Tribute Bands; AC/DC is an Australian hard rock band, although most of its key members were born in the United Kingdom. The group formed in Sydney, Australia in December, 1973. Their albums have sold in colossal numbers, the total now being estimated at well in excess of 140 million copies worldwide (http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-best-selling-music-artists), with the 1980 album Back in Black among the ten top-selling albums ever made. The band has had two distinctive lead singers, and its fans tend to divide its history into the "Bon Scott era (1974–80)" and the "Brian Johnson era (1980–present)". Although the group are generally considered to be a pioneer of hard rock and heavy metal music, the members have always referred to their music as rock 'n' roll. Their music is blues-based with a higher level of distortion in the lead and rhythm guitars. Overall, AC/DC is the most successful and well-known rock band, and probably band of any genre, to hail from Australia. History Born in Scotland, the brothers Angus and Malcolm Young moved with their family to Sydney, Australia as children. Malcolm began playing guitar first, soon followed by Angus. Malcolm first played with a Newcastle, NSW band called The Velvet Underground (not to be confused with Lou Reed's group). Their older brother George Young had been a member of Australia's most successful band during the 1960s, The Easybeats, who were the first local rock act to score an international hit ("Friday On My Mind") in 1966. The early lineups of the band changed often; original drummer Colin Burgess (ex-The Masters Apprentices) was sacked after passing out on stage (reportedly because someone spiked his drink) and a number of different bassists and drummers passed through the band over the next year. In September 1974 the original vocalist was replaced by the charismatic singer Ronald "Bon" Scott, former lead vocalist for The Spectors in 1966. This signified the beginning of real success. Another vital innovation was Angus Young's adoption of his now-famous school uniform as a regular stage outfit; the original was reputedly Angus' real uniform from his secondary school, Ashfield Boys High School, in Sydney. This idea was suggested by his sister. Between 1974 and 1978, aided by regular appearances on the nationally-broadcast TV pop music show Countdown, AC/DC became one of the most popular and successful acts in Australia, scoring a string of hits albums and singles including their perennial 1975 rock anthem "It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock and Roll)". Their first album was High Voltage. Recorded in 1974, and was issued in 1975. Their second album was T.N.T. in 1975. The opening track ‘It's A Long Way To Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)’. The album was powerful hard rock and became gold within two months. AC/DC signed international deal with Atlantic Records. They worked all over the UK and Europe to establish themselves, touring almost constantly and gaining invaluable experience on the stadium circuit supporting the top hard-rock acts of the day including Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Kiss, Cheap Trick, Nazareth, Foreigner, Thin Lizzy and The Who. Australian third album Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Australia) in 1976. Bon Scott does a excellent job on ‘Jailbreak’ a rough and raw tune, while the lyrics to Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap were banned by parents across the world. They survived the punk rock upheavals of 1976–1978, partly because they were (erroneously) tagged as a punk band by the British music press. They gained a solid cult following in the UK with their powerful performances and outrageous stage antics; Angus Young quickly became notorious for mooning the audience and the group was banned from several British venues. Their meaty hard-rock sound and Scott's provocative, leering stage persona are also reputed to have been significant influences on The Sex Pistols' lead singer Johnny Rotten. It was their 1979 effort, Highway to Hell, produced by Mutt Lange, that propelled them into the top ranks of hard rock acts; its anthemic title track is still a radio staple. On 19 February 1980, after a night of routine partying, Scott passed out and was left in a car owned by an acquaintance named Allistair Kinnear. Sometime the next day Bon was found dead by Kinnear, having apparently choked on his own vomit while sleeping. The band members considered quitting, but they were encouraged to continue by Scott's parents. Shortly after, the band found their new lead singer, Brian Johnson, With Johnson, they completed the song-writing and began recording Back in Black, also produced by Lange. This became their biggest-selling album, a hard-rock landmark that has sold more than twenty million copies in the United States, earning it a rare double diamond award. Worldwide, it has sold over 40 million copies. Among the album's hits, the title track, an unstated tribute to Scott, and "You Shook Me All Night Long," are quintessential AC/DC: pounding guitars, start-stop rhythms, and the vocal style one critic affectionately described as "crotch on barbed wire." The follow-up, For Those About To Rock, We Salute You, released in 1981, also sold very well, and was well received by critics. The band split with Lange for the self-produced 1983 album, Flick of the Switch. Predictably, perhaps, its production values were not on par with the previous three LPs, despite some memorable tracks. Amid rumours of alcoholism, drummer Phil Rudd left after a mysterious argument with one member, possibly Malcolm. He was replaced by Simon Wright from Tytan, after the band held an anonymous audition. With the new lineup they recorded the less successful Fly On The Wall, produced by the Young brothers, in 1985; many fans and critics felt the band was now over the hill, eclipsed by newer, American hard rock bands such as Motley Crue and Ratt. An ambitious series of music videos featuring the band at a bar playing five of the album's ten songs and supplemented by a variety of goings-on, including an animated fly, was also released. In 1986, the group returned to the charts with the title track from Who Made Who, the soundtrack to Stephen King's film Maximum Overdrive. The album also included two new instrumentals along with old hits, only one of which was from the Bon Scott era; the band's first compilation sold reasonably well. In February 1988 AC/DC were inducted into ARIA Hall of Fame. The next album, Blow Up Your Video (1988) saw them reunited with their original producers, Harry Vanda and George Young; it sold better than any album since For Those About to Rock. Although its production values were an improvement on Flick of the Switch and Fly on the Wall, it was not the return to the success of their earlier work many fans had hoped for, despite scoring a British Top 10 single with "Heatseeker." Following Video, Wright left the group, replaced by session veteran Chris Slade. Johnson was unavailable for several months (it was said he was tending to his ailing father, but he was also in rehab), and the Young brothers wrote the songs for the next record themselves, as they would do for all subsequent releases. (As a consolation, Johnson was given the task of singing all the background vocals, a feat unable to be duplicated live onstage. Joining with Bon Jovi producer Bruce Fairbairn, the first album with this new lineup was The Razor's Edge, a big comeback for the group that included the hits "Thunderstruck" and "Money Talks"; some fans, however, were disappointed with the low-energy sound of the album. By 1994, a sober Rudd had returned. The departure of Chris Slade was however amicable and mainly due to the band's strong wish to return with Rudd. According to Angus Young Slade was the best musician in AC/DC but the wish to regroup with Rudd was stronger. With the 1980–1983 lineup back, the group recorded Ballbreaker with hip-hop and heavy metal producer Rick Rubin (1995) and Stiff Upper Lip (2000). In 2002, Q magazine put AC/DC at the very top of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die" list. AC/DC have entered into a long-term, multi-album deal for new recordings, which will be released through Epic Records. In March 2003, the walls at New York's historic Waldorf Astoria hotel shook as AC/DC performed "Highway To Hell" during part of their induction to the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame, and "You Shook Me All Night Long" with guest vocals by Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. Alongside the band were two of Scott's nephews. In a brief acceptance speech, the band again thanked the fans for their support. In May 2003, Malcolm Young accepted the Ted Albert Award For Outstanding Service To Australian Music and paid special tribute to Bon Scott. In 2003, the Recording Industry Association of America upgraded the group's U.S. sales figures, increasing their cumulative sales from 46.5 million to 63 million, making AC/DC the fifth-best-selling band in U.S. music history, behind The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Eagles. On July 30 of the same year, the band gave a performance at the "Sarsfest", Toronto Rocks, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with the Rolling Stones before an audience of 500,000 to help the city overcome the effects of the 2003 SARS epidemic. Johnson has long been working on a musical version of Helen of Troy; he was inspired to do so after seeing Cats and thinking it was "crap." 2003 also saw the Recording Industry Association of America certify the classic Back in Black album as Double Diamond (20,000,000) sales in the U.S., making it the sixth best-selling U.S. album in history. As of 2005, the album has sold 21 million copies moving it into fifth place. September 2004 Melbourne City Council recommendation to rename Corporation Lane ACDC Lane. The band filmed a video for its 1975 classic It's a Long Way to the Top on the back of a truck rolling down Swanston Street. Two members of the band were also born in Melbourne. AC/DC have started writing for their next album which may be released in 2006. Fifa Riccobono, CEO of Albert Productions, has confirmed the songs have been written for the next record and it's known that the band are now recording in London.
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