Vanda, a former member, like George, of
Australian group The Easybeats. There were even
whispers around Atlantic that Bon Scott should be
fired from the band, his hard-drinking lifestyle
making him too much of a loose cannon and his
voice deemed too raw and idiosyncratic for
mainstream tastes.
In the end, Bon proved the doubters wrong,
delivering the performance of a lifetime on Highway
To Hell, pushed on by Mutt Lange, the brilliant
young producer who replaced George and Harry.
What Lange got out of the band was exactly whatAtlantic had demanded – a straight-up, no-bullshit
hard rock record that was true to AC/DC’s roots,
but with a cleaner edge.
But while Highway To Hell was the hit record that
elevated AC/DC to major stardom, it was also the
last hurrah for Bon Scott. On February 19, 1980,
less than a month after the Highway To Hell tour
ended, the singer was found dead in London
following a night of heavy drinking. The exact
circumstances of his death would be the subject of
conjecture for almost 40 years. AC/DC’s greatest
anthem would be his epitaph.T
here was always a toughness about AC/DC,
in the music they played – the sound of
Chuck Berry and Little Richard and the
Rolling Stones jacked up to maximum volume and
intensity – and in the way they carried themselves.
It came from years of graft, sweating it out in the
pubs and clubs of Australia, where bottles were
thrown if a crowd could smell blood. No matter
that the members of AC/DC were all short-arses,
that Angus was teetotal and wore a schoolboy
uniform on stage, and that bassist Cliff Williams,
the band’s sole Englishman, was quiet and easyGE
TTYIn the fast lane on the Highway To Hell:
(l-r) Malcolm Young, Bon Scott, Angus
Young, Cliff Williams, Phil Rudd.30 CLASSICROCKMAGAZINE.COM