It’s a Long Way to the Top? Really?

If you wanna be a star of stage and screen,

            Look out - it’s rough and mean

- AC/DC It’s a Long Way To The Top, 1975, Albert Productions

Australian hard rock sensation AC/DC released their rock anthem It’s a Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll) nearly 40 years ago in 1975.  The band’s fifth single, Long Way reached the ninth spot on the Australian charts and is widely considered by critics to be the legend Bon Scott’s signature hit.  To add to its prestige, it was recently included in the Australian National Registry of Recorded Sound.  However, the entire premise of the song is fabricated – AC/DC and the Brothers Young actually became internationally famous rock stars within one year after releasing Long Way.

Malcolm, Angus, and George Young recording in 1972.

Let there be rock

Malcolm and Angus Young, key to AC/DC’s raw sound, are the younger brothers of George Young.  The elder Young was songwriter and guitarist for the 1960’s Australian pop favorite The Easybeats, co-writing the unforgettable, almost psychedelic working-class anthem Friday On My Mind in 1966.  The Young brothers enjoyed a carefree childhood growing up in the affluent western suburbs of Sydney.  They were practically born to rock.

 

AC/DC 1973

AC/DC was formed when Malcolm Young recruited his brother Angus, bassist Larry Van Kriedt, vocalist Dave Evans, and former Masters Apprentice drummer Colin Burgess in November 1973.  The band played their first show on New Year’s Eve 1973, headlining at Chequers nightclub in Sydney - the same hot spot where greats such as Shirley Bassey regularly performed.  It was not easy to get top billing at that joint, yet AC/DC landed the gig in less than 40 days as a band. 

 

 

 

The Silver Beatles in Hamburg, 1960

You never give me your money

By way of comparison, The Beatles John Lennon formed the Quarrymen in March 1957. It was not until nearly 40 months later, in late 1960, that the band was hopped up on prellies (phenmetrazine) playing Buddy Holly covers in the red light district of Hamburg as an opening act.  The lads along with their black leather jackets were deported 3 months later for lighting their hotel room on fire. 

For The Beatles, at least, it was a “long way” to Abbey Road.  Notice however that when legendary Beatle and Wings front man Sir Paul McCartney wrote about the subject, he described his touring experience as more of an annoyance in his 1973 hit Band On The Run, and not so much the grueling ordeal described in Long Way (McCartney did, however, take a jab at a county judge who held a grudge).

High Voltage

AC/DC, meanwhile, in October 1974, less than a year after forming, recorded their debut album High Voltage in only ten days.  The album would reach number 7 on the Kent Music Report.  By that time the band had already burned a dozen hotel rooms across Australia.

 

They would follow up with the LP TNT in 1975 and an internationally released High Voltage, in 1976, which would sell 3 million copies.  Evolving through many lineup changes, AC/DC rose to the very apex of their industry with minimal effort (other than pure rock genius) and yet lied to their growing fan base of angsty tweens across the globe in what is considered their quintessential song. 

Bagpipes

To add to the insult, the infamous song is one of the few rock anthems to include a bagpipe solo.  In the video for Long Way, directed by Paul Drane, the band is traveling dangerously on the back of a flatbed truck during the performance.  The bagpipers are nowhere to be seen for the song’s searing intro in B-flat major.  Nor were they present for Bon Scott’s gravelly baritone thundering across the first verse.  It is not until over 1 minute into the number that the bagpipers appear, out of nowhere, on the truck with the band.

How were these Scots countrymen able to climb onto a moving truck, with bagpipes at the ready, in the middle of a classic rock masterpiece in time for their call to the Young brothers' guitarsenal?  Angus responded with a jaw-dropping lick reminiscent of a Jeff Beck session on Mars.  The interlude nailed the raucous no-frills trademark sound of AC/DC but the stoners in the audience were left scratching their long-haired heads.

 

Rock and roll domination

Angus Young today is estimated to have a net worth of over $20 million.  AC/DC as a band currently pulls in over $40 million annually in touring alone.  The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.  Here is an excerpt of the bio from the RnRHOF website:

“Thirty years on, AC/DC continues to give the fans what they want. Through it all, they’ve never lost the common touch - the sense that the band and their audience were interchangeable, and that both were celebrating the joyful jolt of electricity provided by good, hard, uncompromising rock and roll.”

Yet, AC/DC rose to the top in less than three years, compromising the very song that made the climb possible – It’s A Long Way to the Top (If you Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll).  That’s not how it goes - judging from the experience of AC/DC, it’s easier than it looks.

 

Who made who

“Disaffected and at-risk youth are particularly drawn to the notion that one must endure the tribulations of road life to accomplish greatness in rock,” said Dr. Athena Mindheart of the Francis Farmer College of Art in Seattle, “it is also called the traveling band syndrome.  They want to feel that the deck is somewhat stacked against them.  They would be upset to learn the truth, namely that rocking is in your soul and flows naturally from your heart and bones and that the road life of a rock star is one of the most exciting adventures in the world.  Such a revelation would require said fans to put down the joint, cut the hair, and get a job before recruiting for their own classic hard rock band, growing their hair back, signing a record contract, and lighting hotel curtains on fire preferably across the globe.  I believe the Young brothers exploited this phenomenon to the tune of multi-million dollar, multi-platinum success through the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and beyond.”



The great Shirley Bassey

For those about to rock, we pollute you

And when the fans gather to honor these Rock Gods, undoubtedly some of the congregation will have chosen to give up on rocking because they were led to believe that traveling from town to town on tour is challenging.  Too many still believe in the rock star mythos that claims limelight onstage is only for those who endure decades of hair-raising experience off-stage, dealing with zealous fans, having luggage stolen or drugs confiscated by customs agents.  AC/DC has proven that it is much easier than that.  By their example, any group of tweens can launch a legendary hard rock band in the next 40 days and headline at venues once graced by giants such as Shirley Bassey.

Imagine all of the wicked snare beats and hammering shreds we’ve missed.  Think of the sound of a silent guitar, an unplugged bass, an empty shoe on a kick peddle, a microphone connected to dead air.  Young and company have transcended and at the same time ruined the rock landscape forever.  The proof is that every rock band since has been a complete and dreadful waste.  The second British invasion should have been pulled to America in a waste barge.  Forty years of Long Way have taken their toll and truly shook the foundations of rock as we know it.  But who is going to take responsibility for the body count?