Jump to content

AC/DC

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by RexNL (talk | contribs) at 16:37, 25 January 2006 (Reverted edits by 65.31.107.135 (talk) to last version by Smurrayinchester). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
AC/DC
File:Acdc promo.jpg
Background information
OriginSydney, Australia
Years active1973 –present
MembersBrian Johnson
Angus Young
Malcolm Young
Cliff Williams
Phil Rudd

AC/DC is an Australian hard rock band.

The group formed in Sydney, Australia in December, 1971. Their albums have sold in colossal numbers, the total now being estimated at well in excess of 150 million copies worldwide, with the 1980 album Back in Black selling over 21 million in the US alone and 40+ world wide. The band has had two distinctive lead singers, and its fans tend to divide its history into the "Bon Scott era (1974-80)" and the "Brian Johnson era (1981-present)".

Although the group is generally considered to be a pioneer of hard rock and heavy metal music, the members have always referred to their music as rock 'n' roll. Their music is rhythm & blues-based with a higher level of distortion in the lead and rhythm guitars. Overall, AC/DC is the most successful and well-known rock band, and probably band of any genre, to hail from Australia.

History

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, the brothers Angus, Malcolm and George Young moved with their family to Sydney, Australia as children. George began playing guitar first, soon followed by Malcolm and Angus. Malcolm first played with a Newcastle, New South Wales band called The Velvet Underground (not to be confused with Lou Reed's group).

Their older brother George Young had been a member of Australia's most successful band during the 1960s, The Easybeats, who were the first local rock act to score an international hit ("Friday On My Mind") in 1966.

The early lineups of the band changed often; original drummer Colin Burgess (ex-The Masters Apprentices) was sacked after passing out on stage (reportedly because someone spiked his drink) and a number of different bassists and drummers passed through the band over the next year.

In September 1974, the original vocalist, Dave Evans, was replaced by another Scot, the charismatic singer Ronald "Bon" Scott, born in Kirriemuir, Scotland, and former lead vocalist for The Spectors in 1966. This signified the beginning of real success. With Evans, they recorded a three song single, which has "Rockin In The Parlour", "Show Business", and "Can I Sit Next To You Girl". "Show Business" and "Can I Sit Next To You Girl" were also recorded by Scott.

Another vital innovation was Angus Young's adoption of his now-famous school uniform as a regular stage outfit; the original was reputedly Angus' real uniform from his secondary school, Ashfield Boys High School, in Sydney. This idea was suggested by his sister.

The band's first album was 74 Jailbreak. Which that was their albulm that started their rock revolution.

Between 1974 and 1978, aided by regular appearances on the nationally-broadcast TV pop music show Countdown, AC/DC became one of the most popular and successful acts in Australia, scoring a string of hit albums and singles including their perennial rock anthem "It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)".

AC/DC signed an international deal with Atlantic Records. They worked all over the UK and Europe to establish themselves, touring almost constantly and gaining invaluable experience on the stadium circuit supporting the top hard-rock acts of the day including Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Kiss, Cheap Trick, Nazareth, Foreigner, Thin Lizzy, and The Who.

Their third Australian album Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Australia) was released in 1976. Bon Scott does a excellent job on "Jailbreak" a rough and raw tune, while the lyrics to "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" were banned by many parents across the world.

They survived the punk rock upheavals of 1976–1978, partly because they were (erroneously) tagged as a punk band by the British music press. They gained a solid cult following in the UK with their powerful performances and outrageous stage antics; Angus Young quickly became notorious for mooning the audience and the group was banned from several British venues. Their meaty hard-rock sound and Scott's provocative, leering stage persona are also reputed to have been significant influences on The Sex Pistols' lead singer Johnny Rotten.

It was their 1979 and fourth effort, Highway To Hell, produced by Mutt Lange, that propelled them into the top ranks of hard rock acts; its anthemic title track is still a radio staple and is still widely popular in the U.S.

Bon Scott died on 19 February 1980, the official story being that after a night of routine partying, Scott passed out and was left in a car owned by an acquaintance named Allistair Kinnear. Sometime the next day, Bon was found dead by Kinnear, having apparently choked on his own vomit while sleeping. Although that result was ultimately ruled out and the cause of death was hypothermia. There are many inconstancies in the official story, which in recent years have lead to many conspiracy theories, many involving heroin overdoses.

The band members considered quitting, but they were encouraged to continue by Bon Scott's parents. Shortly after, the band found their new lead singer in an Englishman, former Geordie lead singer Brian Johnson. With Johnson, they completed the song-writing and began recording Back in Black, also produced by Lange. This became their biggest-selling album, a hard-rock landmark. Among the album's hits, the title track, an unstated tribute to Scott, and "You Shook Me All Night Long", are quintessential AC/DC: pounding guitars, start-stop rhythms, and the vocal style one critic affectionately described as "crotch on barbed wire." The follow-up album, For Those About to Rock We Salute You, released in 1981, also sold very well and was well received by critics.

The band split with Lange for their self-produced 1983 album, Flick of the Switch. Predictably, perhaps, its production values were not on par with the previous three LPs, despite some memorable tracks. Amid rumours of alcoholism, drummer Phil Rudd left after a mysterious argument with a band member, possibly Malcolm. Rudd was replaced by Simon Wright from Tytan, after the band held an anonymous audition. With the new lineup they recorded the less successful Fly On The Wall, produced by the Young brothers, in 1985. Many fans and critics felt the band was by this time over the hill, eclipsed by newer, American hard rock bands such as Mötley Crüe, Poison and Guns N' Roses. An ambitious series of music videos featuring the band at a bar playing five of the album's ten songs and supplemented by a variety of goings-on, including an animated fly, was also released.

In 1986, the group returned to the charts with the title track from Who Made Who, the soundtrack to Stephen King's film Maximum Overdrive. The album also included two new instrumentals along with old hits, only one of which was from the Bon Scott era; the band's first compilation sold reasonably well. In February 1988 AC/DC were inducted into ARIA Hall of Fame. The next album, Blow Up Your Video (1988) saw them reunited with their original producers, Harry Vanda and George Young; it sold better than any album since For Those About to Rock We Salute You. Although its production values were an improvement on Flick of the Switch and Fly on the Wall, it was not the return to the success of their earlier work many fans had hoped for, despite scoring a British Top 10 single with "Heatseeker".

Following Video, Wright left the group, replaced by session veteran Chris Slade. Johnson was unavailable for several months (it was said he was tending to his ailing father, but he was also in rehabilitation). The Young brothers wrote the songs for the next record themselves, as they would do for all subsequent releases. Joining with Bon Jovi producer Bruce Fairbairn, the first album with this new lineup was The Razor's Edge, a big comeback for the group that included the hits "Thunderstruck" and "Money Talks". The album went multiplatinum and went into the top ten in the United States and elsewhere around the world.

By 1994, a sober Rudd had returned. The departure of Chris Slade was, however, amicable and mainly due to the band's strong wish to return with Rudd. According to Angus Young, Slade was the best musician in AC/DC, but the wish to regroup with Rudd was stronger. With the 1980–1983 lineup back, the group recorded Ballbreaker (1995) with hip hop and heavy metal producer Rick Rubin and Stiff Upper Lip (2000).

In 2002, Q magazine put AC/DC at the very top of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die" list. AC/DC have entered into a long-term, multi-album deal for new recordings, which will be released through Epic Records.

In March 2003, the walls at New York City's historic Waldorf Astoria hotel shook, as AC/DC performed "Highway To Hell" during part of their induction to the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame, and "You Shook Me All Night Long" with guest vocals by Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, who inducted AC/DC into the hall of fame. "AC/DC became the litmus test of what rock does," Tyler said. "Does it make you clench your fist when you sing along? Does it scare your parents to hell, and piss off the neighbors? Does it make you dance so close to the fire that you burn your feet--and still don't give a rat's ass? Does it make you want to stand up and scream for something that you're not even sure of yet? Does it make you want to boil your sneakers, and make soup outta your girlfriend's panties? (audience laughter) If it doesn't, then it ain't AC/DC."Alongside the band were two of Scott's nephews. In a brief acceptance speech, the band again thanked the fans for their support.Brian Johnson quoted the band's 1977 song "Let There Be Rock," written by Bon Scott. "'In the beginning, back in 1955, man didn't know about the rock 'n roll show and all that jive. The white man had the schmaltz, the black man had the blues, but no one knew what they was gonna do, but Tchaikovsky had the news, he said, let there be rock,'" Johnson said. "Bon Scott wrote that. And it's a real privilege to accept these awards tonight."

In May 2003, Malcolm Young accepted the Ted Albert Award For Outstanding Service To Australian Music and paid special tribute to Bon Scott. That same year, the Recording Industry Association of America upgraded the group's US sales figures, increasing their cumulative sales from 46.5 million to 63 million, making AC/DC the fifth-bestselling band in US music history, behind The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Eagles. The RIAA also certified the classic Back in Black album as double diamond (20,000,000) US sales, making it the sixth bestselling U.S. album in history. As of 2005, the album has sold 21 million copies, moving it into fifth place.

On July 30 of the same year, the band gave a performance with the Rolling Stones at the "Sarsfest", Toronto Rocks, in Toronto, Canada. Held before an audience of 500,000, the concert was held to help the city overcome the effects of the 2003 SARS epidemic.

Johnson has long been working on a musical version of Helen of Troy; he was inspired to do so after seeing Cats and describing it as 'fucking shite, wrist-cuttingly bad'.

On 1 October 2004 Melbourne's road Corporation Lane was officially renamed "ACDC Lane" in honour of the band (street names in the City of Melbourne cannot contain the "/" character). It is near Swanston Street, the location where, on the back of a truck, the band recorded their video for the 1975 hit "It's a Long Way to the Top". (Two members of the band were born in Melbourne.) There is also a street named after the band in Leganés, Spain (near Madrid) named Calle De AC/DC.

AC/DC have started writing for their next album which may be released in 2006. Fifa Riccobono, CEO of Albert Productions, has confirmed the songs have been written for the next record and it is known that the band are now recording in London.

Name

A false rumor stated that an early name suggested for the band by Cliff Williams was "The Razor's Edge". This is false, as Cliff Williams did not join AC/DC until 1977 and had no prior contact with the band. The name "AC/DC" (alternating current/direct current) was suggested by the Young brothers' sister Margaret after she read it on an electric sewing machine's label.

The band was initially unaware of the bisexual connotation of the term; public response brought it to their attention. This public perception was exacerbated by their early "glam rock" image, which included satin jumpsuits (common rock attire in the early '70s) and other costumes including Angus' schoolboy persona. Note that many bands adopted a deliberately theatrical and androgynous look at the time, including two of Malcolm's heroes: The Rolling Stones and Marc Bolan.

Some have suggested that the name stood for "Anti-Christ/Devil's Children"; the rumour has long persisted both among critics who, already disliking the band's image, use it to paint the band as Satanists, and among some fans who, especially in the 1980s, enjoyed the countercultural offense such a meaning would cause. Some people believe AC/DC members (or even fans) follow Satanism, although the band has stated this is not true (Malcolm adding, "Me mum would kill me for that!") . This was also denied stating publicly, "We write songs like this to make a point and to give the listeners a picture in their minds." On 31 December 2001, in New Mexico, AC/DC records were burnt for this reason, alongside the Harry Potter novels.

The name AC/DC is pronounced one letter at a time, although the band is nicknamed by its Australian fans as "Acca Dacca".

One country music band has named themselves Hayseed Dixie, as a parody of the AC/DC name. In a similar vein, a German AC/DC cover band call themselves AM/FM. There also used to be a Swedish and an Italian group by the name AB/CD ([1]). There is also a Canadian AC/DC tribute band known as BC/DC, after the province of British Columbia. Several all-female cover bands of AC/DC exist, including AC/DShe, Whole Lotta Rosies, Thund-Her-Struck, and Hell's Belles.

Members

Current line-up

Former members

Discography

Australia

Europe & United States

Books

  • 1982 - AC/DC by Malcolm Dome Proteus
  • 1982 - AC/DC-Hell Ain't No Bad Place To Be by Richard Bunton
  • 1986 - AC/DC (Monsters of Metal) by Tim Holmes Ballantine
  • 1991 - AC/DC Shock To The System by Mark Putterford
  • 1996 - AC/DC: The World's Heaviest Rock by Martin Huxley
  • 2001 - AC/DC: The Definitive History by Malcolm Dome. Reprinted 1995, 2001.
  • 2003 - Highway to Hell: The Life and Times of AC/DC Legend Bon Scott by Clinton Walker. Reprinted 1994–1995, 1997, 2002–2003.
  • 2005 - AC/DC: Two Sides to Every Glory: The Complete Biography by Paul Stenning


Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=AC/DC&oldid=36657994"