Glasgow, Scotland, in the early 1960's was a rough,
crowded industrial town whose depressed economy offered few options for
working-class families. At the same time that much of Britain was experienecing
economic hard times, a postwar boom was still in force in Australia. That
underpopulated continent, burstin with natural resorurced but lacking sufficient
population to fully exploit them, was particularly eager to encourage struggling
Brits to emigrate to its shores. In addition, the Australian government
had instiluted a massive immigration program, which allowed immigrants
to sail southward for a mere ten pounds a head.
So, in 1963, William and Margaret Young emigrated
to Australia with eight of the their nine children. They settled in Sydney,
New South Wales. When the Young familly moved to Sydney, George formed
The Easybeats with Johannes Jacob Hendricks Vandenberg, better known as
Harry Vanda. The quintet quickly made their mark on the Sydney scene and
were to become Australia's biggest pop act during the mid-60's. In 1966,
the band headed to the UK and quickly established themselves in Britain.
However, in 1970, The Easybeats disbanded; Vanda and Young returned to
Sydney to work for Ted Albert in his newly formed Albert Productioins organisation.
But the success of The Easybeats was to have an enormous impact on George
Young's brothers Malcolm and Angus.
Malcolm picked up the guitar first, graduating quickly
from acoustic to electric. With ad hoc advice along the way from George
he made rapid progress. Angus messed around with his older brother's guitars
before his mother finally bought him his own.
Malcolm left school at 15 and found gainful employment
as a maching maintenance engineer for a bra company (Berlei Bras). In 1971,
he joined up a band called Velvet Underground (no relation to the Lou Reed
band). Ironically, the original singer in the band was called Brian Johnson.
In 1972, George invited Malcolm and Angus to join
with his new band, the Marcus Hook Roll Band, for the recording sessions
of his album 'Tales of Old Granddady'. In fact, George and Harry didn't
take the project seriously so they thought it would be a good idea to include
Geroge's brothers to give them an idea of what recording was all about.
That was the first thing Malcolm and Angus did before AC/DC.
At fourteen and nine months (the legal age you could
leave school), Angus left and went to work for a soft porn magazine called
Ribald as a printer. Meanwhile, Angus had already formed his own band,
Tantrum, and had become proficient as a musician through playing along
to any records he could find.
When the Velvet Underground fell apart in 1973, Malcolm
determinded to put together a new one-guitar band with a keyboard player.
But Malcolm changed his mind and decided he needed a second guitar player
to fill out the sound and turned to Angus for help.
Malcolm's vision for his new band was a hard-edged
boogie sound married to the in-vouge image of long hair and stack-heeled
boots. For experience, Malcolm called on his services of drummer Colin
Burgess, who had experience in several bands, bassist Larry Van Knedt and
singer Dave Evans. Their name, AC/DC, came from the back of a vacuum cleaner.
"AC/DC, it has something to do with electricity", Malcolm and Angus's sister
Margaret said.
The abbreviatioin stands for Alternating Current/Direct
Current in electrical parlance. However, in their naivety the Young brothers
were ignorant of the term's bisexual connotations, and the band were to
spend the next few years vehemently insisting on their heterosexuality.
Their first performance was on New Year's Eve, 1973,
in a small Sydney club called Cheqeurs. They played a covers set of the
Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry and the Beatles. AC/DC was born!!!
In the next six months following their first concer,
the AC/DC lineup changed a lot. Drummer Coling Burgess was successively
replaced by Ron Carpenter, Ruxxel Coleman and Peter Clack whilst Rob Bailey
replaced Larry Van Knedt on bass.
In June 1974, AC/DC recorded their first single in
Albert Studios, Sydney. The current lineup was then Angus Young, Malcolm
Young, Dave Evans, Rob Bailey and Peter Clack. Two songs were recorded,
"CAN I SIT NEXT TO YOU GIRL" and "ROCKIN' IN THE PARLOUR", produced by
Harry vanda and George Young. The single was released in Australia during
July on Albert Records and in New Zealand on Polydor. It became a minor
regional hit in Perth and Adelaide.
Then began a heavy club tour across Autralia. In
Melbourne, they played at the Hard Rock Cafe which was owned by Michael
Browning who became AC/DC's manager. Browning probed to be a shrewd choice
as manager and was to make some vital decisions for the band during the
next few years. His first and most important decision was the hiring of
a driver to ferry the band around, a guy called Ronald Belford Scott, known
to all as 'Bon'. Bon Scott persuaded the Young brothers to give him a chance
as drummer and then as singer. After they tried him out, Bon took Dave
Evans' place as AC/DC's frontman.
In January 1975, AC/DC recorded their debut album
called "HIGH VOLTAGE" with the lineup Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Bon Scott,
George Young (on bass) and Tony Kerrante (on drums). The record was cut
in 10 days and came out in February 1975. "HIGH VOLTAGE" was an immediate
success in Australia. The album and its first single, "BABY PLEASE DON'T
GO", entered the Australian charts in March.
In June 1975, the band released a non-LP single,
"HIGH VOLTAGE" (originally written for the 'High Voltage' album but not
completed in time). The single coincided with a show at Melbourne's Festival
Hall. AC/DC's set was shot by a four-camera film crew, for the purpose
of producing a promotional video clip to be used by management in its attempts
to raise overseas record company interest in the band.
Finally, AC/DC found a table lineup when Phil Rudd
and Mark Evans came in on drums and bass. Their second album called "T.N.T."
was released at the end on 1975. It was a huge success, selling more than
100,000 copies and AC/DC became by the way the biggest rock 'n' roll band
in Australia. But what does it mean worldwide level.
While their popularity in Australia was growing at
a faster rate than the band could have anticipated, AC/DC's attempts to
achieve international recognition had thus far failed to bear fruit. But
if the band was to make a significant long-term impression on overseas
markers, it would need the support of a powerful reocrd company with the
experience and amrketin clout to match the band's ambition. Michael Browning
found that support in the London office of the US-based Atlantic Records.
So, in the Spring of 1976 AC/DC signed a worldwide deal with Atlantic Records.
They decided to relocate to the UK to further their career. They landed
in Britain on Aprail 1, 1976.
Meanwhile, AC/DC had recorded their third album in
January 1976 in Australia. The first single taken from the album was "JAILBREAK"
on the A-side and "FLING THING," a traditional Scottish folk song arranged
by the Young brothers, on the B-side. The slbum itself came out in Australia
in September and was titled "DIRTY DEEDS DONE DIRT CHEAP."
When they arrived in the UK, the Punk was sweeping
the nation. AC/DC made their first live performances in the UK during April
1976 at the Red Cow pub in Hammersmith, West London, followed by other
dates at small clubs across Britain. Before touring on a large scale, AC/DC
made other debut appearances, opening for the Back Street Crawlers. The
tour was a great success for AC/DC.
At the end of the tour, on May 14, Atlantic's British
division issued "HIGH VOLTAGE" in the UK. The British "HIGH VOLTAGE" is
compilation of the tracks from their first two Australian albums. All of
Side One is taken from the "T.N.T." album, Side Two takes "T.N.T.","CAN
I SIT NEXT TO YOU GIRL" and "HIGH VOLTAGE" from "T.N.T.", plus "LITTLE
LOVER" and "SHE'S GOT BALLS" from the Australian "HIGH VOLTAGE" album.
With this first album now officialy on the British
market, a tour of twenty venues around Britain was set up, dubbed "LOCK
UP YOUR DAUGHTERS". AC/DC's fifty-minute live set was part of a program
featuring a live DJ and film clips of other bands. The tour was a success
even if some venues ran into low-attendance problems.
In July 1976, AC/DC got a weekly Monday residency
at the Marquee Club in London. The gigs eventually attracted more than
1,000 people at a time while the official capacity of the club was not
more than 700. The Marquee gigs firmly established AC/DC as virtually the
only non-Punk band doing anything exciting in London in 1976.
This Marquee residency led to an offer to support
Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow in Europe during August for a nineteen-date
tour. It was preceded by three headlining gis in Germany, where "HIGH VOLTAGE"
had sold 16,000 copies in its first week of release.
On August 29, AC/DC played their biggest show at
Angland's Reading Rock Festival, in front of a crowd numbering fifty thousand.
Unfortuantely, AC/DC's set was something of a misfire, apparently due more
to an enthusiastic crowd than a substandard performance.
In December 1976, "DIRTY DEEDS DONE DIRT CHEAP" was
released in Britain. The British version of the album did not contain "JAILBREAK"
and "R.I.P. (ROCK IN PEACE)" that were replaced by "ROCKER" (from the "T.N.T."
album) and the previously unreleased "LOVE AT FIRST FEEL" that the band
would release as a single in Australia in January 1977.
In December, the band flew back to Australia. The
Australian tour, which marked AC/DC's return home after an eight-month
absence, saw the groub welcomed as conquering heroes. After the tour, the
band took a short break around Christmas. They remained in Australia during
the first two months of 1977 to record their fourth album "LET THERE BE
ROCK" at Albert Studios in Sydney.
After a few more gigs in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide,
AC/DC returned to the UK in February 1977 to begin a 26 date tour around
the country from Fevruary 18 to March 1. The tour was immediately followed
by a second European tour supporting Black Sabbath. AC/DC was widely reported
to be blowing the headliners off the stage every night. Unfortunately,
an altercation occured between bassist Geezer Butler and Malcolm Young.
AC/DC were kicked off the tour and returned to London.
At the end of June 1977, AC/DC and Mark Evans parted
company. Within 24 hours of Evans telling the band that he was off, the
name of Cliff Williams came to the fore. Michael Browning had heard about
him from a mutual acquaintance, and immediately made contact. Cliff Williams
walked into his audition and got the job.
The next step in AC/DC's conquest of the world was
the conquest of the United States. Meanwhile, the British version of "HIGH
VOLTAGE" had been released in America during October 1976. "LET THERE BE
ROCK" was to be released in the US in June, four months before Europe and
three months after Australia.
AC/DC's first US tour started in the Southern part
of the country during the Summer and ended in the Winter, taking them from
Texas to Florida. In Florida, they played their first major US gig in front
of 13,000 people at the outdoor Hollywood Spartatorium.
AC/DC's first trek across the States was a case of
small clubs at one end and huge arenas opening for the Reo Speedwagon,
in the other. The US tour reached a peak at the Palladium and the CBGB's
club in New York. At New York's Palladium, Angus used a cordless guitar
for the first time.
On October 14, "LET THERE BE ROCK", recorded in January/February
1977, finally saw the light in Britain after leangthy delays. In Novemeber,
the album reached No.17 in the British charts. The US tour was broken in
the Fall by a third tour of Europe and Britian in order to promote their
new album. As expected, this time they toured Europe headliners.
In Novemember/December 1977, back in the States,
AC/DC opened for Rush and Kiss. In New York, the band performed a show
for radio broadcast at Atlantic's own recording studios on Broadway, on
December 7. The set was sent out to radio DJs as a 'For Promotional Use
Only' LP titled "LIVE FROM THE ATLANTIC STUDIOS". These days very few copies
of that limited edition record exist, but it has been released as different
"bootleg albums" since then.
After the traditional New Year break in Sydney, AC/DC
returned to Albert Studios with Harry Vanda and George young to record
their next album between February and March 1978. The albu called "POWERAGE"
was released in the UK on April 28. A month later it reached No. 26 in
the British charts.
The Powerage World Tour began on April 26 with 28
major venues in Britain. The UK tour finished on May 29 and AC/DC took
flight for the United States once more for support slots with Rainbow,
Savory Brown, Alice Cooper, Journey, Aerosmith, Scorpions, and UFO.
The band played nearly 100 shows during this period
in the States, ranging from small clubs to and appearance at the prestifious
Day On The Green outdoor festival in San Fancisco during August. AC/DC's
reputation was growing considerably in the States. By the end of the US
tour, "POWERAGE" had sold on a quarter of a million copies in America.
The design of the Powerage tour brochure prefigured
the cover for the band's long awaited live album. "IF YOU WANT BLOOD YOU'VE
GOT IT" was recorded during the earlier months of 1978 and released at
the end of the US tour in October, mere six months after the release of
"POWERAGE". The album reached No.13 in the UK charts and breached the US
Top 50 for the first time. A maxi-single, available on both seven-inch
and 12-inch format, was issued by Atlantic shortly after the album. It
combined live rendition fo "WHOLE LOTTA ROSIE" and "HELL AIN'T A BAD PLACE
TO BE".
AC/DC promoted the live album by heading staright
out on tour in the UK during early November for a series of 16 dates in
just 18 days. Extra nights were slotted in everywhere along the way, as
the band literally exploded in popularity.
"IF YOU WANT BLOOD YOU'VE GOT IT" close the first
stage of AC/DC's carred. Atlantic suggested a change of producer. Eddi
Kramer, who in the past had been associated with Jimi Hendrix, Kiss, and
Led Zeppelin, was the first choose to produce AC/DC's next album. But things
just didn't work out. Everntually, Robert John 'Mutt' Lange was chosen
to produce the album.
As well as changing producer AC/DC also changed studios,
moving into Roundhouse Studios in Chalk Farm, London. Those changes were
followed by a change in management, from Michael Browning to Peter Mensch
of the powerful New York-based Leber and Krebs organization.
AC/DC which had not previously recorded outside Australia
and had never spent moe than three weeks working on an album, spent six
months in the Roundhouse Studios with 'Mutt' Lange working on the new record.
Lange did an admirable job of refining and sharpening AC/DC's soud without
losing the raw edge that was the source of the band's original appeal.
Released on July 27, "HIGHWAY TO HELL" quickly became
the band's first UK Top Ten hit, peaking at No.8, and their first US Top
Twenty, reacheing No.17. It was even a hit in Australia, where it made
it to No.24, making it the first AC/DC album to chart there in nearly three
years. "HIGHWAY TO HELL" received the most positive press of the band's
career.
The band spent the remainder of 1979 touring in the
United States and Britain, though still not in Australia, where the album
was not released until November. In the States, AC/DC played a handful
of headlining shows while opening other concerts for the likes of Cheap
Trick, UFo and Ted Nugent. But not all headliners regarded the idea of
sharing the stage with AC/DC with enthusiasm. In attempting to book the
US Highway to Hell Tour, AC/DC was turned down by Foreigner, Van Halen,
and Sammy Hagar.
The British lef of the Highway to Hell tour took
in dates in Newcastle, Glasgow, Liverpool, Stafford and London's Hammersmith
Odeon, with Def Leppard as support act. It began on October 26 at the Mayfair
in Newcastle and ended on Novemeber 9 at Leicester's De Monfort Hall.
On August 18, AC/DC played the biggest show of their
career thus far in the UK. It was at Wembley Stadium in London, opening
fo The Who. Despite sound problems, AC/DC's set won excellent notice and
was undoubtedly helpful in expanding the group's audience. The Wembley
gig did a lot for AC/DC's credibility and confidence, and led to more out
door dates with The Who in Europe.
Before the by-now-traditional Christams break in
Australia, the band made an extensive tour of Europe. AC/DC ended the year
by playing a date in Paris which was filmed for a long-form video issued
in 1980 and titled "LET THERE BE ROCK".
In January 1980, the band flew to France at the annual
Midem music-industry convention, at which they were presented with and
armload of gold and silver discs for sales in France and Canada. They also
played some dates in Newcastle and Southampton for shows canceled on the
last British tour and taped and appearance on British TV's Top of the Pops
to promote the current UK single "TOUCH TO MUCH".
On January 27, 1980, Bon Scott appeared for the last
time onstage with the band...
"Body of 33-year old Bon Scott was found dead last
night in a parked car in Dulwich, South London." (BBC Radio London, February
21, 1980) On Tuesday, February 19, Bon Scott went to tour manager Ian Jeffrey's
house for dinner, leaving at about 6:30 pm to go to the Music Machine in
London. When the club closed up its bar at 3 am, Bon left with an old friend,
Alisdair Kinnear. Kinnear drove Bon back to his flat at Ashley Court but
upon arrival, he couldn't move Bon. He was then left with the one alternative
of driving Bon back to his own pad in Dulwich. On arriving home, however,
he still couldn't wake Bon. He tried to lift him out of the car, but was
unable to. He eventually decided to leave him in the car for the night
and went to bed.
Kinnear awoke early in the evening on the 20th, checked
on Bon, and found him unconscious in the car. He rushed him to King's College
Hospital, but by then it was too late to save Bon's life. Bon was pronounced
dead on arrival at hospital.
The autopsy was held on Friday, Fevruary 22. The
verdict was 'Death by Misadventure-Acute Alcoholic Poisoning'. The coroner
reported that Bon's stomach had been found to contain the equivalent of
half a bottle of whickey at the moment of death. Sometime during the night
Bon, who had been lying in an awkward position with his neck twisted, had
vomited and choked to death.
After the autopsy, Bon's body was flown out to Australia
to be cremated by his family. Bon was cremated in Fremantle, on Friday,
February 29, his ashes buried the following day in the Fremantle Cemetery's
Memorial Garden.
During the first weeks after Bon's death, the members
of AC/DC didn't know what to do: whether to continue without Bon or split
up. Of course, AC/DC could never be the same without Bon; when he died,
something of AC/DC died with him. But Malcolm and Angus decided Bon would
have wanted AC/DC to continue. So they pulled themselves together, and
got down to the task of finding a new singer.
By the beginning of Marhc, the media had lined up
a number of likely candidates: former Easybeats vocalist Stevie Wright,
and Australian called Alan Fryer (who was found too similar to Bon), and
Londoner Gary Holton. Eventually a shortlist of two was drummed up: Terry
Schlesher and BRIAN JOHNSON.
At the time, Brian Johnson was busy trying to get
Geordie back together. But he took time out to audition, running through
just two numbers with the band, namely "Whole Lotta Rosie" and the Ike
and Tina Turner "Nutbush City Limits". The following Saturday night, Malcolm
called him and told him he had the job.
The recording sessions of AC/DC's eighth album took
place at Compass Point Studios, in the Bahamas, under the producition guidance
of Robert John 'Mutt' Lange. It was recorded during April and throughout
May. On July 1, Brian Johnson made his debut appearance onstage with AC/DC
at Namur in Belgium.
'BACK IN BLACK' was released on July 31. Within a
couple of weeks, it was top of the UK charts and it stayed No.1 for two
weeks. In November, it reached No.4 in the US charts and lingered in the
top ten for over five months. In Australia, it went to No.2. By now, Back
In Black has sold over ten million copies worldwide, making it he biggest
selling 'Heavy Metal' album of all times.
AC/DC hit the road for the first time with Brian
Johnson in August. They toured in America for two months, then Britain
through November, and then in December finally returned to Australia. They
toured in their home country for the first time since 'Dirty Deeds Done
Dirt Cheap'. The year 1981 began with more dates in Japan and Australia.
Demand for AC/DC grew to such a point in America
that Atlantic finally released the initially fejected 'Dirty Deeds Done
Dirt Cheap' album in May 1981. It went No.3 in the US charts where it sat
for four weeks (from May 23 to June 20) and even topped 'Back In Black'.
In June 1981, in the very first issue of "Kerrang!",
AC/DC were officially credited as having recorded the greatest Metal song
of all times, when 'Whole Lotta Rosie' was voted top Heavy Metal song.
On August 22, 1981, AC/DC received the final confirmation
that they were now one of the very biggest rock bands in the world. They
were offered the chance to headline the second annual Castle Donington
Monsters Of Rock festival.
The recording of AC/DC's next album took place in
Paris with 'Mutt' Lange. The task wan't proving easy. The main cause of
concer was the fact that Lange was apparently finding it very difficult
to get the right kind of sound of the record. Lange solved the sound problems
by hiring a mobile recording unit from England.
The album, titled "FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK (WE SALUTE
YOU)" was released in November 1981 and was immediately a worldwide commercial
success. It climbed to No.3 in the UK charts. Just prior the release of
their new album, no less than seven AC/DC albums appeared in Kerrangs!'s
All-Time Top 100 Heavy Metal Albums chart. In Fevruary 1982, 'Let's Get
It Up' became the band's biggest hit single to date, making No.13. Later
in July, the title track itself made No.15 in the UK charts.
In America, AC/DC were still increasing in fame.
"FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK" became their first chart-topping album in the
US. A huge tour of the States proved that they were attracting bigger audiences
than ever. The 'Cannon and Bell' tour reached the UK during late September.
This time the band moved out of the halls and into the arenas, playing
the likes of the Birmingham NEC and Wembley Arena in London.
By the end of 1982, AC/DC's position as the top rock
band around was cemented when Kerrang! published the results of his readers'
poll. AC/DC were voted 'Top Band', Angus was 'Top Guitarist', Cliff was
'Top Bassist', the band were voted as having produced the 'Best Live Gig'
and "FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK" was the 'Best Single'. Brian was third top
male vocalist, Phil was second best drummer, 'Let's Get It Up' finished
sixth best single and Angus was amazingly second as 'Male Pin-Up'.
After touring the most of 1982, the band took a long
break. It was several months before AC/DC started working on their next
album. The recording sessions took place at Compass Point Studios in Nassau.
Midway through the recording sessions, Phil Rudd was fired. At the time,
no reasons were given for his sudden departure. But years later, with Phil's
drug problems no longer a secret, the truth emerged. On the 'Cannon and
Bell' tour, he was hallucinating about finding strangers in his room. To
make matter worse, there were personal difficulties between Malcolm and
Phil. Their relationship progressively deteriorated, to the point where
a physical confrontation eventually took place. Two hours later Phil was
flying home; he was out.
The new record was engineered and mixed by Tony Platt
and produced by the band themselves. Released in August 1983, "FLICK OF
THE SWITCH" eventually reached No.4 in the UK charts. But "FLICK OF THE
SWITCH" was a relative commercial slip. It only reached No.15 in the US
charts. In the 1984 Kerrang!'s readers' poll, AC/DC won no category, ending
up as fifth top band and were also considered eighth biggest disappointment
of the year.
Returning to London the band deseperately sought
a replacement for Phil Rudd. Eventually as an anonymous ad was placed in
the music press: "Heavy Rock drummer wanted. If you don't hit hard, don't
apply". After a number of trial runs, 20-year-old Simon Wright was given
the job. By October 1983, Simon had made his live debut in Vancouver, Canada.
During the Winter, AC/DC toured through the States
and Canada. On August 19, 1984 AC/DC became the first band to return as
headliners at the fourth Monsters Of Rock. However the biggest festival
of all came in January when AC/DC joined in the ver first Rock In Rio in
Brazil. The band did two nights at the festival.
It wasn't until the Spring of 1985 that AC/DC regrouped
to work on their new album at Mountain Studios near Montreux, in Switzerland.
Happy with the raw sound they'd achieved with "FLICK OF THE SWITCH", Malcolm
and Angus decided again to produce by themselves.
"FLY ON THE WALL" was released on June 28. Despite
the general critical thumbs-down, the album did reach No. 7 in the UK charts.
The first single taken from the album, 'Danger', only made No.48. In addition
to the album. The concept was based around the band playing a gig in a
small New York club full of shady characters.
The Fly On The Wall world tour began with another
visit to the States. In January 1986, AC/DC played 6 shows in the UK and
18 more in Europe until mid-February. On February 16, the band returned
to London to start work on a video for their next single. During January,
'Shake Your Foundations' had become their most successful single since
'For Those About to Rock' when it reached No. 24 in the UK charts.
During the 1985 American tour, AC/DC were approached
by horror-writer Stephen King, a huge AC/DC fan, who'd asked whether he
could use some old material for the soundtrack of his forthcoming movie
'Maximum Overdrive'. He also suggested the band record some new tracks
exclusively for the film.
Recording took place at Compass Point Studios in
Nassau when the US Tour had been completed. For the first time since 'If
You Want Blood You've Got It', the new material was produced by Harry Vanda
and George Young. In just two weeks they recorded three new songs: 'Who
Made Who', 'D.T.' and 'Chase the Ace'. The video ws filmed at the Brixton
Academy in South London at the end of February.
On May 3, "WHO MADE WHO" was issued, becoming the
band's biggest hit in years as it soared to No.16 in the UK charts. A month
later, the album reached No.11 in Britain. In America, the album only reached
No.33. On the back of the film's appearance in the US, AC/DC again took
the road in July. Originally planned to finish in September, the demand
for extra dates prolonged the US tour until November.
At the end of the tour, the band took a two-month
break before beginning the recording sessioins for their next album.
After the extensive search for the right location,
the studio chosen for recording the next album was Miraval in the South
of France. Recording officialy began in August. Harry Vanda and George
Young came back to act as producers on a full album for the first time
since 1978. No less than 19 songs were recorded for the new album but when
the tapes were shipped across to New York to be mixed during the autumn,
only the stronges ten survived.
The first single from the album, entitled 'Heetseeker',
was released on January 4, 1988. It quickly rose to No. 12 in the UK charts.
The album itself, "BLOW UP YOUR VIDEO" was released at the end of January
and reached No.2 in the UK charts, the best position since 'Back In Black'.
In the US, meantime, it reached No.12.
After three days of rehearsals at the Entertainment
Center in Perth, Australia, the tour finally began on February 1. It was
the first show AC?DC had done anywhere in over a year and the first show
in Australia since 1981. And to make the occasion even more special, Isa
and Chick Scott, Bon's parents, were present in the audience. The show
was dominated by Bon Scott songs because in Australis, Bon Scott IS AC/DC!!!
After two nights in Perth, four at the National Tennis
Center in Melbourne, three at the Entertainment Centre in Sydney, one at
the Globe Derby in Adelaide and two at the Entertainment Centre in Brisbane,
AC/DC had played to over 130,000 fans in three weeks. After their successful
return to Australia, the band headed to the UK. But they only played in
two cities in the British Isles, Birmingham and London. After the run at
Wembley Arena in London, the band headed out to Europe, before coming back
to the UK to finish off this leg of the tour with a final date on April
l3 at Webmbley Arena.
But Malcolm Young would not be joining the band for
the forthcoming US tour. Malcolm felt in desperate need of a rest from
touring, principally to kick a drinking habit which escalated during long
tours. The official reason at the time of his departure was 'eshaustion'.
AC/DC called up another member of the Young family,
nephew Stevie Young, and conintued as if nothing had happened. Not only
did Stevie know all of AC/DC's songs by heart but he was Malcolm's double
physically as well. Stevies first show with the band was at the Cumberland
Civic Center in Portland, Maine, on May 3.
The US tour proved to be an enormous success for
AC?DC. The band sold out more or less every where the played. Within a
matter of weeks 'Blow Up Your Video' had become AC/DC's biggest selling
album since 'For Those About to Rock'. The tour ended up at the end of
the year.
Meanwhile back in Sydney, Malcolm was slowly recovering
from his problems. In the first few months of 1989, he and Angus spent
some time in London (at Malcolm's house) and in Holland (at Angus's house)
working on basic riffs and melody lines for the next album.
When work began on the material for the next album,
rumors spread that Brian Johnson had left the band. Brian hadn't in fact
left, he was simply tied up in the States finalising his divorce and straightening
out various legal problems. This was the reason why he was unable to get
involved in the writing of lyrics of the new songs. So Malcolm and Angus
wrote the words for the first time without the band's singer.
But there was a line-up change on the horizon. Whilst
Malcolm and Angus were busy working on material, Simon ws approached by
Ronnie James Dio to play on the next Dio album 'Lock Up The Wolves'. This
was meant to be merely a session situation for Simon, to fill in time before
AC?DC went back into the studio. But a few months later it was announced
that Simon had been inducted as a full member of Dio's band.
Now without a drummer, AC/DC started rehearsals for
the new album in a barn close to Brighton. In November 1989, they brought
in Chris Slade on a purely temporary basis, at the suggestion of their
management. But as work on the album progressed Chris was asked to join.
After rehearsals in Brighton, the band headed for
Winmill Road Studios in Ireland to start work on the album proper. This
time the band elected to work with Canadian producer Bruce Fairbairn. The
album was completed within six weeks at Little Mountain Studios in Vancouver,
Canada.
First release from the album was the single 'Thunderstruck',
which reached No.13 in the UK charts. The album entitled "THE RAZOR'S EDGE"
was released through the band's new label Atco in September. The album
proved to be a huge seller, reaching No.4 in the UK charts and getting
up to No.2 in the US. 'The Razor's Edge' took AC/DC's global album slaes
past the 60 million copies. In addition, they also breached the Top 40
single chart in Britain with 'Moneytalks' and 'Are You Ready'.
Two long-form video collections were also released
during this period, namely 'Who Made Who' featuring footage covering the
years between 1980-1986, and 'Clipped', which included all of the promotional
videos from 'Blow Up Your Video' and 'The Razor's Edge'.
With a whole new stage-show, The Razor's Edge world
tour began in America. By March 20 AC/DC were starting their European tour
in Helsinki. The British leg of the world tour.
In August, the band was back to Europe for Donington
and series of 20 Monsters Of Rock festivals across the continent in 18
cities. This included one free show at the Tushino Airfield in Mosco on
September 28 that attracted an estimated 500,000 fans.
The Moscow concert was presented as a "celebration
of democracy and freedom" stage as a gift to Russian youth for their resistance
against the recent failed military coup. The show was televised in Russia,
filmed for a documentary by music-video director Wayne Isham and recorded
for a projected live album. The Russian concert was particularly significant
in light of the fact that most Western rock music was outlawed in the USSR
until the rise of glasnot. Althought AC/DC had long been popular among
Soviet youth, the band's recordings could only be obtained onthe black
market.
During The Razor's Edge world tour, the band had
recorded several show. Among the shows recorded was the historic date in
Moscow. And Donington was filmed by director David Mallet using no less
than 22 cameras. The release date for the first live album featuring Brian
Johnson was set for October 29. It was simply titled "LIVE". The production
was handled by Bruce Fairbairn. The album was released in various versions
(a fourteen-song single CD, a specially packaged twenty-three song double
CD and a twenty-three-song cassette)
The album was preceded by a single, 'Highway To Hell
(Live)', on October 5. And in addition, the live video shot at Donington,
titled 'AC/DC Live At Donington', came out at the end of the year. The
video, shot on high-quality 35-millimeter film, did a good job of capturing
the atmosphere of the AC/DC live experience, in a manner considerably more
advanced than its predeccessor 'Let There Be Rock'.
During the Summer 1993, AC/DC recorded a new song,
'Big Gun', for the soundtrack of the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie 'Last
Action Hero'. The hugely expensive film proved to be a monumental flop,
but its soundtrack album (also featuring tracks by Alice In Chains, Queensryche,
Anthrx, Def Leppard, Megadeth, Tesla, Fishbone and Cypress Hill) was considerably
more successful. 'Big Gun' was produced by Rick Rubin. It was released
as a single by Atlantic on June 28. The video for 'Big Gun' actually featured
Schwarznegger himself wearing a schoolboy uniform similar to that worn
by Angus.
In addition, a long-form video titled 'For Those
About To Rock We Salute You' was put out. It was an 84-minute documentation
of the historic Moscow show, featuring foorage from all the bands on the
bill: AC/DC, Metallica, the Black Crowes, pantera and E.S.T.
At the dawn of 1995, rumours spread that Phil Rudd
was back in the band. At the end of the last tour, Malcolm and Angus met
Phil Rudd in New Zealand. Phil asked if there was any chance of playing
with the band again. So, when the band was rehearsing in England in early
1995, they asked him to sit down on the drums.
AC/DC began recording the new album in New York,
but, unhappy with the sound they were getting, decided to move to Los Angeles
in Ocean Way Studios where they found the kind of sound they were looking
for. After the success of 'Big Gun', the band chose Rick Rubin to produce
the new album.
In the first days of September 1995, the first single
from the new album was released, called 'Hard as a Rock'. The album itself,
"BALLBREAKER", was released on September 22. To accompany Ballbreaker's
first single, the band shot antoher video, their seventh collaboration
with director David Maller. For the occasion, four hundred London-area
AC/DC fans were driven by bus toi a soundstage at Bray Studios in Windsor.
Angus spent much of the shoot hanging in midair on a giant demolition ball,
on which he eventually came crashing through a window amdist a hail of
candy-glass shrapnel and exploding fireworks.
The Ballbreker world tour began in the States on
January 12 in Greensboro, North Carolina, with The Poor as support act.
But only two weeks after the begining of the American tour, the band was
forced to cancel four dates, because of the unexpected death of Brian Johnson's
father. Brian left the tour in San Antonio on January 28 and immediately
flew home to Britain to attend funeral services. He was back for the Oakland
show on February 3.
The American part of the Ballbreaker tour ended in
Dallas on April 4. On April 20, the European tour began in Oslo (Norway)
with the British band The Wildhearts opening for them then they played
in Stockholm (Sweden) and continued to Copenhagen
(Denmark). In July, the band played three nights in the Plaze de Toros
de Las Ventas in Madrid, Spain. The second show was filmed for a video
project.
The European part of the Ballbreaker tour ended on
July 13 in Bordeaux, France, with a small festival with the French band
Silmarils, The Wildhearts and Brazilian trashers Sepultura.
