The Rebirth of AC/DC: 40 Years Later

This is a post that I hold very close to my heart, for many reasons. The main reason is, AC/DC was, is, and always will be, my favorite rock group of all time. They are such a transformative part of who I am and what I listen to today, that anyone who knows me personally knows that AC/DC and myself go together like peanut butter and jam. Of course you COULD have one without the other if you really wanted to, but you would know deep in your heart that just a peanut butter sandwich is boring and feels like its missing something. Well for many years, I was that peanut butter sandwich. Okay on my own, maybe a bit salty, but nonetheless okay. Until I discovered my jam. Pun intended.

Before I really get into it, let me say this: you never forget your first. My first time was in the parking lot at one of my older sister's lacrosse games. My dad and I were watching her play when it started to rain. I was just a kid and my old man wanted us to stay dry, so we climbed into the his old Honda. He turned the car on to get us warm again, and as soon as the radio roared to life I heard it: the bell. The hair-raising, bone-chilling resonance of Hell's Bell. Then that instantly-recognizable (though at the time, unknown to me) riff comes in. Then the drums and the bass. Suddenly, the raspy vocalist sings the line that would change my life forever: I'm a rolling thunder, pouring rain... I was hooked. "Who is this?" I asked my dad. "AC/DC," his reply. Moments later, a new song comes on. A fun bluesy number that I again did not recognize. That bluesy number turned out to be "Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution." Again on the hook, I had to know. "Who is this?" to which my dad again replied, "AC/DC." That was it. I needed more. As soon as we got home that evening I dug through my dad's CD collection until I found one with their name on it. And there it was: a solid black cover, emblazoned with the band name at the top, and only 3 other words: Back In Black. Within months of that afternoon sitting in my dad's car at a women's lacrosse game, I would have every AC/DC album or DVD they ever released. To this day, I'm still wanting more.

Enough about me. 1980 was a roller coaster of a year for AC/DC. On February 19th, they lost their frontman (and my favorite vocalist of all time) Bon Scott to alcohol poisoning. Less than two months later, the brothers Young decided that Bon would not want them to sit around and mope. They were born to play on, so play on they did. In April of 1980, forty years ago this month, they auditioned replacement singers, until they found ex-Geordie singer Brian Johnson. This is the key to their rebirth. The spark that allowed the phoenix to rise from the ashes. In many ways, this was a rebirth of rock & roll in general. Whether you, the reader/listener, are a fan of AC/DC or not, there is no denying that Back In Black is a landmark record. To this day it remains one of the highest-selling records of all time. They had already begun writing and recording some of the material when they were coming off the tails of their Highway To Hell tour, so somewhere out there in the world, there are recordings of Bon singing some of the songs from BIB and I can't think of anything I WOULDN'T do, to get my hands on them. I had a friend in college that didn't know much of AC/DC's material, save for the obvious radio hits. In fact, he had no idea that AC/DC even had two singers. (Technically more than two, but I won't get into that). When I showed him my copy of BIB on vinyl, he checked out the track list on the back. "Holy shit," he said to me, "Every song on here is a hit." Yup.

Back In Black is a record that, whether you realize it or not, everyone has a connection to. Some people have stronger connections than others, like myself for example, but everyone in the world knows the songs on this record. And to think we almost never got some of these tracks is a bittersweet thing to think about. It breaks my heart and warms it at the same time. Bon's death lead to the writing of "Hell's Bells" as a tribute to him, while Brian and the boys considered leaving "Have A Drink On Me" off the record because of the subject matter and how it played a factor in Bon's untimely demise. Then there is "You Shook Me All Night Long," one of the first songs Brian wrote with the band. The brothers may have had the riff while Bon still walked the Earth, but they didn't have lyrics for it. So Brian sat down and wrote about a car, not a woman, a car, and he was unknowingly writing what would soon be a massive hit single for the band. So when I think about AC/DC and the Back In Black record, I do it with a heavy, yet full heart, as I know it was the product of a horrible tragedy, yet it forever engraved AC/DC's name as one of the greatest bands to ever play. I could go on for hours and hours and endless pages of why I love this band. But I only wanted to scratch the surface of the importance of this record, and I think I've done that. My affliction and obsession for all things AC/DC is so deeply engrained within me now, that just this morning my own mother texted me "Happy 40th anniversary Brian Johnson!" because she knew her son would be celebrating. So thank you, Mom, for inspiring tonight's post. And while I certainly did not intend for this post to turn into a long review of BIB, I figure why not close with it. Before I leave you today, let me just say one last thing:

Ride on, Bon.

Back In Black - AC/DC

7 - 25 - 1980

1. Hell's Bells

2. Shoot To Thrill

3. What Do You Do For Money Honey

4. Given The Dog A Bone

5. Let Me Put My Love Into You

6. Back In Black

7. You Shook Me All Night Long

8. Have A Drink On Me

9. Shake A Leg

10. Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution

Favorite Track: Hell's Bells

Least Favorite Track: Shoot To Thrill

Rating: 10/10