Highway to Hell was my 1st. Always liked that compilation they put out that had Ride On on it. That's probably my favorite song of theirs.
Off topic to be sure, but when did AC/DC switch record companies throughout their career? I know of the 1976 international signing and the 2002 Columbia long term deal, but did they ever switch when their popularity slipped a bit in the 80s?
Want to wish a happy 71st birthday to the amazing Cliff Williams, longtime bassist in AC/DC. Though not an original member, Cliff has been a valuable part of the The Thunder From Down Under for forty plus years. Without taking anything away from the great Mark Evans, who was also a valuable part of the band during the early Bon Scott years, Cliff was such a great boost to the band. Not only did you get an exceptionally tight bassist in Cliff, you also gained another strong backing vocalist to compliment Bon and Malcolm and give such a nasty bite to the music. Obviously, flashy virtuosity is not something Cliff or AC/DC are known for, but man, as far as just locking into a groove, get your head bopping, Cliff’s the man. He, Phil Rudd, and the late Malcolm Young were as well oiled a machine as any band could ask for. And on occasion, he’d let some sweet little licks out like in “Love Hungry Man” or “Sink The Pink”. Plus, for all the people who’ve tried doing AC/DC-style music, so few do it anywhere near as well. Also worth mentioning is his band Home, which was a progressive rock group with future Wishbone Ash guitarist Laurie Wisefield. Although the band didn’t take off, their stuff is actually pretty solid with some great guitar work from Wisefield, and Cliff shows some respectable chops on bass. Likewise, his group Bandit was a pretty cool pop rock group. Finding these records definitely gave me a new appreciation for Cliff, as he shows a hidden depth not unlike Bon. And he also shows himself as somebody perfectly happy to put ego aside to serve the greater whole. Just like his band, Cliff has been ever reliable throughout the years. He’s never been a prima donna, never allowed fame or money to go to his head, and has never demanded to be the center of attention. In fact, he appears genuinely amazed and humbled by all he’s been able to do in his career. And it’s sure good to see him, Brian, and Phil back in AC/DC. As somebody who was impressed by Axl’s performance live, seeing them there again made everything feel right again. And even the new record is pretty solid and gives me a sense of hope and peace that this year has rarely offered. Happy birthday Cliff. Thank you for all the memories and joy you’ve given me and so many other fans for so many years.
For anybody that’s interested, I’ve started a thread on wether or not AC/DC sound better on cassette, than on CD: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/ac-dc-on-cassette-better-or-worse-than-cds.1042559/
There’s another thing I’d like to bring up, that I’m not sure many of you might’ve noticed (anybody outside Australian probably might not know about this anyway)... It appears that the original mix used for both the Promo Clips for Jailbreak is an unfinished mix, compared to what was eventually finished for the single, and Dirty Deeds album. Some parts of the song are missing, and are as such: The cymbal hits during the intro are missing - It’s just Bon’s vocals over Malcolm’s riff, until the drums come in fully following the “16 years in hell” line. Some of Angus’s parts during the bridge section (the sound effects he does for “Spotlights” and “Sirens”) are actually shorter / incomplete. This is very noticeable as the bass is suddenly audible again during the parts where Angus’s “sounds” should be. Angus’s solo over the final chorus is missing - just the riff and vocals / bass/ drums until fade out. ...So this begs the questions: Did the film editors receive a hastily or unfinished mix to dub onto the films? Was it that the song wasn’t fully mixed in time for the demand? However as the clips were re-synced with the finished mix, this “unfinished” mix is now considered “lost” now, I guess...
The Razors Edge came out on Atco which I’m assuming in a subsidiary of Atlantic, so that looked like they weren’t darlings of the major label anymore with the last couple of albums not selling as well as earlier efforts, but Thunderstruck soon changed that.
Thanks for the reply. I just recently gave Razor's Edge a spin and they really got back to business on that one. I know Fly and Blow Up have their fans but they're (imo) definitely lesser AC/DC. Razor's Edge is a much more consistent and almost as importantly, more powerful sounding record.
Still, there ain’t many Flick Of The Switch fans... To me, it’s the best Brian Johnson era album. So far only The Razors Edge & Power Up are the only ones that come close to it, post release.
Oh by a LONG shot! For Those About To Rock despite some good songs is a production mess! Had George & Harry produced it & recorded it @ Alberts Studios, it would’ve been far better.
Couldn't agree more. The slower tempo on Black In Black served them well and they sounded invincible. By For Those About to Rock it seemed like everything was so slow that it diluted the band's power.
Back In Black is Mutt Lange’s only truly successful album, in the long run. Highway To Hell being a close 2nd. BTW, this is MY opinion, so I don’t want arguments about it
I’m a huge AC/DC fan but Mutt has had a lot of successful albums Def Leppard - Pyromania and Hysteria Foreigner - 4 The Cars - Heartbeat City
I also like 'Flick..' the best, it's been said before but it's Brian's 'Powerage'. I had a listen to FTATR again last night, I don't like some of the songs as much but Brian kills it. Took me 'til SUL to come back round. Thought they blew it with BB...well, Rubin did.
AC/DC - 1987 VHS I’m very surprised none of the Aussies on here have covered this Australia only VHS containing a select few of Bon Scott era promo clips & live performances. Unfortunately, I can’t work out how to attach an image of the cover with an iPad, and the Wikipedia article is so bare bones, so I thought I’d cover it here for those outside Australia. The original 1987 release uses the “flaming logo” from the Volume 1 box set released over here in the ‘80’s, and a flipped image of the band performing live from the same set of images used for the Touch Too Much single. The tape is about 41 minutes in length (according to the spine of the cover anyway), and its contents are: 1: High Voltage (Promo Clip 1975) - The opening shot of the crowd / spotlight is missing, instead the image starts with a still shot of the “AC/DC lights” from the next shot, and there’s a weird sound that I can’t describe (maybe it’s meant to be a projector starting up, or something) before the song actually begins. According to Jesse Fink’s The Young Brothers book, the crowd sounds were taken from George Harrison’s Concert For Bangladesh live album, but I’ll (personally) take that with a pinch of salt, for now. 2: Jailbreak (Albert Productions Promo Clip 1976) - This seems to run at a faster speed than normal (I assume it’s the film itself, as this is common with films), and has the “unfinished” mix of the song as mentioned in my earlier post. 3: Let There Be Rock (Promo Clip 1977) - The sound on this clip is a bit rawer, and the picture is very grainy (possibly a low grade transfer from the original print used for this VHS). 4. Riff Raff (Live Apollo Theatre, Glasgow, 30 April 1978) - There’s a slight sound issue (at least on my Dad’s old copy anyway, I don’t know if this was on all copies) during the intro - it drops rather drastically, and remains like this for the rest of the video! (again this was on my Dad’s copy - it may only have been on that). 5. Dog Eat Dog (Countdown “100th Episode” April 1977) - The VHS retained Leo Sayer’s introduction (as transmitted during the “100th Episode”.) - this was removed on Family Jewels. It should be noted that the song begins Just a short second before Leo’s introduction. And the end of the song was cut off abruptly on the VHS - If any Aussies have a copy of Countdown’s “100th Episode from a late night airing of Rage, please let me know, as I don’t know if this abrupt cut was on the original broadcast or not (Family Jewels possibly seems to hide this by reusing a few shots, to complete the song, again I don’t know!). 6. Highway To Hell 7. Shot Down In Flames 8. Touch Too Much 9: If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It) (Promo Clips 1979). After the video ends, we’re greeted with the “Albert Productions” logo... And that’s usually where Dad would end the tape (again if that’s all there is at the end, those who had and / or still own a copy, please let me know. There was a reissue of this in 1989, identified by its rectified front cover image, and a proper “G For General Exhibition” Rating printed on the bottom (the original simply had a small text that read “G Classification” in the bottom left hand corner). And 2 clips were replaced - The Countdown Jailbreak Promo Clip (the one where they’re playing in an actual jail) and Dog Eat Dog Live Glasgow 1978 in place of their original “clips”. All in all, at the time this VHS was a must have, back in the day. Sadly, my Dad’s copy is now gone, but I treasure my memories of watching it as a kid, and the fault on the tape where Dad had rewound it multiple times to watch Bon’s sloppy miming during Dog Eat Dog...
