POV: Bon Scott-era AC/DC

Wow, I've really not added much.

And as for post:

Back in Black
Rock and Roll Aint Noise Pollution
Money Talks (Man I love this song)
Thunderstruck
Hells Bells

1. "Thunderstruck" (live version)
2. "Flick of the Switch" (criminally undersung, in my opinion)
3. "Hells Bells"
4. "Shoot to Thrill"
5. "Who Made Who?"

So from that (and times have changed)...

Problem Child
Girls Got Rhythm
Riff Raff
It's A Long Way To The Top If You Wanna Rock'n'Roll
Rock'n'Roll Damnation

damn, that's pretty tough.

I'd sooner say "Whole Lotta Rosie" in that capacity.

Why is there no AC/DC greatest hits, or is there?

Probably like why there wasn't a Zeppelin one for years: Make 'em buy the full-lengths.

1) shot down in flames
2) riff-raff
3) it's a long way to the top (if you wanna rock and roll)
4)Gimme a bullet (Gimme a bullet to bite on, something to chew. Gimme a bullet to bite on, and I'll make believe, I'll make believe it's you.) (brilliant!)
5)Hell ain't a bad place to be.

I can't believe "High Voltage" isnt mentioned anywhere.

I'll go with the whole second half of "If You Want Blood...."

Bon was 33 when he died 33 years ago today. Rock In Peace.

\m/.I.P.

rip dude

http://kickinthecornflakes.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/bonscott1.jpg

Did Mariah Carey travel back in time to flirt with Bon Scott?

so gonna happen

this semi-public guy has been making some amazing fucking posts about bon scott

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002222582927&__tn__=%2CdC-R-R&eid=ARBmnAB4Dst4Z4b_p2V8yHOMU6NV_MqgMR8IKG6ZkJb5FHrLuVxOUjxfqicAZVxuW5LzjOlPF2UFRntM&hc_ref=ART1yLIhzWZJujj9HULDahNjqRuWIqWOa54I0X6vXQBhHtNRuJmrbrpEZkXXsQyaoiY&fref=nf

Bon could kick Brian’s ass

BON SCOTT: PROPHET OF DAMNATION
I'm gonna attempt to make sense of Bon Scott by looking at his lyrics while acknowledging his crippling mental disorder, Sociopathy.
We've gotten used to AC/DC so we overlook what provoked mass manias in concert, a moral panic, and bewilderment that their music could work so powerfully. They threw out the book and discovered volume and voodoo intensity could make them sound really exciting. At the time it left the old school in the dust and caused a lot of confusion over what the hell they were doing.
Bon Scott was a small-time rock singer best known for a pot bust. He had a long rap sheet for thefts, assaults, vandalism, "unlawful carnal knowledge", and was an alcoholic an in certain ways a sociopath. He looked scary, right off the bat. He stood on stage with a confidence that seemed threatening. Then he started singing, and the idea of Noddy Holder possessed by Satan crossed your mind. He got in front of this loud riotous band and punched notes in a blues cadence with a throat full of grit. His sneering tone, his bitter joking tone, and his lusty tone all built the songs into little stories. You've got to think back to realize how far from rock subject matter these songs were. Nobody since has posed as evil so convincingly. I'll outline his worldview below:
(1) Bon used to be poor but now he's a rock star with millions of dollars. Rock music is closest thing to holy because it shows Bon is superior to his fans, who are like S&W gimps.
(2) Bon has no interest in males unless he wants to beat somebody up. He doesn't want to hang out with his mates. Never does Bon celebrate hanging out with the guys, a rock staple. Love doesn't figure in his worldview. There's no trace of empathy or interest in humanity beyond:
(3) Girls. By rock standards, he is pro-female. "Touch Too Much" hints at some capacity for human connection. "Girls Got Rhythm" praises them for reasons like: he's seen a million and still wants them, they move like sin, they make him lose sleep, and they possess rhythm which is a high compliment. "Backseat rhythm" is erotic but tasteful. "Whole Lotta Rosie" recognizes women as individuals especially if you're chubby with huge boobs. "Shot Down In Flames" shows he appreciates something beyond sex appeal in women, as he is clearly amused after a woman turns him down at the bar. "Get It Hot" might be the closest he came to a love song. It's almost romantic. Bon doesn't want to drink and drive at high speed alone! He wants "A sweet young thing with nothing to lose". "Bend you like a G-string/Conduct you like a choir" is kinda hot.
(4) Hell. Bon doesn't care he's going there and figures it will be fine. Good doesn't really exist for Bon, beyond his own pleasure. He doesn't care about Satan but enjoys reminding fans that rock and roll leads to damnation. He doesn't put any theater into this stuff. Hell may be entirely secular to Bon. He enjoys the hard time his fans will have. Bon expects some status down there: he hopes to drive into it down the highway.
(5) Murder. Not many people admit to enjoying crimes on the world stage. He committed them on whims and felt no guilt over them. He usually dodged the cops, though he'd been kicked out of the army. Maybe he killed people for real? Maybe if his life wasn't cut short. This brings us to the closest he comes to a "justice" song, "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap". It's "aspirational" and shows a willingness to work. It's written as an advertisement he figures will have massive appeal, the only evidence he cared what people thought. Funnily enough this song is on the radio all the time and nobody thinks it's unusual. It's got one of the most menacing riffs in rock which makes the "hire me!" jingle format even stranger. Bon believes humans want a hit man who is always awake and provides a phone number. More important is price: we want our hit men to work cheap. He gives us a scenario he figures we'll support, as Bon kills a school principal to save a girl "who wants to graduate but not in his bed". In a twist, she rewards him with sex. So he'll kill for sex? Nice to have that option. Another murder he's hired for is caused by "double dealing with your best friend". If you still aren't sold, he says he'll kill women the same as men. "Nagging at you night and day" is one reason.
(6) Bon Scott. Bon's internal life is rarely hinted at. He was shallow and had no intellectual side beyond rock and planning crimes. He liked drinking and having sex for hours. It's not clear how he regarded AC/DC beyond being worthy of backing him. They were a generation younger but Bon was open to new musical ideas. Perhaps empathy was possible with Angus's guitar sound, giving Angus value? There is plenty of evidence Bon would talk about music like a normal person. He appreciated bands he wasn't in. He loved singing and put a lot of work into it.
Bon didn't bother with a "mask of sanity" persona and wanted to be "bad". He was aware some considered "bad" something else and his lyrics try to tell them "bad" is "bad". Trying to impress Bon by matching his chaotic, thrill-seeking lifestyle let him know you were a sucker. "Walk All Over You" isn't about overcoming an obstacle, it's a reminder: he will turn on you for the joy of dominating you. Your motorcycle means nothing. Women have sexy qualities he likes but love means nothing to him and dominating women sexually is "paradise".
"T.N.T." is the closest Bon comes to self-mythologizing. He begins saying: my life is so far from yours I'm like a cowboy on TV. He's not the good guy but he's the winner. His enormous greed justifies every crime he commits. He's public enemy #1, and public means the world. He's something beyond humanity that could explode anytime. It's fate.
(7) ROCK N ROLL. Bon Scott seems to have despised his audiences but considered it worthwhile to remind them he was superior. He might've hoped his songs wouldn't give millions the vicarious thrill of being badass. He considered humanity too weak to live by his code which includes "Bon always wins". Two especially striking things about Bon is his utter confidence on stage and his lack of restraint lyrically in front of the world. It takes some effort to make sense of his message and recognize the sociopathic nature of it all. "Rock N Roll Singer" SEEMS like a "society made me" account of his youth. This isn't a "lets be rebels buddy" tune like usual. It's about how Bon was born with the devil in his blood and earned his place doing the only respectable job. He hated anything boring and that was all of humanity. He doesn't hope we'll improve and wouldn't notice if we did. He'll do us the favor of separating himself from other singers. His hatred of us is like a law of physics. Enduring us before he willed himself to Rock N Roll Singerhood proves we need songs from what he hopes we understand are different than other songs. Bon liked to see himself as divine wrath in human form.
"Let There Be Rock" is interesting as Bon explains Rock as an unfathomable entity born and imitated and worshipped. Bon considered it a sign of our damnation and paired with his "truth" was the source of his power. He relates this in parody of a religious sermon which doubles the point: humanity are fools.
Bon's sense of humor is difficult to fathom. There are hints he's amused by songs he wrote but this is never clear. Sharing a joke? Not a priority. "The Jack" and "Big Balls" show what he figured his fans found funny.

^^
that post makes me think AC/DC is the greatest rock band of all time

_Bon Scott was a small-time rock singer best known for a pot bust. _

So in other words a cool dude?

joe carducci shared his posts which explains the barely-veiled sexism and racism, sorry in advance

(7) ROCK N ROLL. Bon Scott seems to have despised his audiences but considered it worthwhile to remind them he was superior.

this owns imo

My favorite Bon Scott line is from "Rock 'n' Roll Damnation": "You say that you want respect — honey, for what?"

Bon’s sense of humor is not at all “difficult to fathom” if you have any understanding of a) Australia in the 70’s b) Australian men in the 70’s and c) Australian pub rock

idk who tf this guy is but he irritates me

"Neither does Bon celebrate hanging out with the guys, a rock staple."

Neither does Iggy celebrate hanging out with the guys, a rock staple,

Neither does Thunders celebrate hanging out with the guys, a rock staple.

Neither does Rollins celebrate hanging out with the guys, a rock staple.

Neither does Lux celebrate hanging out with the guys, a rock staple

Neither does MES celebrate hanging out with the guys, a rock staple

Neither does Lou celebrate hanging out with the guys, a rock staple

Neither does Joni celebrate hanging out with the guys, a rock staple.

Neither does Brian Wilson celebrate hanging out with the guys, a rock staple...oh wait yeah he did celebrate this a bunch a times sorry what an admirable rocker he was.

Bon’s sense of humor is not at all “difficult to fathom” if you have any understanding of a) Australia in the 70’s b) Australian men in the 70’s and c) Australian pub rock

idk who tf this guy is but he irritates me

Yes, an entertaining enough read but largely nonsense.

One good thing, I found this clip of Bon in "Hello trees, hello flowers" mode, tootling on a recorder and looking like he should in Gentle Giant. Check out Bon's bassoon solo (actually it's a bass recorder).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZY2nl2CwLc

Trial run for this (wind action starts at around 2 mins):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmUMXEn1Lf4

Stiped t-shirts and bagpipes? I wonder where they got that idea from?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTIox95OxTc