AC/DC
AC/DC, from L-R: Brian Johnson, Malcolm Young, Phil Rudd, Angus Young, Cliff Williams, live in Tacoma, Washington, 31 August 2009.
Background information
Origin	Sydney, Australia
Genres	Hard rock, heavy metal, blues rock, rock and roll
Years active	1973 (1973)–present
Labels	Albert, EMI, Columbia, Epic, Atlantic, Atco, Elektra, East West
Associated acts	Geordie, The Easybeats, Fraternity, The Valentines, Marcus Hook Roll Band, Rhino Bucket
Website	www.acdc.com
Members
Malcolm Young Angus Young Phil Rudd Cliff Williams Brian Johnson
Past members
Dave Evans Larry Van Kriedt Colin Burgess Neil Smith Ron Carpenter Russell Coleman Noel Taylor Peter Clack Rob Bailey Bon Scott Mark Evans Simon Wright Chris Slade

AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young, who have remained the sole constant members. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal and are sometimes classified as such,^[1][2] though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll".^[3] To date they are one of the highest grossing bands of all time.

AC/DC underwent several line-up changes before releasing their first album, High Voltage, on 17 February 1975. Membership subsequently stabilised until bassist Mark Evans was replaced by Cliff Williams in 1977 for the album Powerage. Within months of recording the album Highway to Hell, lead singer and co-songwriter Bon Scott died on 19 February 1980, after a night of heavy alcohol consumption. The group briefly considered disbanding, but Scott's parents urged them to continue and hire a new vocalist. Ex-Geordie singer Brian Johnson was auditioned and selected to replace Scott. Later that year, the band released their highest selling album, and ultimately the third highest-selling album by any artist, Back in Black.

The band's next album, For Those About to Rock We Salute You, was their first album to reach number one in the United States. AC/DC declined in popularity soon after drummer Phil Rudd was fired in 1983 and was replaced by future Dio drummer Simon Wright. The band experienced a resurgence in the early 1990s with the release of The Razors Edge. Phil Rudd returned in 1994 (after Chris Slade, who was with the band from 1989–1994, was asked to leave in favour of him) and contributed to the band's 1995 album Ballbreaker. Since then, the band's line-up has remained the same. Stiff Upper Lip was released in 2000 and was well received by critics, and the band's latest studio album, Black Ice, was released on 20 October 2008. It was their biggest hit on the charts since For Those About to Rock, reaching No.1 on all the charts eventually.^[4]

As of 2010, AC/DC had sold more than 200 million albums worldwide,^[5] including 71 million albums in the United States alone.^[6] Back in Black has sold an estimated 49 million units worldwide, making it the third highest-selling album by any artist, and the second highest-selling album by any band, behind Pink Floyd's Dark Side of The Moon and Michael Jackson's Thriller. The album has sold 22 million units in the U.S. alone, where it is the fifth-highest-selling album of all-time.^[7] AC/DC ranked fourth on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock"^[8][9] and were named the seventh "Greatest Heavy Metal Band of All Time" by MTV.^[10] In 2004, AC/DC were ranked number 72 in the Rolling Stone list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".^[11] In 2010, AC/DC were ranked number 23 in the VH1 list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".^[12]

History[link]

Background and name[link]

Brothers Malcolm, Angus, and George Young were born in Glasgow, Scotland, and moved to Sydney with most of their family in 1963. George was the first to learn to play the guitar. He became a member of the Easybeats, one of Australia's most successful bands of the 1960s. In 1966, they became the first local rock act to have an international hit, with the song "Friday on My Mind".^[13] Malcolm followed in George's footsteps by playing with a Newcastle, New South Wales, band called the Velvet Underground (not to be confused with the New York–based Velvet Underground).^[14] Their oldest brother Alex Young chose to remain in Britain to pursue musical interests. In 1967, Alexander formed and played bass in the London-based band Grapefruit—initially called "The Grapefruit"—with three former members of Tony Rivers and the Castaways, John Perry, Geoff Swettenham, and Pete Swettenham.

The band's logo was designed in 1977 by Gerard Huerta. It first appeared on the international version of Let There Be Rock.

Malcolm and Angus Young developed the idea for the band's name after their older sister, Margaret Young, saw the initials "AC/DC" on a sewing machine. "AC/DC" is an abbreviation meaning "alternating current/direct current" electricity. The brothers felt that this name symbolised the band's raw energy, power-driven performances, and a love for their music.^[15][16] "AC/DC" is pronounced one letter at a time, though the band are colloquially known as "Acca Dacca" in Australia.^[17][18]

Early years (the Dave Evans era, 1973–1974)[link]

In November 1973 Malcolm and Angus Young formed AC/DC and recruited bassist Larry Van Kriedt, vocalist Dave Evans, and Colin Burgess, ex-Masters Apprentices drummer.^[19] Pushing hard for the band's success were Australia’s legendary roadie Ray Arnold and his partner Alan Kissack. The two men convinced Chequers entertainment manager Gene Pierson to let the band play at the popular Sydney nightclub on New Year's Eve, 1973.^[20] The band was so loud that management complained. Pierson however took an interest, and booked them into the Bondi Lifesaver and other venues where they further developed their stage show.^{[citation needed]} The early line-up of the band changed often; Colin Burgess was the first member fired, and several bassists and drummers passed through the band during the next year.

By this time, Angus Young had adopted his characteristic school-uniform stage outfit. The idea was his sister Margaret's. Angus had tried other costumes, such as Spider-Man, Zorro, a gorilla, and a parody of Superman, named Super-Ang.^[14] In fact in its early days, most members of the band dressed in some form of glam or satin outfit but this approach was abandoned when it was discovered Melbourne band Skyhooks had already adopted this approach to their stage presentation.

The Young brothers decided that Evans was not a suitable frontman for the group, because they felt he was more of a glam rocker like Gary Glitter.^[21] On stage, Evans was occasionally replaced by the band's first manager, Dennis Laughlin, who was the original lead singer with Sherbet prior to Daryl Braithwaite joining the band. Evans did not get along with Laughlin, which also contributed to the band's ill feeling toward Evans.^[21]

It was Gene Pierson who brokered the arrangement for Bon Scott from Fraternity to join them as lead singer. He was also instrumental in getting personal friend Ted Albert of Albert Productions to listen to AC/DC and arranged with programme manager Rod Muir of Australia’s biggest rock station 2SM to have them on the bill for one of their massive school holiday concerts back at Chequers which helped launch AC/DC's career and led to their being signed to the EMI-distributed Albert Productions label for Australia and New Zealand.^{[citation needed]}

The Bon Scott era (1974–1980)[link]

The journey begins (1974–77)[link]

In September 1974 Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott, an experienced vocalist and friend of George Young, replaced Dave Evans. Like the Young brothers, Scott had been born in Scotland before emigrating to Australia in his childhood. The band had recorded only one single with Evans, "Can I Sit Next To You, Girl" / "Rockin' in the Parlour"; eventually, the song was re-written and re-recorded with Bon Scott as "Can I Sit Next To You Girl" [Track 7 on the Australian album T.N.T. (1975), and Track 6 on the international release of High Voltage (1976)].

	"It's a Long Way to the Top" (1975) noicon The second single of High Voltage demonstrates a combination of bagpipes with more traditional rock instruments while the lyrics discuss the perils of being in a rock band.
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By October 1974, the Australia-only album High Voltage had been recorded. It took only ten days^[22] and was based on instrumental songs written by the Young brothers, with lyrics added by Scott. Within a few months, the band's line-up had stabilised, featuring Scott, the Young brothers, bassist Mark Evans and drummer Phil Rudd. Later that year they released the single "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)", which became their perennial rock anthem.^[23] It was included on their second album, T.N.T. (1975), which was also released only in Australia and New Zealand. T.N.T. featured the song "High Voltage", which was the first song written and recorded for the album. Because "High Voltage" was released as a single before T.N.T. was released, some people thought it was the title track to AC/DC's debut album.

Between 1974 and 1977, aided by regular appearances on Molly Meldrum's Countdown, the ABC’s nationally broadcast pop-music television show, AC/DC became one of the most popular and successful acts in Australia. Their performance on 3 April 1977 was their last live TV appearance for more than 20 years.^[22]

International success (1976–80)[link]

Former vocalist Bon Scott (centre) pictured with guitarist Angus Young (left) and bassist Cliff Williams (back), performing at the Ulster Hall in August 1979

In 1976, the band signed an international deal with Atlantic Records and toured extensively throughout Europe, including their first UK tour sponsored by Sounds magazine, called the 'Lock Up Your Daughters Summer Tour'. They gained invaluable experience of the stadium circuit, supporting leading rock acts such as Black Sabbath, Aerosmith, Kiss, Styx, UFO, and Blue Öyster Cult, and co-headlined with Cheap Trick.^[22]

The first AC/DC album to gain worldwide distribution was a 1976 compilation of tracks taken from the High Voltage and T.N.T. LPs. Also titled High Voltage, and released on the Atlantic Records label, the album, which has to date sold three million copies worldwide,^[24] gained the band a following among the then-substantial British punk audience.^[25] The track selection was heavily weighted toward the more recent T.N.T., and included only two songs from their first LP. The band's next album, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, was released in the same year in both Australian and international versions, like its predecessor. Track listings varied worldwide, and the international version of the album also featured "Rocker" from T.N.T. The original Australian version included "Jailbreak" (now more readily available on the 1984 compilation EP '74 Jailbreak or as a live version on the 1992 Live album). Dirty Deeds was not released in the US until 1981, by which time the band were at the peak of their popularity.

Following the 1977 recording Let There Be Rock, bassist Mark Evans was sacked because of personal differences with Angus Young. He was replaced by Cliff Williams, who also provided backing vocals alongside Malcolm Young. Neither of the Young brothers has elaborated on the departure of Evans, though Richard Griffiths, the CEO of Epic Records and a booking agent for AC/DC in the mid-1970s, later commented, "You knew Mark wasn't going to last, he was just too much of a nice guy."^[14] Mark Evans' autobiography, DIRTY DEEDS: My Life Inside/Outside of AC/DC is scheduled to be released fall 2011 by Bazillion Points, and will predominantly deal with his time in AC/DC, including being fired.^[26]

Bronze statue of Bon Scott, unveiled in Fremantle, Western Australia, in October 2008

AC/DC were a somewhat formative influence on New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands who emerged in the late 1970s, such as Saxon and Iron Maiden, in part as a reaction to the decline of traditional early 1970s hard rock bands. In 2007, critics noted that AC/DC, along with Thin Lizzy, UFO, Scorpions and Judas Priest, were among "the second generation of rising stars ready to step into the breach as the old guard waned."^[27]

AC/DC's first American exposure was through the Michigan radio station AM 600 WTAC in 1977. The station's manager, Peter C. Cavanaugh, booked the band to play at Flint's Capitol Theater. The supporting act was MC5, who had just briefly reunited and agreed to play at the event. The band opened with their popular song "Live Wire" and closed with "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)".^[28]

AC/DC came to be identified with the punk rock movement by the British press. Their reputation, however, managed to survive the punk upheavals of the late 1970s, and they maintained a cult following in the UK throughout this time.^[3] Angus Young gained notoriety for mooning the audience during live performances.

The 1978 release of Powerage marked the debut of bassist Cliff Williams, and with its harder riffs, followed the blueprint set by Let There Be Rock.^[29] Only one single was released for Powerage, "Rock 'n' Roll Damnation" and gave AC/DC the highest mark at the time, reaching #24. Eddie Van Halen notes this to be his favourite AC/DC record, along with Highway To Hell.^[30] An appearance at the Apollo Theatre, Glasgow during the Powerage tour was recorded and released as If You Want Blood You've Got It, featuring such songs as "Whole Lotta Rosie", "Problem Child", and "Let There Be Rock", as well as lesser-known album tracks like "Riff Raff". Powerage was the last album produced by Harry Vanda and George Young that had lead vocals by Bon Scott, and is claimed to be AC/DC's most under-rated album.^[31]

The major breakthrough in the band's career came in their collaboration with producer "Mutt" Lange on a sixth album Highway to Hell, released in 1979. It became the first AC/DC LP to break into the US top 100, eventually reaching #17,^[22] and it propelled AC/DC into the top ranks of hard rock acts.^[3] Highway to Hell had lyrics that shifted away from flippant and comical toward more central rock themes, putting increased emphasis on backing vocals but still featured AC/DC's signature sound: loud, simple, pounding riffs and grooving backbeats.^[32] The final track, "Night Prowler", has two breaths in quick succession at the start of the song, intended to create a tone of fear and loathing.^[3]