A sewing machine label gave AC/DC its name
Brothers Malcolm and Angus Young were searching for a band name in 1973 when their sister Margaret pointed at the AC/DC symbol on her sewing machine's power adapter. Alternating current, direct current: it sounded like raw electricity. Margaret also suggested Angus perform in a school uniform, which became his lifelong trademark.
The Young brothers formed the group in Sydney in November 1973 and played their first official show at Chequers nightclub on New Year's Eve. For the first year and a half they wore glam and satin, and Angus experimented with Zorro, gorilla and Superman costumes before the schoolboy look stuck. Their older brother George, a former Easybeat, produced their early recordings with Harry Vanda.
The line-up churned constantly. One drummer was sacked after passing out during a gig, and several bassists and drummers lasted weeks. Melbourne promoter Michael Browning, who took over as manager, liked the guitar playing but thought the singer was wrong. The answer turned out to be the band's chauffeur. Bon Scott, like the Youngs born in Scotland and raised in Australia, auditioned his way to the microphone in late 1974, and his earthy humour completed the sound.
Their breakthrough came through pub rock and television. High Voltage appeared in Australia and New Zealand in February 1975, and a promotional clip for It's a Long Way to the Top, filmed for the programme Countdown, showed them playing on the back of a flatbed truck. Scott died of alcohol poisoning in 1980, seven months after Highway to Hell, and new singer Brian Johnson fronted Back in Black, among the best-selling albums ever recorded.
Later decades brought more upheaval. Malcolm retired with early-onset dementia in 2014 and died three years later, replaced by their nephew Stevie; Axl Rose stood in for Johnson in 2016 when he risked hearing loss. The band have sold more than 200 million records worldwide and won a place in rock's Hall of Fame, yet still describe their music simply as rock and roll.
Source: AC/DC
