322 Hello AC/DC - Rock And Roll Damnation

Chart  entered : 10  June  1978

Chart  peak : 24

Number  of  hits : 25


There  are  really  just  two  ways  of  looking  at AC/DC. If  you're  a  fan  they  are  the  ultimate  people's  band, unpretentious  Aussies  with   a  decades-long  commitment  to  giving  their  fans  exactly  what  they  want  that  is  wholly  admirable. To  outsiders  they  are  rock's  equivalent  to  the  Taliban, rebarbative  morons  whose  refusal  to  budge  from  their  narrow  patch  of  musical  turf  long  since  degraded  into  grotesque  self-parody.  I  can  take  them  in  small  doses, preferably  from  the  Bon  Scott  era, but  I  can't  imagine  myself  ever  buying  one  of  their  albums.

The  AC/DC  story  begins  with  the  three  Young  brothers  , George ( born  1946 ) ,  Malcolm ( born  1953 )  and  Angus  ( born  1955 )  who  emigrated  with  their  family  to  Sydney  from  Glasgow  in  1963. Almost  immediately  George  joined  The  Easybeats  as  rhythm  guitarist   and  became  an  international  pop  star  when  they  hit  big  with  "Friday  On  My  Mind". By  1970  they  had  disintegrated  and  George  formed  a  writing  partnership  with  bassist  Harry  Vanda  releasing  records  under  a  variety  of  names  before  settling  on  Flash  and  the  Pan. One  of  these  was  the  Marcus  Hook  Roll  Band  which  included  his  two  younger  brothers  and  older  brother  Alex  on  sax. They  released  one  LP  "Tales  of  Old  Grand  Daddy"  in  Australia  only. It's  a  reasonable  collection  of   contemporary  hard  rock  with  "The  People  And  The  Power"  standing  out  as  a  good  impersonation  of  the  Sensational  Alex  Harvey  Band. Mostly  it's  interesting  for  hearing  the  AC/DC  sound  coalescing  with  Malcolm's  power  chords  audible  on  nearly every  track.

Malcolm  and  Angus  then  decided  to  form  their  own  band  and  in  November  1973  AC/DC  was  born. George  was  involved  as  producer  and  sometimes  bass  player. They  played  their  first  gig  on  New  Year's  Eve in  1973.  Initially  they  were  heavily  influenced   by  the  heavier  end  of  glam  - Alice  Cooper, Suzi  Quatro -  and  after  a  brief  flirtation with  other  costumes Angus  adopted  the  schoolboy  persona  he's  stuck  with  ever  since.  The  line  up  was  made  up  with  singer  David  Evans,  drummer  Colin  Burgess  and  bassist  Larry  Van  Kriedt   and  they  released  their  first  single  "Can  I  Sit  Next  To  You  Girl"  a  fair  old  glam  stomper  owing  a  fair  amount  to  Schools  Out   in  Australia  in  July  1974. By  the  time  of  its  release  Van  Kriedt  had  been  shown  the  door  and  George  re-did  the  bass  parts.

 In  September  1974  the  original  Glitteresque  singer  Dave  Evans was  bumped  in  favour  of  a  friend  of  George's , Ronald  "Bon"  Scott  ,another  expatriate  Scot. Bon  was  an  experienced  vocalist  and  frontman. He  was  born  in  1946  and  first  appeared  in  an  Aussie  R& B  covers band  The  Spektors  in  1964. Unusually  he  and  another  guy  shared  the  drumming  and  vocal  duties. Despite  a  local  TV  appearance  in  Perth  the  band  split  in  1966  and  Bon  and  one  other  Spektor   went  into  The  Valentines. The  Valentines  surfed  the  trends  of  the  time  between  1966  and  1970, - psychedelia, bubblegum  and  rock  - and  released  a  string  of  singles  , three  of  them  written  by  Vanda  and  Young. They  scored  two  medium  Australian  hits  with  "Peculiar  Hole  In  The  Sky "  and "Juliette" ( the  latter  written  by  Bob  and  suspiciously  similar  to  Dear  Prudence ) . The  latter  was  their  final  single  as  the  band  amicably  split  in  August  1970.  Bon  moved  on  to  a  group  called  Fraternity  who  had  just  lost  their  singer. Fraternity  were  rock  rather  than  pop,  veering  between  the  light prog  of  Family  and  Humble  Pie-style  boogie. Their  one  minor  hit,  "Seasons  of  Change"   was  a  cover  of  a  song  by  another  Oz  outfit  Blackfeather  who  promptly  released  the  original  when  they  saw  Fraternity's  version  was  making  waves  and  overtook  it.  Fraternity  won  a  Battle  of  the  Bands - style  competition in  which  the  prize  was  a  free  trip  to  London. They  spent  most  of  1973  in  the  UK,   acting  as  support  for  Status  Quo  and  glam  rockers  Geordie  whose  singer  was  his  eventual  replacement  in  AC/DC. Even  with  a  temporary  name  change  to  Fang  the UK  was  uninterested  and  on  returning  to  Oz  dispersed. Bon  went  to  sing  with  a  collective  called  Mount  Lofty  Rangers  but  had  recorded  just  two  songs  with  them  before  he  was  seriously  injured  in  a  drunken  motorcycle  accident. He  had  only  just  about  recovered  when  AC/DC  approached  him.

Burgess  was  replaced  by  Peter  Clack   before  they  went  into  the  studio  to  record  their  first  LP  in  November  1974  but  he  only  got  to  play  on  one  track. Most  of  the  drum  parts  are  by  session  man  John  Currenti.  It's  thought  that  Bailey  didn't  play   much  on  it   either  with  Malcolm  and  George  handling  the  bass  duties. Both  Clack  and  Bailey  were  dismissed  before  the  album  "High  Voltage"  was  released  in  February  1975  in  Australia  only. Clack  was  immediately  replaced  by  Phil  Rudd. Phil  was  born  in  Australia  to  Lithuanian  parents.  He  played  in  pub  bands  around  Melbourne  before  teaming  up  with  diminutive  singer  Gary  "Angry"  Anderson  in  Buster  Brown  in  1973.  Named  after    an  obscure  50s  R &  B  singer,  they   played  a  good-natured  rock  and  roll    and  were  supported  by   Melbourne's  notoriously  violent    sharpie  gangs. They  released  one  album  "Something  To  Say"  in  1974  from  which  two  singles  " Buster  Brown "  and  the  title  track  were  taken. Both  splice in  some  melodic  keyboard  passages  amidst  the  head-down  Faces  boogie   and  Anderson's  tuneless  croak  but  by  the  time  of  the  latter's  release  the  band  had  already  split  and  Phil  was  in  AC/DC's  camp.

"High  Voltage"  showcased  their  no-nonsense  keyboard-free  hard  rock  and  blues  topped  by  Bon's  Alex  Harvey - inspired  theatrical  wail.  Tracks  included  Bon's  tender  tribute  to  his  ex-wife  "She's  Got  Balls"  ( though  it  must  be  said  that  as  the  band's  main  lyricist  some  of  his  stuff  is  tongue  in  cheek  and  he  usually  performed  with  a  winning  smirk ). The  band  chose  the  soft-edged  "Love  Song"  as  the  single  but  Aussie  radio  flipped  it  in  favour  of  the  Sonny  Boy  Williams  cover  "Baby  Please  Don't  Go". The  band's  over-driven  version  owes  more  to  Them  than  the  original  but  it  got  them  on  TV  where  Bon  dressed  as  a  schoolgirl. By  this  time  they  had  a  new  bass  player  in  Mark  Evans , a  postal  clerk  who  was  recommended  by  one  of  their  roadies.  The  album  reached  number  7  in  the  Oz  charts.

Evans's  arrival  meant  the  band settled  into  fixed  roles  with  Angus  on  lead  and  Malcolm  on  rhythm  guitar. The  band's  next  single  "High  Voltage"  hadn't  made  it  on  to  the  album  of  the  same  name  and  still  features  Currenti. The  lyric  sets  out  their  simple  musical  manifesto  framed  as  the  answers  to  some  dumb  interviewer  and  there's  certainly  an  appeal  to  this  lean  and  mean  pounder  which  has  become  one  of  their  signature  songs. It  reached  number  48  in  the  UK  in  1980  when  a  number  of  their  earlier  singles  became  hits  in  the  wake  of  Bon's  death.    

The  album "T.N.T."  was  released  in  December 1975  and  contained  the  infamously  misogynistic  "The  Jack"  about  V.D.  for  which  the  girl  is  obviously  to  blame. To  compound  the  offence  Bon,  on  at  least  two  occasions , publicly  humiliated  girls  of  their  acquaintance  who  were  attending  the  gig  when  they  performed  the  song.  Otherwise  its  routine  headbanging  stuff  that  their  lack  of  interest  in  melody  makes  wearing listening.Two  more  singles  were  taken  from  it,  Bon's  account  of  touring  life  "It's  A  Long  Way  To  The  Top", a  diamond-hard  boogie  tune  distinguished  by  a  lengthy  bagpipe  break  ( actually  played  on  George's  synthesiser ) and   the  metal-by-numbers "T.N.T." The  former  was  also  a  UK  hit  in  1980.

At  the  beginning  of  1976  they  signed  an  international  deal  with  Atlantic  who  released  a  compilation  LP  drawn  from  the  previous  two  albums. Though  titled  "High  Voltage" it's  heavily  weighted  towards  the  second  album. It  only  charted  in  France (7)  and  the  U.S. (146). After  completing  the  recording  of  the  third  album  "Dirty  Deeds  Done  Dirt  Cheap"  they  embarked  on  a  lengthy  tour  of  the  UK  and  Europe.  The  first  new  single  was  "Jailbreak"  in  June. It's  got  a  killer  riff  from  Malcolm  and  a  lyric  sympathising  with  a  murderer  but  there's  little  else  to  it. The  album,  released  in  September  , seemed  to  set  out  to  be  as  misanthropic  as  possible  with  the  title  track  and  subsequent  single  positing  Bon  as  some  sort  of  sadistic  hitman  while  "Squealer "  and  "Big  Balls"  are  less  sensitive  than  they  sound. It  reached  number  4  in  Australia  and in  a  modified  version, number  3  in  the  U.S.  in  1981.

Their  next  single  "Love  At  First  Feel"   in  January  1977  is  even  more  reprehensible  with  its  lyric  "I  didn't  know  if  you  were  legal  tender".  March's  "Dog  Eat  Dog"  is  much  more  palatable  , its  anticipation  of  eighties  materialism  given  an  appropriately  brutal  musical  framing. It  was  the  lead  single  for  their  fourth  album  "Let  There  Be  Rock"  which  is  less  offensive  lyrically  than  its  predecessor  but  ratchets   up  the  metal  muscle  further  exemplified  by  the  next  two  singles  "Let  There  Be  Rock"  and  the  gonzoid  "Whole  Lotta  Rosie"  with  its  famous  call-and-response  riff  and  Bon's  tasteful  tribute  to  a  one-night  shag  who  was  somewhat  on  the  large  side. The album  reached  number  17  in  the  UK  charts  as  the  band's  popularity  grew.

Shortly  afterwards  Evans  was  fired  from  the  group  after  frequent  clashes  with  Angus  and  Malcolm.  He  was  told  they  wanted  a  better  singer  to  improve  the  backing  vocals. He  was  replaced  by  Cliff  Williams. Cliff  was  an  Englishman  born  in  Romford  in  1949. He  left  school  at  16  and  did  menial  jobs  whilst  playing  in  bands  at  night. In  1970  he  formed  the  band  Home  with  his  friend  Laurie  Wisefield. They were  soon  signed  up  by  CBS  and   between  1971  and  1973  recorded  three  albums  of  gentle  and  melancholic  prog  rock  that  is  a  world  away  from  AC/DC,  which  goes  to  support  Herbie  Flowers'  assertion  that  bassists  are  pretty  adaptable. The  second  self-titled  LP  got  to  41  in  the  UK  charts  after  a  number  of  high  profile  support  slots   but that  was  as  good  as  it  got  for  the  band.  After  a  last   single  "Green  Eyed  Fairy"  in  May  1974  which  suggests  they'd  been  listening  to  tour  mates  Mott  The  Hoople  a  little  too  closely  they  split  up.

Cliff  switched  to  the  group   Bandit  whose  line  up  was  rather  more  interesting  than  their  chugging  pub  rock   ( besides  Cliff  they  had  eighties  chart  topper  Jim  Diamond, Kate  Bush's  husband, James  Blake's  dad  and  top  session  drummer  Graham  Broad ). Their  self-titled   album and  its  singles  "Ohio"  and  "Love  and  Understanding"  tanked   amid  the  punk  maelstrom  in  1977  and  four-fifths  of  the  group  including  Cliff  had  quit  before  their  second.

With  Cliff  on  board  the  band  got  to  work  on  their  fifth  album  although  some  sources  claim  that  most  of  the  bass  on  "Powerage"  was  actually  laid  down  by  George Young  while  Cliff  got  his  visa  problems  sorted. "Rock  And  Roll  Damnation"  was  the  lead, in  fact  the  only , single  from the  LP. It  was  the  last  track  recorded  as  Atlantic  pushed  the  band  for  something  more  radio-friendly  to  promote  the  album. It's  debatable  whether  they  got  what  they  wanted  as  "Rock  And  Roll  Damnation"  is  still  pretty  uncompromising  with  another  riff  carved  out  of  granite  by  Malcolm  and  Bon  yelping  about  his  outlaw status  without  much  in  the  way  of  a  tune. Phil's  maracas  and  the  absence  of  a  wailing  solo  from  Angus  are  the  main  concessions  to  commerce. I  don't  recall  hearing  it  on  the  radio  but  it  did  get  them  onto  Top  of  The  Pops  and  into  the  charts.