By Malcolm Young (rhythm guitar) and Angus Young (lead guitar). Malcolm began his musical career in a band called the Velvet Underground (not associated with the influential 60s Lou Reed group Velvet Underground from NYC). The band played mostly covers of American West coast groups and became a popular Sydney club act. Malcolm was able to quit his day job as a sewing machine mechanic in a brassiere factory and earn a living as a musician.
Eventually Malcolm became disenchanted with the Velvet Underground's unimaginative material wanting to play music that was more his style. Determined to start a new band more representative of the music he wanted to play Malcolm quit the Velvet Underground.
"Anything goes" from the 2009 Black Ice tour. My personal favorite!
About this time Angus became interested in the guitar himself, jamming informally with friends and Malcolm's band mates. Angus did take a few formal lessons but is mostly self taught actually learning solos before he ever strummed a chord on his Gibson SG.
Angus became obsessed with becoming a successful rock musician and always knew what he didn't want to do and that was work for a living in a factory.
Malcolm planned on having a piano player in his new yet unnamed band but changed his mind and asked Angus to join as lead guitar player. At band practice Angus favored short pants and many times didn't have time to change out of his school outfit, a shirt, tie, jacket, short pants, cap, high top socks and shoes. Angus's only sister Margaret suggested that he wear his school boy outfit as regular gear in the band. The school boy uniform has become Angus's gimmick and trademark even to this day.
As the story goes, Margaret also suggested the name for the band ACDC (alternating current- direct current) after noticing that label on her sewing machine. ACDC was born. Malcolm and Angus were naive to the fact that the term ACDC was also slang for bi-sexual orientation and in the beginning were in a position of constantly denying that they were a gay band.
Joining Malcolm and Angus in the original line-up were vocalist Dave Evans (to be replaced eventually by the talented Bon Scott), bass player Larry Van Knedt (replaced by Cliff Williams) and drummer Colin Burgess (replaced by Phil Rudd.)
The very first ACDC gig was in Sydney Australia at the Chequers Club where the band developed quite a legendary following. They played anywhere and anyplace they could. They never stopped playing. This band paid their dues and developed a reputation as one of the greatest and dedicated live acts in the rock world.
Once the band started to tour beyond the borders of Australia they attracted a cult following based on their risque' stage persona and gimmicky vaudeville style act. Angus's schoolboy outfit became one of the most famous trademarks in rock history. They broke on to the charts in 1978 with the albums Let there be Rock and If You Want Blood You've got it but Highway to Hell established them as international rock stars.
"When we started we didn't care about getting on the radio and we didn't care about what people said about us... We just went out and played rock music." -- Angus Young (lead guitar)
This was front man Bon Scott's last album with the band. In February 1980, Bon after a drinking binge was left in a friend's car to sleep it off for the night and was found dead in the morning. An initial report recorded the cause of death as acute alcohol poisoning but later proved to be death by having choked on his own vomit.
