The Thunder From Down-Under
This theatrical Australian hard rock band was formed in November 1973 by Malcolm Young (b. 6 January 1953, Glasgow, Scotland; rhythm guitar) after the demise of his previous outfit, the Velvet Underground (no relation to the US group). Young, whose elder brother George had already achieved stardom in Australia as a member of the Easybeats, also enlisted his younger brother, Angus Young (b. 31 March 1955, Glasgow, Scotland; guitar). Their sister later suggested that Angus wear his school uniform on stage, a gimmick that rapidly became their trademark. The two brothers made their debut appearance in a bar in Sydney on 31 December 1973, along with Dave Evans (vocals), Larry Van Kriedt (bass) and Colin Burgess (drums). In late 1974, the Young brothers and Evans moved to Melbourne. Another immigrant from the UK, Bon Scott (b. Ronald Belford Scott, 9 July 1946, Forfar, Scotland, d. 19 February 1980, London, England; vocals), graduated from being the band's chauffeur to becoming their vocalist when Dave Evans refused to go on stage one night. (Evans went on to form Rabbit, releasing two albums for CBS Records in Australia, before joining Hot Cockerel in 1984 and releasing David Evans And Thunder Down Under in 1986.) Scott had previously recorded with two Australian outfits, pop group the Valentines (1966-68) and rockers Fraternity (1970-74). Indeed, after he emigrated from Scotland in 1951, he had also spent five consecutive years as drum champion (under-17 section) with the Perth Pipe Band. After such a wholesome start, a prison conviction for assault and battery indicated a more volatile side to his nature, and resulted in him being refused admission to the army. In 1965, he joined the Spectors, before the aforementioned periods with the Valentines and Fraternity.

The AC/DC line-up that welcomed Scott had already recorded a solitary single, "Can I Sit Next To You Girl", but it was his voice that graced their first two albums, High Voltage and T.N.T.. The latter album also introduced two new members, Mark Evans (b. 2 March 1956, Melbourne, Australia; bass) and Phil Rudd (b. Phillip Hugh Norman Witschke, 19 May 1954, Melbourne, Australia; drums). Both sets were produced by George Young and his writing partner, another former Easybeat, Harry Vanda. Neither set was issued outside Australia, though Atlantic Records in Britain did offer a selection of material from both records under the title High Voltage in 1976. These albums established AC/DC as a major draw in their native territory, and brought them to the attention of Atlantic, who promptly relocated the band to London in January 1976. However, Evans was replaced by Cliff Williams (b. 14 December 1949, Romford, Essex, England; ex-Home) in June 1977 after the former tired of touring. He went on to Finch/Contraband, then a variety of bands including Swanee, Heaven, Best and Party Boys.

Once AC/DC began to tour outside Australia, the band quickly amassed a cult following, as much for the unashamed gimmickry of its live show as for its furious, frequently risqué brand of hard rock. Let There Be Rock broke them as a chart act in the UK, with its contents including the perennial crowd-pleaser, "Whole Lotta Rosie'. The live If You Want Blood You've Got It consolidated their position, but 1979"s Highway To Hell established them as international stars. This, the band's first album with producer Mutt Lange, also proved to be their last with Bon Scott. On 19 February 1980, after a night of heavy drinking, he was left unconscious in a friend's car, and was later found to be dead, having choked on his own vomit. The coroner recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.

Scott's death threatened the band's future, but his replacement, former Geordie lead singer Brian Johnson (b. 5 October 1947, Dunston, England), proved more than equal to the task. His first album with the band, Back In Black, reached number 1 in the UK and Australia, number 4 in the USA, and spawned the UK number 15 single "Rock 'n' Roll Ain't Noise Pollution". The album was certified as having sold 12 million copies in the USA by March 1996. In 1981, For Those About To Rock (We Salute You) topped the American charts for three weeks, the band headlined at the Donington Festival and also achieved two Top 20 UK singles ("Let's Get It Up" and "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)"). After Flick Of The Switch in 1983, drummer Phil Rudd left the band to become a helicopter pilot in New Zealand, and was replaced by Simon Wright (b. 19 June 1963; ex-A II Z and Tytan) - who in turn departed to join Dio in 1989. His replacement was Chris Slade (b. 30 October 1946; ex-Manfred Mann's Earth Band).

In keeping with their superstar status, AC/DC maintained an increasingly relaxed schedule through the 80s, touring to support each carefully spaced album release. Two UK Top 20 singles, "Who Made Who" (1986) and "Heatseeker" (1988), confirmed their enduring popularity. There were further "casualties", however. When Malcolm Young was unfit to tour in 1988 his cousin, Stevie Young (ex-Starfighters), temporarily deputized. Paul Greg also stepped in for Cliff Williams on the US leg of their 1991 tour. A year earlier, The Razors Edge had been one of the more successful albums of their later career, producing a Top 20 UK hit, "Thunderstruck" and reaching number 2 on the album chart in America. In 1992, they issued a live album, while the attendant single, "Highway To Hell", made the UK Top 20. With Brian Johnson long having buried the ghost of Bon Scott, the band showed no signs of varying its winning musical formula, and in 1994 were buoyed by the return of Rudd to the line-up. The following year's Ballbreaker marked a powerful return after a lengthy break from recording. The ensuing Bonfire box set, meanwhile, served as a fitting memorial to Bon Scott. The band greeted the new millennium in typical style with the "business as usual" recording, Stiff Upper Lip.




Source: VH1.COM

Angus Young - Lead Guitar
Angus Young was born on March 31, 1955 in Glasgow, Scotland. At school,Angus was an unenthusiastic student. His only real academic interest was
art wich allowed him some freedom of expression. He gave up school at 15 and went to work for a soft porn magazine called Ribald as a printer.

But his ambitions laid elsewhere anyway, and for a year prior to leaving school Angus had been practising guitar almost constantly, jamming around
with friends and playing at school dances. In the beginning, Angus messed around with Malcolm's guitars for years before his mother finally bought
him his own, a cheap little acoustic. By the time he was eleven Angus had flirted with a tutorial course, but he prefered to learn by himself and most
of his musical education was pure trial and error.

While his older brother Malcolm was hatching plans for his new band, Angus was well on his way toward establishing a distinctive stage persona. His
spasmodic, seemingly out-of-control onstage body language has always come naturally. Such trademark Angus moves as his patented duckwalk and his on-the-floor body spasms could be handy attention-getting devices when playing for drunken, rowdy barroom crowds. Many of these gestures grew out of accidents.

One night Tantrum, the pre-AC/DC band Angus was playing with, was going down really badly. Angus walked across the stage and tripped over the
guitar lead, so he felt a right dick and he kept running across the floor. He made it look like a death scene, screaming all hell from the guitar. It was the only clap they got that night. Angus told his brother about it. Malcolm asked him to join the band he was putting together.

Malcolm Young - Rhythm Guitar
Malcolm Young was born on January 6, 1953 in Glasgow, Scotland. Malcolm is the sixth child of the Young Family. He was ten when his family moved
from Scotland to settle in Sydney, Australia. Upon arriving in Australia, Malcolm wasted little time in earning a reputation as a schoolyard brawler.
He left school as soon as he could and found gainful employment. He worked as a machine maintenance engineer for a bra company.

Malcolm picked up the guitar while he was still at school. He graduated quickly from acoustic to electric and picked up tips from his older brother
George whenever the Easybeats returned from a tour. The salary from his work allowed Malcolm to buy more professional guitars.

Eventually Malcolm put a few small bands together. During 1971 he joined up with Australia's Velvet Underground. The Velvet Underground went through a number of line-up changes during their brief career, but were never considered good enough to make any lasting impact.

During 1973 George Young, along with his partner Harry Vanda, were working on an album under the name of the Marcus Hook Roll Band at Albert
Studios. The project had begun in London as a casual, tongue-in-cheeck diversion but took on a more serious aura after EMI's American division
expressed interest in a full album. In the process, George and Harry recruited Malcolm and Angus as supporting players. That was the first thing
Malcolm and Angus did before AC/DC

The Marcus Hook Roll Band project had had a profound effect on Malcolm, who decided that the standard process of overdubbing tracks one by one
went against his idea of how rock'n'roll ought to be made. He decided that his band wouldn't do that.

When the Velvet Underground fell apart, Malcolm determined to put together a new outfit. At first this was to be a one-guitar band, with a keyboard player being drafted to fill out the sound. But a sudden change of heart on Malcolm's part led to
his decision to get in a second guitarist to play alongside with him. He turned to his brother Angus. Malcolm's new band called AC/DC rehearsed energically, playing cover versions. The band's first gig took place in the Chequers Club in Sydney on December 31, 1973.

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