Jeff Apter - High Voltage: The Life of Angus Young

ALSO BY JEFF APTER

PLAYING TO WIN

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(AS GHOSTWRITER)

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by Mark Evans

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by Kasey Chambers

www.jeffapter.com.au

Published by Nero,

an imprint of Schwartz Publishing Pty Ltd

Level 1, 221 Drummond Street

Carlton VIC 3053, Australia

www.nerobooks.com

Copyright Jeff Apter 2017

Jeff Apter asserts his right to be known as the author of this work.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior consent of the publishers.

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:

Apter, Jeff, author.

High voltage: the life of Angus Young,

AC/DCs last man standing / Jeff Apter.

9781863959582 (paperback)

9781925435764 (ebook)

Young, AngusBiography. AC/DC (Musical group).

Rock musiciansAustraliaBiography.

Rock groupsAustralia.

Cover design by Tristan Main

Text design and typesetting by Duncan Blachford

Cover photography by Philip Morris

For Lili/Liz/Elizabeth,
who never ceases to amaze me

OPENING

WELLS FARGO CENTER, PHILADELPHIA 20 SEPTEMBER 2016

A NGUS YOUNGS SUIT tonight was a deep black, his short-sleeved shirt even whiter than his hairless legs. His receding hairline showed more scalp than flowing locks. There were crows feet aplenty around the corners of his eyes, and probably more than a little stiffness in his joints. But little of that mattered when the 61-year-old guitarist, the last original member of AC/DC, let rip on his Gibson SG guitar and sent the crowd into a frenzy, tearing a hole right through the heart of a monstrous Thunderstruck. The man sometimes known as Little Albie was on fire, indefatigable. Still, this was slightly different; tonight was the final show of the iconic bands Rock or Bust tour perhaps even the last they would ever play.

Thered been more than a few AC/DC casualties over the past few years, both leading up to this tour and during its 88-gig run. The first man to fall was Anguss brother Malcolm, truly his brother in arms, who was diagnosed with dementia in 2014, having already endured lung surgery and heart problems. He was now the resident of a Sydney nursing home. While Angus was the face, sound, devils horns and sometimes the bared backside of AC/DC, Malcolm had been the decision-maker in the band, the captain of the ship. Now that role fell to a somewhat reluctant Angus. Stevie Young, the brothers nephew, was brought in as a replacement, proving how much of a family affair AC/DC always has been.

Then there was the chaos brought on by Phil Rudd, whod drummed for the band since 1974, apart from the odd hiatus. A taste for methamphetamines had left him in bad physical shape Hes got more helicopters than teeth, joked one former band member. In mid-2015 Rudd had been hit with charges of attempting to procure a murder, threatening to kill and possession of various illicit drugs. Although the first two charges were soon dropped, the fallout was bad. The mayhem led to an eight-month stretch of home detention for Rudd, beginning in July 2015. Phils got himself in a bit of a pickle, understated Angus, as he turned to regular stand-in Chris Slade to take over.

In early 2016, with the band now on tour, things went from problematic to downright disastrous. Brian Johnsons thunderous wail of a voice, which had helped sell so many millions of records since he replaced Bon Scott in 1980, was silenced some 60-odd shows into the tour. Johnsons doctor told him to stop, for the sake of what remained of his hearing. Immediately. Hardly the most dignified exit after more than 30 years with the band. Enter the most unlikely saviour: Axl Rose, on a throne, no less, his foot broken after an onstage accident with Guns N Roses.

If that wasnt enough upheaval for one tour, understated bassist Cliff Williams made a very rare public announcement as the Rock or Bust tour progressed: he was done. This would be his last go-round with AC/DC, after 40-plus years service. No regrets, no drama, Williams simply handed in his notice. Its time for me to step out, thats all, he said in a YouTube video. Im ready to get off the road.

Behind the scenes, Albert Music, the spiritual home of AC/DC since 1974 and a proudly independent Australian firm of more than 100 years standing, sold its business in mid-2016 to the German music monster BMG. Although, at the Youngs insistence, Alberts retained the publishing rights and recorded works of AC/DC, it was still the end of a loud and proud era of music. Alberts was now a vastly different company to the one the Youngs had felt so deeply connected to back in the beginning.

All this left Angus, the oldest schoolboy in rock and roll, as the last true member of a band and the brand that had been bringing the thunder since the early 1970s. Was he, too, after thousands of gigs, millions of record sales and a lifetime spent in (school) uniform, ready to call it quits? With an estimated worth of $150 million and fancy digs in Sydney, London and Holland, surely the time was right?

If Angus was ready to bail, it wasnt evident tonight. Philly was the final concert of a globetrotting tour that had begun in the desert of Coachella in April 2015, and taken in the Grammys, a barnstorming return to Oz and crazy box office returns. In Germany, 300,000 tickets had been sold in just over an hour. The band had played almost 90 full-house shows across Europe, America and Oceania; the 2015 leg was the second-biggest grossing tour of the year, according to Pollstar, raking in US$180 million.

Tonight, Angus owned the stage, as hed done for way longer than he cared to remember. He strutted from wing to wing, firing off one blazing solo after another, and pulling a very reluctant Cliff Williams forward for a bow as For Those About to Rock reached its explosive finale. The band also dusted off a rare song, Problem Child, playing it for the first time in 15 years. Even Axl Rose, whose onstage outfit pitched him somewhere between a biker and a WWE grappler, and who still carried a fair bit of bad-guy swagger, didnt have quite the same stage presence as Angus.

All these disruptions and dramas mattered not to the Acca-Dacca diehards at the Wells Fargo Center. Glowing devils horns did their usual lively trade at the merch desk, and mini Anguses the offspring of long-time fans, kids who came to the gigs with their parents and were decked out in what were probably real school uniforms could be spotted throughout the house. The response, as it had been every night, was euphoric. Countless heads were banged. Outside each gig, on the streets, the faithful gathered, chanting such songs as Dirty Deeds, their arms wrapped around each others shoulders, bonding over a band that was now represented by just one man: Angus Young. It was a love-in, AC/DC style.

Nobody today, man, could compare, yelled one fan outside the venue at Philly. Ive been waiting my whole life to see them; its insane, said another. Best show Ive ever seen, declared yet another.