0:02

They've been called the thunder from down

0:05

Under. A C d c's

0:07

electrifying brand of hard rock is

0:09

as much a trademark as their guitar players.

0:11

Schoolboy uniform

0:13

brothers Angus and Malcolm Young found

0:16

a soul brother in Bond Scott, a

0:18

pint sized wild man with an outsized

0:20

voice. With Bond upfront,

0:23

A C d C rode to rock stardom

0:26

on a high voltage highway to hell. The

0:29

van reeled in the wake of their singer's

0:31

sudden death. Devastated

0:33

but determined, A c d C buried

0:35

and then replaced a legend. A

0:38

c d c's musical tribute to their fallen

0:41

front Man became one of the best selling

0:43

albums of all time. But

0:45

the loss of Bond Scott would not

0:47

be the band's only danced with death, as

0:50

they found themselves linked to a serial

0:52

killer. Then a packed

0:54

concert led to a crushing tragedy,

0:57

and Malcolm was following in Bond's fatal

0:59

footstep. But after

1:01

fifty years of heartbreak and headbanging,

1:04

A C d C continue to rock

1:08

now the death haunted destiny

1:10

of hard rocks, most enduring band of

1:12

survivors. A C d C behind

1:15

the music In

1:22

nine nine, lightning finally

1:25

struck A c d C. After

1:28

six years of throwing out sparks, the band's

1:30

hard charging, high decibel rock and roll finally

1:33

exploded into the mainstream.

1:36

They weren't glitter rockers, they weren't heavy

1:38

metal their schoolboy dragged aside.

1:40

A c d C were in a class by themselves,

1:43

with a sound all their own on

1:46

stage and off. The band's rough and rowdy

1:48

lead singer Bond Scott was the embodiment

1:50

of A c d c's power and passion

1:53

formers becoming a real here are

1:55

very quickly amongst the tougher

1:58

guys that will wanted bombs,

2:01

drink the wildlife, you know. M

2:03

Then, in five years after

2:06

he energized the band, Bond Scott

2:08

was found dead. Bon Scott

2:11

died drinking. His death nearly

2:13

killed the band. I think we'll

2:15

ever get out of that one. You know, it's

2:18

so hard to believe that the next day didn't

2:20

not there. He had been part of their lives for a

2:22

long time. That was a bit numb,

2:25

That was really a bit non really fun

2:27

whispond It was always

2:29

the same and never expecting a

2:31

Dumpton. It's quite a shock. We

2:34

wanted to continue to band, but we just

2:36

didn't have

2:39

the will to its hid

2:42

For A c d C. The death of Bond Scott

2:44

was more than the loss of a band mate. It

2:46

was a death in the family, and from the

2:49

beginning A c d C was all about

2:51

family. In

2:57

en sixty three, Malcolm and Angus Young's

2:59

unemployed father moved his family from their

3:01

native Scotland to Australia. Ten

3:03

year old Malcolm in eight year old Angus were a

3:05

pair of immigrant kids looking to fit in.

3:08

I had to learn how they talked. And because

3:12

Australia has got a bit mix of American

3:14

and a bit you know,

3:16

the old world English. The

3:18

youngest of eight children, Angus and Malcolm

3:20

remember a childhood with little money but

3:23

a wealth of music. It was just

3:25

like Cameron and Tarade Tillis. It was

3:27

all part of it, you know.

3:29

It was the norm. You know, we thought everyone quick

3:32

why back. Every few

3:35

weeks would be a party for one reason or another.

3:38

There was an old piano that we had. Somebody would

3:40

get on that and they would sing all the old rock

3:42

songs. Malcolm

3:45

and Angus grew wild about rock and roll, especially

3:48

when they're older brother, George formed his own

3:50

band, The

3:53

Easy Beats, became a big hit down on In

3:56

the spring of sixty seven, The Easy Beats scored

3:58

a hit in America. Friday on My Mind

4:01

went to number sixteen on the U S Singles

4:03

charts. Angus and Malcolm

4:05

were inspired by their big brothers rise

4:07

to start them My family just a rise

4:09

in Australia. Penniless in

4:12

six months wiety, he got TV cameras.

4:14

Outside the doors, you got famous

4:16

brother in the famous band. Eager

4:19

to follow in their brother's footsteps, Malcolm

4:21

and Angus quit school and joined separate

4:24

bands. But in nine seventy

4:26

three, twenty year old Malcolm suggested to

4:28

eighteen year old Angus that they joined

4:30

forces. That's all, well,

4:32

why not better than work? We

4:36

told our parents were both in the same vines

4:38

they are. I'll give you a week to

4:41

survive because we fought all the

4:43

time. But when

4:45

big brother George came home from a concert

4:48

tour, he was impressed by what he heard. All

4:50

of a sudden, the Kid Brothers book still a

4:52

kid of problems, but oh my

4:55

God, and knew how to play.

4:58

Angus and Malcolm's band need did a need to

5:00

match their high powered sound. Her

5:02

Sister Margaret's sewing machine triggered

5:05

a flash of inspiration while the machine

5:08

that had a easy on the

5:10

battle and

5:12

we would toss around names for weeks, and she

5:15

just said it one night and everyone went, that's

5:18

that's good. The

5:22

name stuck, as did another gimmick courtesy

5:24

of Sister Margaret's sewing machine. She

5:27

said to Ngers, you know he's

5:29

still more like a schoolboy. You know, I'm

5:32

no, we have a schoolboy here. I

5:35

think she said it jokingly. The

5:37

next thing, she was stitching our school since far,

5:40

there's a fun thing, you know, I said, I you can go as

5:42

a schoolboy, then you can graduate and come

5:44

back it in the jeans.

5:46

George, my older brother, he used

5:48

to try and bopping me up and he said he'll be rich

5:50

very quick. And of course, you know,

5:52

at first I believed him, so I thought

5:55

a better in my keep, you know. In

5:59

four brother Jeorge Rige and fellow Easy Beach

6:01

band member Harry Banda, we're producing

6:03

records for a small Australian league. They

6:06

decided to record a C D C. There

6:09

was no sort of do they have it,

6:12

don't have? It was obvious that they had something

6:16

a C D C's first single was released

6:18

in July of The

6:20

record was a regional hit and led to a small

6:22

local tour. The Brothers Young weren't

6:25

happy with their lead singer Dave Evans.

6:27

You know he got on with his Night Captain maybe

6:30

even cases wait is not

6:34

high. Malcolm and Angus

6:36

were looking for a new front man when in the summer

6:38

of seventy four, their future drove

6:40

up in the person of Ronald bond Scott.

6:46

He was kind of win. He pulled up in his old

6:49

beat up fifty sky you know

6:52

you can barely see, just sort of sort of maniac

6:54

hid and his you

6:58

know, this crazy guy come and lying

7:00

down their way and

7:02

like the Young Brothers, bond Scott was another

7:04

Scottish immigrant raised in Australia. When

7:07

we met him for the first time, it was out

7:09

the nine him forever, the

7:11

bond with us, guys, you always

7:13

behind a brother. Bonn was a headstrong,

7:16

wild child, found and determined

7:18

to be a rock star. All he wanted

7:20

to do is be the singer in a vine. You

7:23

couldn't stop him. Once he made up his mind

7:25

that was what he wanted to do, and he just did

7:27

it. Bond dreamed of fame, but found

7:29

trouble and staff. By four,

7:32

he had already served jail time for assaulting

7:34

a cop and had recently survived

7:36

a near field motorcycle crash.

7:39

Bonne had already burned out in local bands

7:42

like the Valentines and Fraternity. To

7:44

Malcolm and Angus, Bond looked and sounded

7:46

like a perfect fit for a c d C. We

7:49

need bonk sing rock and roll.

7:52

And from that point we kept Pastor

7:54

and him. You know, we didn't like to come and sing.

7:58

We just said, do you want to draw? Without

8:01

even fine with the guy. That's

8:04

how confident we will. It's uh. He

8:06

was gonna work with it. Angus

8:09

and Malcolm had no doubts about hiring

8:11

Bond Scott to front a c d C. Two

8:14

weeks later, we show up and we got George. You've got

8:16

a new singer, and you go what big

8:18

brother? George felt his little brothers had

8:20

lost their minds and

8:24

bonnet and a kneeling

8:27

with a shot jaw. I think

8:29

hanging over was about Disney lost

8:32

a couple of teeth rolling tell

8:35

Us does he looked

8:37

like he'd been around the block come all than at

8:39

the time, George was like,

8:42

there's your mind? No doubt. He says,

8:44

that's reshaped the whole thing. You're

8:46

a real rock and roll back coming

8:51

up. A c d C invades London

8:55

and later death comes called when

8:58

behind the music continued m By

9:12

seventy four, twenty one year old Malcolm

9:14

Young and his nineteen year old brother Anchors had

9:16

formed a band and found a frontman.

9:19

Twenty eight year old Bond Scott was a perfect

9:21

fit for a c d C. A hard

9:24

rocking, hard living dynamo. His

9:26

first appearance with the band was an oleman of hell

9:28

raising to come the

9:33

first gig. You know, he's got a bottler

9:35

urban and that's he just he

9:37

just juices at all, you know, and then he's

9:39

got and his drugs

9:42

and everything coming in. I said to bath for I

9:44

said, it'll be lucky if he can walk lat

9:46

alone, sing and bon Scott's

9:49

behavior may have been shocking, but his performance

9:51

was electric and we

9:54

heard the voice properly in that

9:57

God's got some voice. He can scream

10:00

a great malady, He's got great fail

10:03

e. C d C had found their voice.

10:05

They went into the studio to record their debut

10:08

album, and in January of the

10:10

band took their high volt of Jack across

10:12

the Australian club circuit. They

10:16

were the Aussie blows idea

10:19

of a good time. It

10:21

was just hot and down and fast

10:24

and mean, rib

10:26

crunching, skull crushing,

10:29

sort of blistering rock and roll.

10:32

Then you know they weren't going to sleep in a ballad on

10:34

you. Having

10:37

conquered Sydney's music scene, a C d

10:39

C relocated to Melbourne and retooled

10:41

the group's line up. Bon

10:43

Scott's voice had raised the band to another

10:46

level, but there was room for improvement.

10:48

The first High Waters album had been released,

10:51

but I was still looking to sort of

10:53

secure the permanent band members.

10:56

In early seventy five, drummer Phil Rudd

10:59

joined the band. In the Debauchery,

11:02

we were living in this house for six months,

11:04

still the best days of our lives. There

11:06

was more action going on there. They

11:09

never since tomorrow

11:13

weld cup and drank again and we

11:16

just continued on like that a long time.

11:19

The party continued. That spring, n C

11:22

d c's cover of Baby Please Don't Go went

11:24

top ten and became their first nationwide

11:27

hit. That April, the

11:29

band made a notorious appearance on Australian

11:31

television as Bond gave new meaning

11:33

to the phrase dress for success.

11:36

I'll never forget it on countdown bund

11:38

dressed and drag You know there

11:41

was unheard of that then Bonds

11:44

Drag Acts served a further A C d C's

11:46

raucous reputation, and by the summer

11:48

of seventy five they had a gold record and a

11:50

growing fan base in Australia. I

11:53

see had the young audience, violent

11:55

fame adoring this spad but

11:58

as A C d C second but went to number

12:00

two in Australia. The band had no intention

12:03

of remaining local heroes. In

12:05

early seventy six, they scored a deal with Atlantic

12:07

Records to release their music internationally.

12:12

That spring, A C d C boarded a plane

12:14

to London, looking to conquer the world.

12:16

I think it was inevitable that A C. We're gonna

12:19

outgrow Australia. There were there

12:21

was a whole world waiting for them.

12:23

Their fast and furious style was a hit

12:25

in London's burgeoning punk scene, and A C

12:28

d C was soon headed cross country to rock

12:30

the rest of Great Britain. Their reputation

12:32

as the rude and rowdy band from Australia

12:35

preceded them. I think they thought

12:37

it was some sort of mild stripper. At some

12:39

point, I think I played one not in

12:41

my cane noon. I didn't know

12:44

what they arrest people for that. I

12:46

didn't know. A C d C came

12:48

to be considered less a band than a band

12:50

of outlaw. On

12:52

stage, A C d C did everything they could

12:54

too shock. Off stage, they got serious

12:57

about their music, working with Angus

12:59

and Malcolm's older brother George, who produced

13:01

their next album, Let there Be Rock, Me

13:04

and Mountain said, when we really want to like guitars

13:07

in pink guitars. Released

13:11

in the summer of seventy seven, Let there Be Rock

13:13

blasted onto the US charts. A

13:15

C d C were on the verge of becoming an

13:17

international hard rock phenomenon.

13:20

In January of nineteen seventy nine, A

13:23

C d C began work on an album called

13:25

Highway to Hell, a title the record

13:27

company hated from the start. Phrase

13:31

with that title, and they didn't want that title,

13:33

and I said, hogwash,

13:35

and we're calling

13:37

it Highway now, and that's how it is. When

13:43

Highway to Hell hit record stores that

13:45

summer, it's title spawned rumors

13:47

that the wild men of A C d C were devil

13:49

worshipers. But

13:52

to A C d C. Highway to Hell was a

13:54

tribute to the hard life of a touring

13:56

rock and roll band. If you could have been on the

13:58

road with us for those years

14:01

up to that point, you were are not exactly

14:03

what we were talking about. After

14:06

six hard years on the road and in the studio,

14:08

A C d C's GrITT and determination, we're

14:11

finally paying off Bond Scott

14:13

was enjoying the high times. Only

14:16

for Bond the high times were even

14:18

higher. And we got back to the hotel

14:20

us at Old Bonging and thrain them morning

14:22

you know, crash, but now

14:25

just one more drink and wait

14:28

Whyecott? The morning on Whycoup

14:31

and getting up back onto East drink. Where were

14:33

we? Where they were

14:36

was on the rise. Highway to

14:38

Hell raced up the billboard charts and hit

14:40

the top twenty as the seventies came

14:42

to a close. As

14:44

the eighties began, A C d C look forward

14:47

to further rock and roll glory. After

14:50

seven years and thousands of gigs, from

14:52

the plubs of Australia to the stadiums of

14:54

the world, A C d C rode Highway

14:56

to Hell to international success in the summer

14:58

of nineteen seventy odd as

15:01

the year drew to a close. The decade ahead

15:03

promised more gold records and good fortune,

15:06

but the band's exhausting workload and

15:08

equally intense appetite for drugs

15:10

and alcohol we're taking their inevitable

15:12

toll. Frontman Bond Scott

15:14

led the partying as well. No

15:17

one could stop Bonds Wild Waves,

15:19

not even his beloved mother. You

15:22

didn't tell her on what to do. I never went

15:24

too far. I just said I didn't like him

15:26

drinking. But to get to

15:28

that staga, don't listen to you. Under

15:34

pressure to record a follow up to Highway

15:36

to Hell, a C d C returned

15:38

to London in January. Of night, Malcolm

15:41

and Angus Young invited Bond to the studio,

15:44

eager to play him the new music for their next

15:46

album, They will Fantasty's

15:50

looking up yourself. Yeah,

15:52

it's taste little fixed and

15:54

he said, you know, we're just about ready for

15:57

you, pont So mightbe next week sometime,

15:59

you know. Of course

16:01

I never had never happened.

16:04

You know, Bond would

16:06

never put lyrics to the music Malcolm and

16:08

Angus had written. On

16:10

Tuesday night, February, Bond

16:14

Scott went out drinking in London with a friend.

16:17

He went out just for a drink, a relaxation,

16:21

you know, maybe the clear the heads, you

16:24

know, and then he look

16:26

forward to getting into his right and come up

16:28

with some ideas. You know. He had it all

16:30

in front of him on that

16:32

cold night. Bond Scott was only thirty

16:35

three years old, but his time

16:37

was running out. After a night

16:39

of heavy drinking, Bond ended the evening alone

16:42

passed out in a car parked outside his

16:44

friend's house. In

16:46

the morning, he was found dead from

16:51

what I still can gather. He had formed

16:54

asleep, you know, in a car and

16:58

you know, asphyxiated each

17:01

through the through the night the position

17:03

he was sleeping during

17:06

the night, Bond had apparently vomited

17:08

in his sleep and choked to death. Angus

17:11

was the first band member to get the sad

17:13

news. I had called the guy

17:16

was managing us and he told

17:19

that it was true that he had died. So m

17:23

h Angus called me. I

17:25

just thought, we stunned. You can't explain

17:27

to death and how it affects you. You know, everything

17:30

just is not It's

17:33

as simple as that. I wonder,

17:35

you know, just what do you do Within

17:39

hours, everyone in the band knew the awful

17:41

truth, and the media were already flashing

17:43

the news of Bond's death. Malcolm

17:45

took it upon himself to notify Bond's

17:47

family in Australia before the tabloid

17:49

reporters got to them first. Someone

17:52

had to tell him, you know, and it better

17:54

coming from one of the bye and from

17:58

a newspaper over

18:00

the phone. Yeah, I got shock

18:02

of my life. But I thought it was him

18:05

on the end of the phone and

18:07

I just screamed, Yeah,

18:13

the most difficult thing I've had to do. God

18:15

knows how they felt. I hope

18:17

I never have to do anything like that again.

18:24

The band pulled together and refused all

18:26

interviews. While Bond's death was sensationalized

18:29

in the tabloid press, especially

18:32

in Britain, they made it a bit of a joke almost,

18:35

you know, and we've

18:38

never forgiven of for that or

18:40

we were concerned about it mainly at

18:42

that song with Bond's parents. They're

18:44

really nice people. They don't

18:46

need a lot of the stories

18:48

are I don't know, not don't

18:52

not very good reading sometimes, you know,

18:54

I just had to skip over the bad bits. As

18:57

the grim news swirled around them, his

19:00

friends and band meets dealt with the pain of a

19:02

crushing blow. I mean, that was

19:04

Bond's life. I mean, even though he was this sweet,

19:07

lovely guy, he did drink a lot, he

19:09

did sort of live the rock and roll lifestyle

19:11

to its absolute extreme. But she,

19:14

you know, might have been drunk before. I

19:16

mean, you know, I mean, one shouldn't have died. There

19:18

was a loss to us of this

19:21

incredible character that

19:23

all of us had embraced and he had embraced us.

19:25

All work

19:28

on E C d c's new album was suspended,

19:30

and Malcolm and Angus flew home to Australia

19:32

to lend support to Barns parents and

19:35

warned the loss of a man who had become brother

19:37

to them. When you're

19:39

younger, you don't really think that something

19:42

like death it's gonna touch

19:45

you, you know. I'd never really

19:47

had that a tragedy that close,

19:50

you know, and especially someone

19:53

like Bomb. It was just one of those

19:55

things where you know, one day somebody is there and and

19:57

it's so hard to believe that the next day not

20:00

fit. On March

20:02

one, Bond Scott

20:04

was buried in Fremant, the town where

20:07

he was raised, and

20:09

you got for the emotions of the funeral and

20:11

everything else. We just really just dumbfound

20:14

I just can't believe what's really happened. To know, I think

20:16

we'll ever get out of that one. We

20:19

wanted to continue to buy, but we just

20:22

didn't have the will to. Without

20:25

Bond, the surviving band members believed

20:28

A c d C was dead, but Bond's

20:30

parents encouraged them to keep the band alive,

20:33

that Bond would have wanted it that way.

20:36

Let's you know, we've got

20:38

dead blessing, you know, so West Colin try

20:41

to do something. But

20:43

after five years with Bond Scott up front,

20:46

raising hell and raising the roof, A

20:48

c d C's bright future had dim and

20:51

there was more darkness ahead coming

20:55

up. Music for a band in Mourning

20:59

and later a serial killer and Guilt

21:01

by Association when

21:03

behind the music continues in

21:18

A c d C. Was reeling from the loss

21:20

of their friend and frontman lead

21:23

singer Bond Scott, but the band's

21:25

founding members Angus and Malcolm Young were

21:27

convinced that Bond would have wanted A c d

21:29

C to carry on, and

21:32

we all agreed with classrophos

21:35

and that would want to say it follows would

21:37

be bombed. Finding a lead singer to

21:39

replace Bond Scott was a daunting task.

21:42

Bond's powerhouse voice and on a bass showmanship

21:45

had been central to a c d C success.

21:47

Their search lad them to Brian Johnson,

21:50

and I saw them on television a program called

21:52

Rook Goes to College. I

21:55

was just transmitted with Angus and

21:57

Bond and these two guys of

22:00

Front with two the greatest characters I think I've ever

22:02

seen, and especially Angus, you know, and I

22:05

just I was hooked. Brian

22:08

auditioned for a band that was feeling mixed emotions

22:11

about replacing a friend they had buried only

22:13

a month earlier. There

22:15

would never be another Bomb. It's dry

22:18

and walked in one day Front

22:20

audition. He just felt really comfortable

22:22

with him and it and again he could sing his

22:25

balls out. A c

22:27

DC hired Brian in April of ninety

22:30

and got down to the task of making their first

22:32

album without Bond Scott. The

22:34

music of the album it's titled, and its cover

22:36

we're all dedicated to Bond's memory. He

22:39

wanted it just a simple black cover. We

22:42

wouldn't have even done Injustice and words

22:45

also even you know, with the bell and

22:47

the beginning of the health meals is

22:49

our own little tributes. During

22:53

the emotional sessions for Back in Black, Ryan

22:55

Johnson stepped up to the microphone and

22:57

into bond scott shoes. I

23:02

mean by just going up there and just just

23:04

crossing my fingers and just boating

23:07

me along as I as high and as hard as

23:09

I could, with as much feeling as I could. I

23:12

want to impress these guys. As

23:16

Brian and the band prepared for the upcoming

23:18

Back in Black tour, there was apprehension

23:20

about how their new lead singer would be accepted

23:22

by the fans. Brian

23:25

was very worried, you know at the talking me.

23:28

But we thought, well, you're

23:30

just sanging that, Brian. You just do what you

23:33

do best. It was the first time ever I'll be singing

23:36

some of Bond's songs. Nerve

23:39

racking. It was real nerve racking. Those

23:42

kids, you know, in the first gig

23:45

we did, those fans were there. Good

23:47

walk, Brian, you know, you know

23:49

the space Wishes. There was banners

23:51

everywhere. That's for a shot. The

23:54

fans were still with a CDC and

23:56

now there would be millions more of them released

23:59

In the summer of nine teen eighty Back in Black

24:01

sold sixteen million copies to

24:03

become one of the ten best selling albums

24:05

in rock and roll history. To

24:08

come back that strong with a new vocalist

24:10

is an absolutely remarkable feat

24:12

for them to accomplish. A

24:15

C d C's musical memorial to Bond

24:17

Scott hit the top five on three continents,

24:20

and that fall Back in Black spawned the band's

24:22

first top forty single. The

24:25

album's phenomenal success proved an

24:27

impossible act to follow after Black

24:30

and Black was so huge. The world

24:32

was navy for this, you know, for

24:34

this follow up, and I just don't think you can do it.

24:37

The stock market that did kind of fogged down

24:39

sometime, you know, I mean, But

24:42

falling album sales were only the start

24:44

of a streak of bad luck that would haunt A

24:46

C d C throughout the eighties. In

24:49

the spring of Night five, A C

24:52

d C became linked to the investigation of

24:54

a murder case in California. Upon

24:56

investigating that murder, one of the pieces

24:59

of evidence that was left behind was they had bearing

25:02

the letters A C d C on it

25:04

in an attempt to track down the infamous

25:06

killer known as the night Stalker. Homicide

25:09

detective Guilt Corea released a picture

25:11

of the hat to the press. What the significance

25:14

was was trying to get attention through

25:16

the media to see if anybody

25:19

knew somebody that wore an A

25:21

C d C had that might call Jared

25:23

Pilot Martinez Helvin. The county was held

25:27

in terror. They were full of fear. While

25:29

law enforcement pressed their manhunt for the mystery

25:32

man suspected in thirteen brutal

25:34

murders, the press built up the serial

25:36

killer's link to A C d C. Press assumed

25:39

an awful lot, and the

25:41

press put a lot more to the

25:44

significance of the hat than the homicide investigators.

25:47

On August thirty one, the night Stalker was

25:49

finally arrested. The press reported that

25:51

Richard Ramirez, a confessed Satanist, was inspired

25:54

by A. C d C Has Children

25:56

for us. I

25:59

mean, why are we connected

26:01

anyway? Reporters analyzed the lyrics

26:03

to the A C d C song Night Prowler for

26:05

connections to the night stalker. Class

26:08

song not cold Nights. The focus will night Prowler,

26:11

and it's that things used

26:13

to do when you're a kid, like sneaking girlfriend's

26:17

bedroom window and their parents. It

26:21

just sickens you. You know, sicken as you had to

26:23

have anything to do with that kind of thing. The

26:26

media frenzy surrounding the Ramira's

26:28

case horrified the band. As the

26:30

press played up the satanic angle, it

26:32

was suggested that A c d C's name stood

26:34

for Antichrist Devil's children.

26:37

It's been called everything since you know A

26:39

C d C. The meaning of the wetters, you know, no

26:42

matter you tell them the song machine story and

26:44

everything, and they still think, now there's more to this.

26:47

And I don't know why they zeroed

26:49

in on us. I could never see

26:51

their connection myself, but

26:54

the negative press surrounding the night Stalker

26:56

case had already done its damage. That

26:58

same year, A C d C found themselves at the

27:01

center of another controversy when the Parents

27:03

Music Resource Center, led by a group of

27:05

U. S. Senators wives including Tipper Gore,

27:08

placed A c d C at the top of a list of

27:10

artists they deemed obscene. You

27:13

got idiots like Tipper Gore? Who

27:15

really is twitter? The attacks

27:17

on A C d C continued through the mid eighties,

27:19

but the band ignored their critics and focused

27:22

their energy on a string of gold records and

27:24

one concert tour after another. I's

27:27

only shut clops to play We're

27:29

cool. You know, we could quite around the world

27:31

in clubs. Hey

27:33

what a life. So we

27:36

were never you know, felt the feeding still.

27:39

The years since Bondscott's death had taken

27:42

a toll on Malcolm. His drinking

27:44

had steadily increased, and in April of

27:46

eight eight, he finally bottomed down my

27:49

drinking over talk, you

27:52

know, my whole thing, and I felt like cat

27:56

almost thought the jackal missed high. On

28:00

stage, Malcolm tried to keep it together, but

28:02

offstage he was unraveling. In

28:04

the middle of the band's Blow Up Your Video tour,

28:07

and Malcolm realized he couldn't take it anymore.

28:10

Started talk with Angus and you

28:13

said that what you feel I

28:15

could at least take a break.

28:18

I think he was worried about me, that

28:21

he'd be disappointing me. But he turned

28:24

and he said, look, I'm gonna and

28:26

I'll have to stop, you know, because

28:29

if I continue, he you

28:31

know, he felt he become a casualty, you know,

28:34

and he was a big enough man to turn

28:36

around and say, you know, I kind of go up with this.

28:39

So I was letting people dis make people

28:41

get worried about me. I wasn't

28:43

brain dead, but I I

28:45

was just physically and meant me screwed

28:49

by the by the alcohol. The

28:51

brothers recruited their nephew Stevie to play

28:53

for Malcolm while he fought to get sober. In

28:56

time, with the help of alcoholics, anonymous,

28:58

Malcolm was able to put down the bottle and pick

29:00

up the guitar. That did

29:03

it, That got me right. It's

29:07

it put me on track. You know. It wiped

29:10

your right up. God knows what he went through,

29:14

but whatever it

29:16

was, he fixed. He fixed

29:18

yourself better than

29:20

ever, you know, huh. A

29:23

re energized Malcolm joined the sessions

29:25

for A. C d C's fourteenth album in Razor's

29:29

Edge, would slash its way to the second spot

29:31

on the US album charts and sell over

29:33

three million copies. It

29:37

was all back to normal. M

29:40

So right. That's about all

29:42

I should say about that. It was

29:45

a detour, a bad detour I had to take

29:47

you, and so

29:50

happened. I never got it out way again. Malcolm

29:55

had saved his own life, but death had not yet

29:58

finished haunting A C d C. Well.

30:01

January eighteenth, a

30:03

concert in Salt Lake City, Utah, turned

30:05

into a nightmare. Taro

30:09

Knights, Tarior Knights Forget as

30:11

long as I Live. The concert had barely

30:13

begune when tragedy struck. Seating

30:16

was not reserved, so that night, as the doors

30:19

opened, thirteen thousand eager fans rushed

30:21

forward to claim seats near the front of the stage.

30:24

Three fans were trampled to death in the stampede.

30:27

At the time, A C d C didn't know the full

30:29

story, and I gotta

30:32

well, there's one dead, and I I

30:36

was it. I just sat him, just tears.

30:39

Angus was just just ate himself. I

30:41

could say he was well and tried

30:44

to hold it together as best you could. The

30:48

band wanted to stop the show, but were

30:50

advised to play on to avoid further

30:52

chaos. When they later learned that three

30:55

fans had been crushed to death, they were heartbroken.

30:58

I think what hurt most is the

31:01

next day in the newspapers there same

31:03

banned cleared on where kids

31:06

died about them, and that had a photograph of me with

31:08

a spil on new fist. It was just journalistic

31:12

opportunity that just went beyond

31:14

the bones of decency. You know. I was just

31:16

so angry and hurt to

31:19

make matters worse, the band faced lawsuits

31:21

claiming that they were responsible for the fatality.

31:24

The lawsuits were coming flying at

31:27

us from every angle. Was a feeding

31:29

friends and reading well, I think at the end of the day,

31:31

it's your name on the ticket, you know,

31:34

and it's your name that they that

31:36

they see. By spring of

31:38

ninety one, the court dismissed A c d

31:40

C from a wrongful death lawsuit brought

31:42

by the father of one of the three teenagers

31:44

killed in Salt Lake City, Bray

31:47

c d C. The ninet nineties, like the eighties,

31:49

had begune on a dismal note. Hopefully

31:52

their luck would change in the decade to come.

32:04

After a tragic concert in Salt Lake City

32:07

in January of n A

32:09

c d C was hoping for a fresh start in the new

32:11

decade and a chance to put their often

32:13

painful pass behind them. In

32:17

September of ninety one, Russian President

32:19

Baris Yeltson invited A c d C to

32:21

headline a pre concert for young

32:23

Russians who had helped to block a communist

32:25

coup. When we arrived in

32:27

Moscow, getting off the plane, there's

32:30

just so many people. They it was like

32:32

they just stopped work on

32:36

the night of September over

32:39

a million Russians rocked with A C d C

32:41

at a former Soviet air base. That

32:43

was a great gig on him walking on man, just beaten,

32:47

you know, I mean, it was just forever

32:51

forever. The

32:54

band left Moscow with a renewed sense

32:56

of optimism. For A c d

32:58

C. It had been a long, hard highway

33:01

to hell from Australia to Russia, seventeen

33:04

years of heartbreak and hit records.

33:07

In the year two thousand, A c d

33:09

C released their seventeenth album, Stiff

33:12

Upper Lift. Even after all

33:14

that time, they were still the same

33:16

hard rockers as when they formed the band

33:19

back in ninety three. They

33:23

went on to release the Black Ice album

33:25

in two thousand eight, which would turn out

33:27

to be Malcolm Young's last. With

33:30

a diagnosis of early Alzheimer's

33:32

disease, he would be unable to continue

33:34

on with the band. It

33:38

was decided that his nephew Stevie

33:40

Young, would take his place for their upcoming

33:42

Rock or Bust album and tour. Malcolm

33:45

died in at sixty

33:48

four years old. In

33:51

the group released Power Up, a tribute

33:53

to the late Malcolm Young. After

33:56

almost fifty years, Crowd

33:59

still can't get an enough of a c DCS

34:01

explosive, electrifying rock

34:03

and roll. The legacy

34:06

of Bond, Scott and Malcolm Young lives

34:08

on as the group continues

34:10

to rock on h

34:20

Listen to Behind the Music on the I Heart Radio

34:22

app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get

34:24

your favorite podcasts. Want

34:26

more episodes, you can watch remastered

34:29

best of the Vault and new episodes of Behind

34:31

the Music only on Paramount

34:33

Plus