You
may now call him Dr Rock, but AC/DC’s lead singer Brian Johnson had
even bigger news when he picked his Doctorate in Music from Northumbria
University, in his hometown of Newcastle, England:
The new AC/DC studio
album is finished.
Earlier
this year, rumours swamped the world’s media that AC/DC were finished,
after news leaked that rhythm guitarist and founding member Malcolm
Young was seriously ill, and unable to play.
But
after two weeks of an incredible outpouring of emotion and grief from
millions of AC/DC fans that filled millions of tweets and tens of
thousands of Facebook posts,
Angus Young and Malcolm Johnson defied
‘AC/DC are RIP’ claims and decided to push forward with plans to record
the band’s first new album since 2008’s Black Ice. They recruited Angus’
nephew Stevie Young (who had replaced Malcolm Young on tour in 1988,
while Malcolm Young had been in rehab) and did what Johnson had earlier
promised. They picked up their guitars and had “a plonk.”
Johnson said, in April, they were going into the studio to jam and to see “if anybody has got any tunes or ideas.”
Turns out, they had both.
Through
May and June, AC/DC recorded their 15th studio at Warehouse Studios, in
Vancouver, Canada, with veteran producer Brendan O’Brien. The sessions
have been described as quickfire, even frantic, and new songs were built
up from jam sessions.
For
their last album, Black Ice, which sold more than six million copies
worldwide, becoming the 2nd highest album of 2008, Malcolm and Angus had
worked on the songs for five years, amongst tours.
But
this time, it was back to the way Angus Young had begun recording AC/DC
songs at Alberts Studios in Sydney, in the mid-1970s. Ideas were
jammed, songs were written on the spot, notebooks scoured for lyrics.
Johnson
told Classic Rock magazine yesterday, “We’re done,” describing the
recording sessions as “brilliant. I’m very excited and we’ve got some
great songs.”
The
presence of Malcolm Young, recognised by most longtime AC/DC fans and
friends as the man who really ran AC/DC, was sorely missed in the
studio, Johnson said, revealing Malcolm Young was now in hospital in
Sydney.
“But
he’s a fighter,” Johnson told Classic Rock. “We’ve got our fingers
cross that he’ll get strong again. He’s a small guy but he’s very
strong.”
Stevie
Young looked delighted to be recording with AC/DC, in photos that
circulated online in June. photos that also revealed Angus was now
completely grey-haired, and had aged considerably since the band last
toured in 2010.
“Stevie
was magnificent,” Johnson said. “but when you’re recording with this
thing hanging over you and your work mate isn’t well, it’s difficult.
But I’m sure (Malcolm) was rooting for us.”
Johnson
said he had proposed calling the new AC/DC album ‘Man Down’ to honour
Malcolm, but feared fans might find the title a bit negative. The
proposed title does, however, fit with the Youngs notoriously dark sense
of humour.
The
new album, whatever title they settle on, is expected to be released
later this year, to tie in with a proposed 40th anniversary world tour.
Johnson had previously said any new AC/DC tour would not be as long or
as extensive as earlier ones had been now they were all in their 60s,
and may instead simply be 40 shows in total.
The
two year long Black Ice tour was one of the highest earning in music
history, racking up more than $430 million in ticket sales, and another
six figures in merchandise.
Johnson
hinted to Classic Rock that AC/DC may return to Wembley Stadium in
2015, but no word as yet when AC/DC might return to Australia. Stevie
Young is expected to fill-in for Malcolm Young if he is not fit to tour.
Darryl Mason is now writing a biography of Doc Neeson and The Angels.
In an interview with UK Daily Mirror, AC/DC's lead singer Brian Johnson makes it clear that the band's future is still in doubt, and that even a new album is not a locked-in possibility:
“I don’t know what happens next. We are just going to take it one day at a time.
"I think we are going to into the studio again anyway just to get together again after four years.
"It’ll feel nice to sit in the same room and knock a few tunes out. We’ll see where we go from there.”
A curious comment from Johnson on the leaking of Malcolm Young's illness to Australian media.
“I
didn’t know they were going to do that because Malcolm is a very proud
man. It is a debilitating disease, it’s fucking horrible and I hate it!"
The band didn't end up holding a media conference on their future, but friends and some family members were talking about Malcolm's condition, and what might or might not happen next with the band, within hours of the news being leaked to a Perth radio station via an anonymous email. It was like a dam of emotions bursting, people who love him dearly had been living with the secret for many months, unable to discuss Malcolm or how they were feeling. Once the news got out, some wanted to talk, needed to talk.
And so they did.
On the likelihood of a new AC/DC album, if sessions do go ahead, if AC/DC members do reunite in the studio next month, and that's if, they will go in without new songs already written by Malcolm and Angus Young to work on. Malcolm is, some say, not in any condition to join the rest of AC/DC in the studio, or to even write songs anymore.
AC/DC's lead singer Brian Johnson has said members of the band will still reunite in Canada next month to try and write songs for a new album, while founder and rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young is recovering in Sydney, but plans for a 40th anniversary tour "are still up in the air at the moment."
"We are definitely getting together in May in Vancouver," he said.
"We're going to pick up some guitars, have a plonk, and
see if anybody has got any tunes or ideas. If anything happens, we'll record
it."
In the interview, Johnson denied Malcolm Young's ill health will be the end of the road for the band, but with the caveat:
"I wouldn't like to say anything either way about the future. I'm not ruling anything out. '
The idea of 40 concerts in 40 different venues, to celebrate 40 years of AC/DC, before the end of the year would be, "a wonderful way to say bye bye."
"We've stuck to our guns through the
Eighties and Nineties when people were saying we should change our clothes
and our style. But we didn't and people got it that we are the real deal."
That might be all we'll hear from anyone in AC/DC on the proposed new album and tour, or Malcolm Young's illness, for now.
"After
forty years of life dedicated to AC/DC, guitarist and founding member
Malcolm Young is taking a break from the band due to ill health. Malcolm
would like to thank the group’s diehard legions of fans worldwide for
their never-ending love and support.
"In light of this news,
AC/DC asks that Malcolm and his family’s privacy be respected during
this time. The band will continue to make music."
So it sounds like AC/DC will work on new music, towards a new album, and presumably do the 40th anniversary tour, possibly with Stevie King (who filled in for Malcolm on the 1988 Blow Up Your Video tour), or another guitarist playing Malcolm's parts live.
Just to clarify, information about Malcolm Young's illness reported here in earlier posts did come from a family member, and friends of the band. At the time it was published, there was a belief that AC/DC would not continue without Malcolm Young, that they couldn't continue. Obviously, the remaining members of AC/DC have decided to try and go forward, at least for now.
“If you look at The Beatles, they started out as a rock & roll band,
playing in Hamburg. They became really successful. And then they
started doing things like Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour...
“But eventually they came back to playing straightforward
rock & roll like ‘Get Back’. The Stones did much the same. We’ve
learned from bands like that that it’s best just to stay where you’re
at; you’re going to come back there anyway, so why leave in the first
place? Why not simply work better and harder at what you’ve got?”
A story I wrote for The Guardian's 'Australian Anthems' section on The Angels and one of the most famous, legendary songs in all Australian rock - "Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again?" The story includes a bit of an explainer on the origins of the NWGFFO crowd chant.
It’s
a song about grief, mourning, loss and the afterlife. It’s played at
funerals, 21st birthdays, retirement parties – even
weddings. It’s popped up in a spectrum of Australian
TV shows and movies over the decades, and with the 1980s addition of an
expletive-laden audience chant, this failed debut single
from the Angels is now one of the most famous in Australian rock
history.
Back in the 80s, Neeson told me the song began its life as a
slow, acoustic ballad. The inspiration for the lyrics, he said, came
from hearing a friend describe his grief
following the death of a girlfriend in a motorcycle accident.
Not
all Angels fans were happy with “No way, get fucked, fuck off!”
becoming attached to See Your Face Again. The ones moved because the
lyrics were about the death of a girlfriend to this day insist on
fan forums that the chant cheapens the song and robs it of its powerful,
nostalgic strength.
Leave a comment at The Guardian on what this songs means to you after you read the full story there. All comments appreciated.
UPDATE, SEPT 29, 2020: A poster appears on a pole outside the Sydney school where Angus Young once went to school:
Hours later, a new AC/DC website launches:
Rumours are running hot in Australia that AC/DC will return with a Sydney live show of some pandemic-friendly kind. But that's all they are for now, rumours. We were supposed to make the 'AC/DC!' link between the poster outside the school where Angus was once a student and new AC/DC music.
But why would AC/DC want to evoke 'school days nostalgia' around their new 2020 work?
Maybe because Angus Young has searched back through decades of tapes of brother Malcolm's rhythm guitar recordings, noodlings and jams so his brother can be a part of this new album and he's gone right back to start of when they first began laying down riffs and rhythms on tape.
Exactly what AC/DC's touring plans for 2021 are not yet known, or if there will be a tour at all. Other bands are currently cancelling their recently rescheduled shows for 2021, as the COVID19 pandemic seems determined to stop all reasonably crowded live gigs, anywhere, for possibly 2 or more years to come. It's unimaginable to get an AC/DC album without a new tour. So maybe they have something else planned. A VR Live Experience? Pay-per-view gigs for home concert rocking out?
Is there a new single? Of course. A new video? Definitely. A new album? Assuredly. Power Up, or PWR Up, will be the name of the album, and presumably a single. But when? That is not known at the time of posting.
AC/DC are just teasing us for now. But something is coming. A new album by Christmas is all but confirmed.
UPDATE: DEC 12, 2017: Brothers George and Malcolm Young, the foundation builders of the 1980s new age of hard rock, are dead now. Their legacies and legends live.
The deaths of these two brothers, only a few months apart, reminded me of the first time they worked in the studio together. Back in 1973. The recording project was a fictitious rock group, The Marcus Hook Band, with George Young and Harry Vanda producing, playing and singing.
At 17 years old, Malcolm Young went into the studio, after school, with his big brother to lay down his first recordings. Angus also got his start on the Marcus Hook Project, contributing a few solos and rhythm guitar parts. This was the first project for George Young and Harry Vanda after The Easybeats that looked like it might be a winner. There was interest from the United States in the first recordings, completed back at Abbey Road before they returned to Australia. In a month, the brothers Young and Harry Vanda.
Working from a heavily scratched vinyl, I've remixed some of the songs to highlight the guitar playing of the brothers Young. All the Marcus Hook Band songs are worth hearing in full.
As well as being a test-run for Vanda and Young's Flash And The Pan, the month of late night 1973 studio recordings also revealed how incredible Malcolm and Angus sounded playing together, just how talented they were. And they could get it down in the studio, and do it fast..
AC/DC were born in these sessions - the swinging hard blues is already there, the boozy, chant-friendly pop, some of that AC/DC pummelling attitude, and the tone of the guitars. Oh, Boom. There's that sound.
I'll do a separate post for the rest of the remixes, but here's two for now, to remember the time in 1973, when George Young invited his younger brothers into a recording studio and created the sound of Australian hard pub rock. Or at least, fashioned the Australian pub rock sound that would soon take on the world. And win.
If you think that sounds like Malcolm Young on slide guitar, it probably is. The Angus Young solos are already signature. He was 17.
UPDATE: April 13, 2015 - Very happy to acknowledge, one year later, I was wrong in the below story in stating AC/DC would come to an end without Malcolm Young. AC/DC have now debuted their new first new live show in five years to mostly positive responses at Coachella, have sold more than 2 million tickets to concerts across Europe and the US and tickets are about to go on sale for stadium and arena shows Australia later this year.
Here's a few more predictions that may, or may not, turn out to be wrong:
- By the time AC/DC's 2015 tour winds down, they will have sold more than 4 million tickets, making it the Biggest Tour Of 2015.
- AC/DC have lots on open dates on their Australian tour (between the announced capital city shows), which means if tickets sell well, they could keep announcing more shows. Predicting this will happen, and AC/DC will play to more than 500,000 Australians by Christmas.
- AC/DC's new 'Rock Or Bust' album will be either the biggest selling album of 2015, or within the Top 3 best-selling.
AC/DC are ending their 41 year career on a terribly sad note.
Plans were underway for a new studio album, their first since 2008's monumental Black Ice, and a '40th Anniversary' world tour, 40 huge shows across the globe.
More than a month ago, founding member, rhythm guitarist, co-producer and co-songwriter Malcolm Young had a stroke, which left a blood clot on his brain.
When AC/DC reunited at the start of April to begin a month of rehearsals, in the lead-up to new album recording sessions, Malcolm discovered he couldn't play. At least, he couldn't play like he used to play.
Nothing has been officially confirmed, as of this writing, but friends and family members have been discussing what happened to Malcolm for the past couple of weeks. The blood clot, resulting from the stroke, is believed to be why Malcolm couldn't keep working.
Although friends have described Malcolm's condition as serious, it doesn't mean he won't recover. People do get better after strokes, and people do recover lost skills.
But friends and family of band members believe the decision was made last week to call it quits.
Media in Australia have gone ballistic today on rumours of The End Of AC/DC, and it appears the news got out ahead of a planned official announcement from the band and management.
Right now, that announcement is expected Wednesday, April 16, and a press conference has been scheduled.
Angus, Malcolm and George Young working on AC/DC songs in the mid-1970s, on piano
AC/DC won't continue playing and recording without Malcolm. It can't be done.
While Angus Young is the more famous, and more recognisable, AC/DC is most definitely Malcolm Young's band, he started AC/DC, under the guidance of big brother George Young (ex-Easybeats, and co-producer) and encouraged his younger brother Angus to join him, and take on the world.
Malcolm Young has been the quiet motivator and boss of the band for four decades, co-writing nearly all of AC/DC's classics, and making sure nothing happened to harm or damage the band's reputation, or disappoint the fans who've stuck by them for decades.
His passion for the band and its music, and integrity, were so intense, back in the 1970s he used to have fistfights with his younger brother, Angus, in the studio, when disagreements about a sound or riff couldn't be resolved. Proper punch-ups, teeth were lost, blood was drawn.
So that's it. AC/DC are coming to an end.
But what a career. AC/DC set out to conquer the world, and they did it, multiple times. Even the death of singer Bon Scott barely slowed them down, and only slightly delayed recording sessions for Back In Black.
Back In Black is still one of the biggest-selling albums in rock history, and AC/DC have easily sold more than 180 million albums, and probably half as many singles and DVDs and videos and special edition packages. They've influenced pretty much every hard rock, heavy rock and heavy metal band that has followed in their wake, including Nirvana, Metallica, you name them, they probably grew up loving AC/DC. And AC/DC are still in the record books for one of the biggest live audiences in rock history, playing to more than 1.6 million people in Moscow, in 1991. They were invited to play by the youth of Russia, who grew up on AC/DC bootlegs, after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The band have been written off by critics, numerous times, but they stuck to their guns and beliefs and never compromised their sound. They were rarely, almost never, tempted by the musical fads that came and went over the decades. They dabbled in glam rock at the start of their career, but that barely lasted through the recording sessions of their debut album. Their fans wanted rock n roll, heavy rock, they could rely on, and that's what AC/DC delivered, across more than 14 albums, and numerous live-in-concert releases.
Malcolm Young never gave up on his belief that 1950s and 1960s rock n roll was rarely bettered, and he used the riffs and rhythms of black blues players as the basis for AC/DC's sound. He's also cited The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards as a key influence, and talks about that influence in the below interview.
The secret to Malcolm's playing, as Guitar Magazine explained, was open chords with the amps turned down, not up, and mics shoved right up close to capture all the details. He didn't churn out huge rock riffs through blasting amplifiers, his playing, and magic, is much more subtle than that, despite the rawness of the early studio albums.
I still reckon AC/DC's 2008 album Black Ice was amongst the best they made, right up their with Back In Back and Highway To Hell (their last album with Bon Scott), it's absolutely killer, and filled with excellent playing, classic AC/DC songs about rock n roll and some of Brian Johnson's better vocal performances. It's also pretty much a live-in-the-studio album, with minimal overdubs, just like they did it back in the Alberts Studio days in the mid-1970s.
Malcolm's work on Black Ice, in particular, is superb, not just the detail of his playing, but also his songwriting with brother Angus. They worked on the writing of the Black Ice songs for five years, and gave themselves the time to get it right. They nailed every single one, and Black Ice became the 2nd highest selling album of 2008.
Rock N Roll Dream, from Black Ice, is everything AC/DC was about. They wanted the rock n' roll dream, they got it, then they lived it.
"And it could be the very last time..."
Malcolm Young and his family have now returned to Australia. Everyone is hoping he makes a recovery, but close friends are saying the situation is not looking good, right now. Things may change. We can hope they change, and Malcolm recovers.
Instead of linking to an AC/DC classic, most of which you've probably heard a thousand times already, here's a rare treat instead - Malcolm Young's rhythm guitar from Let There Be Rock, way back in 1976.
Updates to follow
UPDATE:
Mark Gable, from The Choirboys, provides another confirmation on the sad news about Malcolm Young:
"That is true, Malcolm is sick.
"From what I understand, and it's even been confirmed in part
by his son Ross (Young), that it would appear Malcolm is unable to
perform anymore.
"It's not just that he is unwell, it's that it is quite
serious. It will constitute that he definitely won't be able to perform
live.
"He will probably not be able to record."
An official comment/announcement from AC/DC management is still expected today.
It is understood Young returned to Sydney with his family before
Christmas and was having in-home care at his house in East Balmain. He
is now said to be having difficulty remembering familiar faces and
having increasing problems communicating.
"His memory loss is so bad it is consistent with Alzheimers
or dementia although we do not know that is what it is. There has been
talk about cancer too."
The response online, and on radio, to news of Malcolm's illness has been massive. If AC/DC were in any doubt that millions of people around the world still love and respect their music, and their skills and talent at songwriting, they should wonder no more.
AC/DC are still the biggest rock band in the world, with devoted fans across three generations and from just about about country. Nobody can really believe it.
UPDATE: Brian Johnson has spoken to the UK Telegraph. He said members of the band are still planning to meet in the studio in May, "and have a plonk." On the future of AC/DC, he said:
Bon Scott On AC/DC : "The Beatles, The Rolling Stones....We're Better. Who Needs Them? They're Last Year's Model"
By Darryl Mason
The 'Long Live Bon Scott' concert hitting Sydney this week - Panthers on June 3, Enmore Theatre on June 4, reminded me of a bunch of Bon videos and recordings from YouTube I've had bookmarked.
So here's a quick history of Bon Scott through two decades. and a few different looks.
These interviews with Bon Scott, from the soon to be re-released AC/DC Let There Be Rock live concert film, were recorded a few months before his February, 1980 death from acute alcohol poisoning. "I'm a special drunkard. I drink too much."
Ten days before Bon Scott's death, AC/DC mimed Highway To Hell for a German TV show. Bon Scott stands nearly motionless, in deep shadow, away from the rest of the band, who appear in many shots to have aready lost their lead singer.
A few days before his death Bon Scott jammed a version of Ride On in London with the band Trust. This was the voice Bon Scott was taking into the recording studio for the new AC/DC album sessions, scheduled to begin in the last week of February, 1980.
SmartCompany.com argues famous brands can learn a lot from the decades of $50 million per year plus success enjoyed by Australia's geatest hard rock band. The cut-thru message is: don't fuck with the brand that people already love :
Classic, iconic products (think Coca-Cola as a long-bow example) never change their formula. They might introduce other new products, but at the core of the company's product range is the old favourite. An iconic product also lets you transcend generations, something Coke and AC/DC do very, very well.
That doesn't mean these brands don't innovate – last night's show was a perfect example of how AC/DC tweak their packaging (that is, the giant stage props used in the live show) while keeping the product (the songs) the same and cashing in over and over again.
The concert also taught me a lot about innovation in the area of brand extension. The amount of AC/DC merchandise being sold last night was incredible and the fans (many of whom were already clad in AC/DC T-shirts) were snapping the stuff up at an impressive rate.
So there's a lesson – when you find yourself with a product or service that your customers just love, be careful that you don't change it too much.
Daddy Likes To Bang His Head
Yeah, I know it's been the case for years, well decades really, but it's still weird to hear AC/DC referred to as "dad's music".
Acca Dacca created ARIA chart history yesterday as the only act to have six records in the top 50...
Leading the chart charge was the 1975 record, TNT, which leapt into the No. 20 spot. The band's 1990 album The Razors Edge is No. 26, 1979's Highway To Hell at No. 27, 1976's Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap at No. 28, 1986's Who Made Who at No. 30 and 2000's Stiff Upper Lip at No. 45.
AC/DC also claimed the 1 and 2 position on music DVD charts. AC/DC remain amongst the highest earning Australian entertainers even in years when they don't tour, or release new albums.
A new album from AC/DC arrives on October 8. I'll review it as soon as it leaks.
Still waiting to hear whether AC/DC : The Musical will become a reality any time soon.
It's hard for any die-hard AC/DC fan not to shudder at this news, from UK's Popbitch, that a new rock musical is in the works, based on the career and music (obviously) of Australia's most successful and influential hard rock band.
Working title apparently is 'It's A Long Way To The Top' and it is expected to mix some of the true early history of AC/DC with a fictional tale of an AC/DC-like hard rock outfit taking on a new singer, who grew up as a die-hard fan of the band he will now front. Something like that.
Of course, there is a massive audience all over the world for an AC/DC musical, if done right, and presumably Angus and Malcolm Young have been sold on the concept by the awing success of the ABBA-based musical, Mamma Mia, and the millions of Best Of CD sales the musical, and movie of the musical, have been responsible for.
But what AC/DC songs to include in a musical? Whole Lotta Rosie? The Jack? Big Balls?
Actually, plenty of Bon Scott-era songs are extremely theatrical, and perfect for that kind of sing-along retro vibe. Bon was a master showman, and the brothers Young always knew they had to entertain, first of all, to win a following that would stay with them for life. They pretty well achieved that in a way that only a handful of other bands ever have.
It's easy to imagine an AC/DC musical being some hideous train wreck, but in all likelihood it will be a monster success. How many 40 and 50-something blokes out there who haven't willingly seen a musical will be vibed to hear all those excellent old-school AC/DC blasting from a Broadway or West End stage, complete with a chorus line of headbanging Anguses?
You'd imagine there must be a few million at least.
And unlike Mamma Mia, the blokes this time will be the ones dragging their wives and kids to the show, and buying and blasting the soundtrack.
AC/DC's first photo shoot in 1974
Ak! Before Bon Scott joined the brothers Angus and Malcolm Young to record some of the heaviest and grittiest hard rock albums ever pressed into vinyl, AC/DC (with scarf wearing lead singer Dave Evans) had a taste for the sound and fashion of the era : glam!
Photographer Philip Morris took the above photo for what was AC/DC's first official photo shoot. Morris has now dug through his old 1970s Australian rock photos archive for a new exhibition.
"I used to photograph a lot of unknown bands who didn't have a record deal and weren't going to," Morris says. "I thought AC/DC were fun, but it was just another day at work."
He photographed AC/DC's first gigs and saw their transformation from glam to hard rock. They ditched the knee-high boots and their original frontman, Dave Evans, when Bon Scott arrived on the scene.
It was Scott's energy on stage that finally convinced Morris the band had a future. "When he sang, he transformed into this amazing performer," he says.
AC/DC Exposed! opens tonight at Blender Gallery, Paddington (in NSW).
Only Malcolm and Angus Young stayed on from that 1974 line-up. A year later, Bon Scott had replaced Dave Evans as lead singer and, as the below video shows, most of the glam-era imagery had been well and truly (and thankfully) tossed aside for the more standard tight jeans, tight t-shirt hard rock look. Most of the glam, that is, but not all. In the video you'll notice that Malcolm (on the left) was still enjoying his knee-high boots with stacked heels.
