AC/DC - Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be! Page 2
by Tim Henderson
27 years on...
Malcolm: "Yeah, I'll be gettin' a gold watch soon, uh? I don't
think there is any retirement in the music industry. I don't really know
anyone that's retired. If they have it means nobody wanted them anyway.
With most musicians it's like the Titanic, they go down with the ship. You
feel a part of that responsibility, even with the kids. But you do feel a
responsibility that if the kids keep wantin' it, and I'm talkin' kids now
that are 40, 45, we'll keep doin' it for them. As long as we believe that
we've got the right thing to put out, and that's what we always strive
towards - the great song. We're still lookin' for it, like everyone is. We
would love to get something, somewhere near what the guys in the '50s were
doing. Not sound-wise, but the quality of the rock and roll. You know back
then they had it all, the swing and all that stuff that gets kids up these
days. AC/DC play basically what was going on with Chuck Berry, Little
Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis - trying to create the excitement and get the
mood. We want to keep the flag flyin'. I think we're the only guys except
for the exception of the Rolling Stones. They're about ten years, fifteen
years older than us guys so we've still got a long way to go and we like to
learn from their mistakes. Once you move you're confusing the kids - they'd
say 'These guys have gone off rock and roll'. We want to keep that around
for another millennium."
Staying power...
Malcolm: "I think it gets back to our starting days again. Working
for a couple of bucks a week. Working our butts off getting covered in oil
and all the shit that goes with it, and when we got to play club gigs,
luckily enough, we thought 'This is IT!, don't have to work. Angus, we can
make 50 bucks a week each here, we can survive, without a day job'. That
was our big plan (laughs). So everything outside of a club gig is a bonus
to us. We made it 25 years ago, as far as we're concerned."
Bon Scott - Full Of Life!
On February 19, 1980 we lost one of rock's most distinct and
charismatic frontmen. Bon Scott (born Ronald Belford Scott) died in the wee
hours of the night in the back seat of a friend's car following a typical
alcoholic binge in London. His death comes just months after the band
scores its first big American success with the album, Highway To Hell. He
was 33 years old. Angus and Malcolm Young tell the tale of a rocker and a
dearly missed older brother...
AC/DC - Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be! Page 3