'Season Ticket on a one way ride"
The summer of 1979 was a very exciting one for me. A Levels coming up, festivals and the upcoming delerium of Led Zeppelin at Knebworth. After all the band I'd seen and wanted too see, new releases were coming fast and furious. After the fantastic Powerage (still my fave studio elpee) and the incendiary but poorly produced and sadly truncated If You Want Blood live elpee AC/DC were on the cusp. They needed something big to take them to another level.
Trouble was brewing behind the scenes though, with Atlantic in the USA figuring a big anthemic hit would only happen by employing a big name producer to hone and mould AC/DC's sound for the masses. A predictable move, one that enraged the Young brothers at the heart of the machine, but one that would change the fortune and future of the band.
Eddie Kramer's appointment was predictably doomed to fail from the start. The band were used to bringing in ideas and moulding them with their tried and trusted producers whereas Eddie was used to complete songs and a cohesive vision and direction. After allegedly suggesting they tried the Spencer Davis Group hit Gimme Some Lovin', Angus and Malcolm decided to pull up their tents and go home and think again. Mutt Lange was enlisted, to meld the raw power of AC/Dc with a singalong commercial edge to give them that USA breakthrough.
After false starts and much frustration, AC/DC came to London and began recording at Roundhouse Studios. The result, however traumatic and troublesome, was a collection of 10 tracks aimed to propel AC/DC into the stratosphere. Over the next 3 months they put together a multi platinum selling elpee that did just that. Sadly Bon would not reap the rewards of his hard work, his life.
Finally released on July 27th, Highway To Hell was heralded immediately as a triumph. The punch of the title track, aligned with Bon's matey and deliberately slurred lyrics, was infectious. Loved it from the moment I heard it. The underdog of Powerage was replaced by the World dominating beast that strutted over these songs. Not the King in waiting any more. Touch Too Much was the obvious single. The perfect mix of older, gritty AC/DC with new slick production and one of Bon's finest lyrical observations 'she had the face of an angel, smiling with sin, the body of venus with arms'. Genius!
It charted and stayed there. Finally, AC/DC had made it. Their gritty, nasty, warts n all rock n roll was now the mainstream. America was crying out for reasons to rock out. They hated Punk. It didn't sell records or fill arena's. For all the fake angry posturing of the Pistols, Clash etc etc, what we now see as Classic Rock ruled the airwaves, record shops and concert halls.
I do remember all the fuss and mayhem, the buzz around the band. They played with The Who at Wembley Stadium along with Nils Lofgren and The Strangers (what a bill that is... ) and added untold thousands to their fanbase with Angus roaring around the arena on Bon's shoulders as the band roared on.
The winter tour of the UK was a complete sell out, multiple nights suddenly the norm. Seeing the Hammersmith November shows it struck me how not the audience loved the old stuff (as always) but how everyone got down to boogie even if the band weren't fully firing. From my viewpoint, Bon was struggling. Maybe the pace and lifestyle was finally becoming a problem. Who really knows.
Anyway, by December, 5 shows were added as a thank you and I remember the monday pre-Xmas Hammersmith Show as being very special. After Motorhead's Bomber Xmas gig the night before, AC/DC had to turn up the heat, and they did. I remember a stunning show with the unwavering power of old and a changed set that included It's A Long Way To The Top, complete with Bon playing the bagpipe solo on an organ at the front of the stage and doing a highland fling. Baby Please Don't Go was also dusted down that night I seem to recall! So glad to have seen Bon's last London boogie.
Highway To Hell may have been AC/DC's step up into the top flight, a passport to the Rock Heirarchy, but for me it was when it all changed. They were one of the finest I'd seen or heard, no compromise in any way. HTH started that compromise, a more commercial stance and overdone backing vocals the very least of it. I prefer to remember the RGTC Powerage gig where they really did give blood, if you wanted it or not!
After false starts and much frustration, AC/DC came to London and began recording at Roundhouse Studios. The result, however traumatic and troublesome, was a collection of 10 tracks aimed to propel AC/DC into the stratosphere. Over the next 3 months they put together a multi platinum selling elpee that did just that. Sadly Bon would not reap the rewards of his hard work, his life.
Finally released on July 27th, Highway To Hell was heralded immediately as a triumph. The punch of the title track, aligned with Bon's matey and deliberately slurred lyrics, was infectious. Loved it from the moment I heard it. The underdog of Powerage was replaced by the World dominating beast that strutted over these songs. Not the King in waiting any more. Touch Too Much was the obvious single. The perfect mix of older, gritty AC/DC with new slick production and one of Bon's finest lyrical observations 'she had the face of an angel, smiling with sin, the body of venus with arms'. Genius!
It charted and stayed there. Finally, AC/DC had made it. Their gritty, nasty, warts n all rock n roll was now the mainstream. America was crying out for reasons to rock out. They hated Punk. It didn't sell records or fill arena's. For all the fake angry posturing of the Pistols, Clash etc etc, what we now see as Classic Rock ruled the airwaves, record shops and concert halls.
I do remember all the fuss and mayhem, the buzz around the band. They played with The Who at Wembley Stadium along with Nils Lofgren and The Strangers (what a bill that is... ) and added untold thousands to their fanbase with Angus roaring around the arena on Bon's shoulders as the band roared on.
The winter tour of the UK was a complete sell out, multiple nights suddenly the norm. Seeing the Hammersmith November shows it struck me how not the audience loved the old stuff (as always) but how everyone got down to boogie even if the band weren't fully firing. From my viewpoint, Bon was struggling. Maybe the pace and lifestyle was finally becoming a problem. Who really knows.
Anyway, by December, 5 shows were added as a thank you and I remember the monday pre-Xmas Hammersmith Show as being very special. After Motorhead's Bomber Xmas gig the night before, AC/DC had to turn up the heat, and they did. I remember a stunning show with the unwavering power of old and a changed set that included It's A Long Way To The Top, complete with Bon playing the bagpipe solo on an organ at the front of the stage and doing a highland fling. Baby Please Don't Go was also dusted down that night I seem to recall! So glad to have seen Bon's last London boogie.
Highway To Hell may have been AC/DC's step up into the top flight, a passport to the Rock Heirarchy, but for me it was when it all changed. They were one of the finest I'd seen or heard, no compromise in any way. HTH started that compromise, a more commercial stance and overdone backing vocals the very least of it. I prefer to remember the RGTC Powerage gig where they really did give blood, if you wanted it or not!
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