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AC/DC
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Hard to believe that Aussie rockers, AC/DC; have been around for almost 40 years and are still going strong. The group have sold almost 200 million albums worldwide and are considered at the forefront of the heavy metal genre. Such is their continued popularity, that they regularly rack up album sales of over a million a year, even when they do not release new material.
The band AC/DC began life in Sydney in 1973 when guitarist brothers, Malcolm and Angus Young joined forces with bassist Larry Van Kriedt, drummer Colin Burgess and singer, Dave Evans to form a rock group. The group line was to change several times before they found fame. Colin Burgess the first to be go, followed by Dave Evans who was replaced by Bon Scott. Scott remained the lead singer with the group until his death by alcohol poisoning in February 1980.
In late 1974, the group released their first album, “High Voltage” and the following year, recorded “T.N.T” which produced the single, “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll)” that became their signature tune. Both albums were released in Australia and New Zealand. By this time, guitarist Angus Young had adopted the school-uniform stage outfit that remains to this day.
Although increasingly well known in their home country, AC/DC needed to break the international market. In 1976, they signed a deal with Atlantic Records, followed by a European tour, supporting established hard rock acts such as Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult and Aerosmith.
The same year, the group raised their international profile even higher by releasing an album, also called “High Voltage” that contained songs from their two Australian album releases. “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” quickly followed this. The album was unusual in that track listings varied depending on where in the world it was released. However, the album did not receive a US release until 1981 when the group were at the height of their success.
The next few years saw the band release an album every 12-18 months. “Let There Be Rock,” was followed by “Powerage,” and “Back to Black” in 1980. However, it was their 1979 album “Highway to Hell” was their breakthrough into the big time. It was their first album to enter into the US Billboard top 100-album chart, reaching number 17.
Scott’s death in early 1980 came just as the band was recording their eighth album, “Back to Black”. The group agonised over whether to continue or not. When they did decide to carry on, the task of replacing Scott seemed insurmountable. Numerous candidates were put forward but the one who stood out was vocalist Brian Johnson, a Georgia boy, who has remained the lead singer with the group ever since.
“Back to Black” became the band’s biggest selling album to date, giving us such classics as “Hells Bells” and “You Shook Me All Night Long”. The album went platinum almost immediately and by 2007 had sold over 67 million copies worldwide, second only to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, in terms of volume.
The band continued to make and release albums through the early to mid 1980s. Their 1981 venture, “For Those About to Rock We Salute You”, produced one of their most popular hits, “Let’s Get It Up”. Their follow-up self-produced album, “Flick of the Switch”, was not as warmly received and was criticised for its poor production and lack of memorable songs. It took two further album releases before the band hit the big time again with their 1986 album, “Who Made Who” which provided the soundtrack to the Stephen King film, Maximum Overdrive. Their 1988 release, “Blow up Your Video” saw the band maintain their commercial success, reaching number two on the UK album charts.
The mid-eighties saw the peak of the band’s album releases. “Who Made Who” was the band’s 13th album in almost as many years. Over the next twenty years, the band only released a further six albums of new material, including a period of eight years when they released nothing new at all.
In the 1990s, the band only released three albums. “The Razor’s Edge”, released in 1990, included the hit songs “Thunderstruck” and “Are you Ready” and marked a resurgence in the popularity of the group. In 1995, they released “Ballbreaker”, reprising the 1980-83 line-up, and five years later, produced “Stiff Upper Lip”, which did better commercially that its predecessor.
In 2002, the band signed a multi-album deal with Sony Music. As part of the deal, the AC/DC remastered the series was released which included a remastered version of their albums along with booklets, photos and notes about the original making of them.
The following year, AC/DC performed alongside the Rolling Stones and Rush at a concert in Toronto in front of half a million fans. Moreover, despite not releasing any new material for six years, or touring since 2003, the group was the sixth highest earning Australian entertainers in 2006. They topped this three years later by being named the top earners, with a combined income of $105 million.
Over the next few years, the band became video-game stars on “Rock Band 2”, released a long awaited album, “Black Ice” and provided the soundtrack to Iron Man 2. Now signed to Columbia Records, “Black Ice” became the record company’s biggest selling debut album, shifting over 12 million copies worldwide. The band went on an 18-month long tour to promote the album, playing to over five million people by the time the tour ended in Spain in June 2010. A DVD of the tour and a live album recording are rumoured to be in the works.
Despite all the band member changes and the long periods of no new material, AC/DC are still one of the biggest, most popular and richest heavy metal bands in the world. They are one of Australian’s finest and loudest exports and show no signs of slowing down, even though the band members are now middle-aged. They are even considering going on the road again.
