Sad day. It’s when you hear news like this that you really are reminded about the march of time.
I remember the first time I was aware of AC/DC . It was 1980, I was just 12, and I was visiting a friend’s house for his birthday. He had a poster on wall. Putting posters on walls was a big thing in the 1970s and 80s. I get the sense kids don’t do that so much any more.
Anyway, the poster was the album cover for “Highway to Hell.” There was just something about it that caught my attention. It was just…raw. Unvarnished. A guy in a T-shirt with his hands in his pocket, like he didn’t give a shit whether you liked his music or not.
But I didn’t really listen to the album until a few years later. And that let me to all the other, earlier albums (which are fantastic, by the way). “Highway to Hell” is incredible. Every track is just great.
I loved the grimy, gritty feel to the music. The unique voice of Bon Scott, who sang like he had a mouthful of marbles. If I had to pick my two favorite albums—not an easy task—they would have to be “Powerage” and “Highway to Hell.”
But you know what I really like about AC/DC? It’s the little touches, those subtle, finer little touches.
For example:
Listen to the first ten seconds of the studio version of the song “Overdose.” You can hear the guitar being tuned up and fingered. Any other band would have cut that part out of the final track. But not AC/DC. They left it in. Why? Because they didn’t give a shit. And it makes all the difference. It gives the song a weird, raw quality it might not otherwise have.
Another example? All right.
Listen again to “Night Prowler,” with its slowed-down guitar, meandering, sinister vocals, and ominous feel. Right at the end of the song, Bon Scott says, “Shazbot…nanu, nanu.” That sly little “Mork and Mindy” reference would be lost on listeners today. But it’s just those little bits of humor that make them so memorable.
They were titans of music for three decades.
(And, by the way, Bon Scott will always be the front man of AC/DC. Sorry, Brian. You’re a good man, but the original lineup is…the original lineup.)
I remember the first time I was aware of AC/DC . It was 1980, I was just 12, and I was visiting a friend’s house for his birthday. He had a poster on wall. Putting posters on walls was a big thing in the 1970s and 80s. I get the sense kids don’t do that so much any more.
Anyway, the poster was the album cover for “Highway to Hell.” There was just something about it that caught my attention. It was just…raw. Unvarnished. A guy in a T-shirt with his hands in his pocket, like he didn’t give a shit whether you liked his music or not.
But I didn’t really listen to the album until a few years later. And that let me to all the other, earlier albums (which are fantastic, by the way). “Highway to Hell” is incredible. Every track is just great.
I loved the grimy, gritty feel to the music. The unique voice of Bon Scott, who sang like he had a mouthful of marbles. If I had to pick my two favorite albums—not an easy task—they would have to be “Powerage” and “Highway to Hell.”
But you know what I really like about AC/DC? It’s the little touches, those subtle, finer little touches.
For example:
Listen to the first ten seconds of the studio version of the song “Overdose.” You can hear the guitar being tuned up and fingered. Any other band would have cut that part out of the final track. But not AC/DC. They left it in. Why? Because they didn’t give a shit. And it makes all the difference. It gives the song a weird, raw quality it might not otherwise have.
Another example? All right.
Listen again to “Night Prowler,” with its slowed-down guitar, meandering, sinister vocals, and ominous feel. Right at the end of the song, Bon Scott says, “Shazbot…nanu, nanu.” That sly little “Mork and Mindy” reference would be lost on listeners today. But it’s just those little bits of humor that make them so memorable.
They were titans of music for three decades.
(And, by the way, Bon Scott will always be the front man of AC/DC. Sorry, Brian. You’re a good man, but the original lineup is…the original lineup.)