Countdown's Ian "Molly" Meldrum interviews his friend Bon Scott. This is one of the very few interviews where someone made a conscious effort to interview Bon Scott before he got drunk, and got him to answer some serious questions.
The Conversation
welcome to the program Bon Scott
ac/dc yeah Thank You Man now in
fact the last time I saw you was the
hundred when we did the hundred show
over here when you know if it's Julia
uh-huh
that was a good day wasn't it well I it
took so long to get the show together it
was a really good day because the bow
was open the whole time yes that's right
but listen seriously what are you doing
at the moment is the group doing you've
just come back from America yeah what
we're doing English to in a moment
yeah the last gig is about three days at
Great Yarmouth I suppose you've all
heard of Great Yarmouth I know we just
you know I haven't oh you haven't no
good place oh let me tell you that but
yeah oh no no that's not carry on her
right go get just finished European tour
and spent seven weeks in America so we
really are you getting around well let's
go back what about a year ago when I was
over here doing interviews in there and
at that stage within spoken the music
papers especially like sounds enemy
Melody Maker you're never out of the
papers right there was always a story
about you yeah you were filling out the
marquee every night and you were sort of
what most people termed as the first of
the punk bands to emerge now since then
the Sex Pistols and so on and so on and
now you've got you know every man is dog
with you know similar names that turn
themselves as punk rock bands or a new
wave band you've been away you've been
to America you've broken into the
American chants and I've got my hand
over the mark again you've been away
you've been a shouldn't have them right
down here I know you've been away you've
been on
on the you've made the American charts
you were very big in Europe what does it
feel like now to come back with all of
this new wave sort of going crazy in
England and are you pulling crowd still
well we're pulling do you get crowds and
they oh you know yeah I mean we've got
our following here it's not it's not new
wave and it's not Punk it's just people
like our band I rock man you know and
what we thought we honestly thought that
the the pancan and the new wave thing
with might sort of spoil a bit for us
but it hasn't at all yeah yeah it was a
big fat look it's just like anything
else big fat for a while those are still
hanging on to it but the main thing
about it is that give rock music a real
kick in the guts you know yeah and and
we're sort of even though we started the
whole thing over here and we were we
played here before the Sex Pistols we're
even sort of yeah thought up yeah
and now we've always been there and
people are beginning to realize that now
they want more than just some summing up
restraint go OK and rape them yeah and
we're it yeah we're doing it right now
the thing is that you've always been a
very tight rock-and-roll band but for
some reason you've concentrated a lot on
the live performances especially in
England so all there is but there's
never been a really definite single
released on the English market or
there's been some confusion about the
singer why is this well singles from
start and I might add just before you
answer that because I want you to answer
another one there's a little bit of
confusion of what's happening in
Australia with your singles two so could
you clear it all up box okay now now
we're selling now singles bands over
here or bands released singles that take
off without already having established a
road following are going to suffer the
same effects as has sherbet you know
yeah they had a big record over here and
their English tour consisted of one gig
you know because not know that no slant
on them but they're a record band you
know and they had no no road following
so no one comes to see they see their
shows you know so we have the following
if we were east a single here now and
would do really well
excuse me well why isn't there a single
release now or you know well we don't
write the singles yeah see we don't want
we don't write singles of course should
do it we had we have that in the past
but we don't write something from
specifically for a single mm-hmm no way
but it's common the only group to bring
out a single we're an album been a road
album band you know singles don't mean
it pinch to anybody you know you know
ban there's no sense in them like if
some station picks up like the BBC which
they probably never would you know yeah
then might get played and it might might
make the charts but said there's no way
we'd do it intentionally to make a
single does the same go through stronger
oh no Australia's are different Matt
different market all together yeah and
there if there's a likely singer on an
album it'll be released as a single but
over here the albums the main thing and
if a station picks it a track that they
thought of like to play a lot well it'll
sell the Almonte the single yeah now
with Mark leaving the group where it has
the new member fiddling oh it's quite
noisy yeah yeah did he alter the band in
any way did the sound or the only thing
well he's a guy's been playing for a lot
longer than Mike ever played like yeah
Mike played with us for two years
probably been playing bass about three
where's cliff has been playing for about
12 years
yeah and so it's um it's technique is
sort of powered I'd say advanced to what
Marx was all that Marx was for the rock
stuff that's cool you know Chris just
given us more sort of more scope but
isn't there's more you can do with the
music that's it in between the guitars
like Angus I mean more Malcolm and cliff
I think could be done before
now um you've always since you've been
away you've always gone back to
Australia to record why is that I know I
believe you're going back again to
record well you know it's no sort of
cone size if you think about holidays
it's a your mum and dad yeah
all your mates and and George and Harry
are there and the studios are there and
they know the studios at the back of
their hand you know and that system just
being a perfect setup we can spend
unlimited time in the studio it's all
there there's no need to go anywhere
else because like if we say we went to
UM say Miami for instance you know we'd
have that hotel it and we have to buy
studio time like you might get eight or
ten or twelve hours a day or whatever
which is quite expensive hmm this is
just no point as yeah right now you're
really big on that on the European side
especially on the live tour inside can
you tell us a bit about the European
market as far as ac/dc are concerned you
don't feel like there's a really quite
stranger that the a lot of freaks out of
that now this or not Punk and they're
not terribly young it's better to say
you must tell it I'm sorry I you find a
few on the street after the show in the
gallery right but they're this sort of
it's really hard to say that but they're
more emotional yeah emotions rock you
know probably more so than the rest of
the world yeah they crazy because like
European bands don't don't play rock
music and if they do play it they don't
play it well so the only only rock they
get is from England America and a now
Australia right now you know let's let's
look at four countries right you've got
the USA which you're about to leave for
and do an extensive touring sign you've
got the European market
you've got the British market and you've
got the Australian market does the band
change at all or you just play the same
thing for every market and use the same
approach exactly the same yeah yeah
there's no need to change I mean we what
we are yeah and we ain't gonna change
for nobody
yeah so it's just now but it doesn't you
could put them all in one room and you
couldn't tell one from the next like
they're just the say in the world over
what's what what do you think will be
the next single in Australia let there
be rock isn't it there yeah isn't that
isn't it the single I don't know isn't
no what's it mean I don't a voice from
heaven says here's
voice from heaven Eva right now what
about an album we recorded an album who
else tell me back there as yet it's not
finished we've got a few things we've
thought about it and change a few things
mm-hmm oh there's a live album probably
coming out soon and it's served from
taken from concerts in Glasgow my music
Bowl it was one recorder in in Fort
Lauderdale and in Florida but there's
about four and all you know and that
might be sort of put into a live album
the best of the four concerts
well now tell us about two American
plans yeah we're going back there in a
couple of weeks a tour with them with
kiss as supporting kiss and a band
called rush you might have heard him out
there and we're doing about our 12 dates
were those bands and a few of our own
and some co-headlining with the band
called UFO right now just on the kiss to
her right
have you seen kiss perform yet live yeah
so I'm in in London last year yeah yeah
quite spectacular yeah well I mean
there's going to be an amazing contrast
between yourselves and obviously kiss
both very visual well yeah see the guy
that that um what's his name tell me the
bass player his name from kiss I don't
know
no Carl tell me the bass players they're
from kids he's a popular guy here Carl
he came along without sharing or one of
our shows and the whiskey in in
Hollywood to see his play out you know
and and he come up to us and said look I
think your band and we're touring in in
December and we'd like you to tour with
us and they played of 80,000 people yeah
right I'm in their shoes so the show you
should be quite yeah quite amazing
now are you on the songwriting side if
you'd written many songs of light I'm in
the band and so forth well we haven't
written like I said while we're touring
you're sort of compiling all your ideas
and yeah yeah things you rip off from
here and there around the countries that
I like in it and I've got pages and
stuff actually I wrote the words the two
songs that's on the
- up on the road and got back home and
found out that was the same titles and
always the same and I was really played
of them doing oh yeah and how's Angus
going had an Angus guy over with this
time last year the papers were going
crazy and you know talking about this
great little guitarist that's good so
full of energy had to go in America oh
they they couldn't believe in America no
I like the Americans are mad there
anything new they they really go crazy
for right now
and although like only the rich people
oh they can afford to send their kids to
Stuart to schools where they have
uniforms I'm this is like the novelty of
was just overwhelm them and the energy
that band puts out they couldn't like
the couldn't believe in what why was the
approach last time you were back that
time that you were recording she sort of
almost a low profile as far as
television and all of that was concerned
in the press yeah we you know dig this
we've been working nonstop since the
band started yeah before eight months
before I joined the band you know yeah
and and you just got to have a break you
know and so that the main thing about
being back there last summer actually
write the songs we call them break in
the new bass player to the way of the
band that's why we already played one
more two gigs back there both at the
Bondi lifesaver
you know it's just gonna have a break
again I wasn't thanks for coming on
countdown again it's alright and now why
is they in still really yeah and we wish
you the best of luck in America thank
you and it's good to see that the album
is really starting to to break in like
really stone to break in turn it into
Top 200 what is it you know it's around
about 150 150 with an arrow yeah that's
good but crosses that like it's not
quite as fast as the bull as an author
all right best of luck and we'll look
forward to seeing you come home and
doing some some 200 days looking forward
to getting back there Tokyo see ya
thanks much.