ Roll,” which landed on the band’s sophomore album “T.N.T.” Internationally, the song was on “High Voltage” (1976).
With producer Mutt Lange, AC/DC broke through with their sixth album, “Highway To Hell,” which included the title track and “Touch Too Much.”
With their career on the upswing, the band suffered a tragic loss. Scott was found dead in a parked car in London on 2/20/80. The official cause was “Death by Misadventure – Acute Alcoholic Poisoning.” The Young brothers didn’t know what to do – break-up or continue.
They decided to carry on with Brian Johnson. He auditioned singing “Whole Lotta Rosie” and the Ike & Tina Turner classic “Nutbush City Limits.” Again, with Mutt Lange, AC/DC recorded “Back In Black,” their best album.
They followed that success with “For Those About To Rock (We Salute You).”
When AC/DC was inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 Aerosmith’s Stephen Tyler said the band’s power chords were “the thunder from down under that gives you the second-most-powerful surge that can flow through your body.” Then the band performed “Highway To Hell” and “You Shook Me All Night Long.”
Rather than retiring and sitting on their laurels (very uncomfortable), AC/DC continued to record and tour extensively.
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