In 1973 two brothers, Angus and Malcolm Young, formed the first version of AC/DC. The rock ‘n’ roll combo premiere show took place on December 31,1973 at a new year’s gig at Sydney’s Chequer Club. Shortly after, the brothers moved to Melbourne and began the search for a lead singer. Early in 1974 Bon Scott joined the Rock band as their lead voice. Also joining the band that year was bassist Mark Evans and drummer Phillip Rudd. With this addition AC/DC was ready to rock the world. The Band was quickly signed by George Young to Albert Records.
The young brother’s sister, Margaret, suggested the name “AC/DC”. She read it on a sowing Machine label. Even though it stands for the electrical currents, the group was often accused of it meaning “Anti-Christ/Devil Children”. The name AC/DC is pronounced one letter at a time, although Australian fans often refer to them as “Acca Dacca”.
Their first album, “High Voltage”, was released in 1974. Cliff Williams became a member of the band in 1977 when Mark Evans was fired for being “too much of a nice guy”. The group made a solid reputation for themselves in their hometown, but it wasn’t until 1979 with the release of “Highway to Hell” that they hit the charts in America. On February 19, 1980 lead singer Bon Scott died in London at age 33. Scott chocked on his vomit after an all night drinking binge. The remaining members decided the only way to pay proper tribute to him was to carry on and create more music. Just two months later, the group found an incredible singer named Brian Johnson. Johnson was the former singer for Geordie, a band Bon Scott raved about. Four months after the addition of Johnson, the album release of “Back in Black” hit an all time high of fourth on the U.S chart. Over twenty-one million copies have been sold.
In 1983, dealing with alcoholism and drug-induced paranoia, drummer Phil Rudd’s friendship with Malcolm Young began to grow ill. After a long period of unfriendliness,...