Bon Scott's High Voltage life as AC/DC front man | On the Brink full documentary | Australian Story

something to do with sex, but they were very intelligent. He wrote poetry from the street. He wasn't pretty, but he was real, he was working class. That's how the people who bought AC/DC records spoke, they related to Bonpalabras. Many people consider the use of indecent language scandalous. Do you see it as an essential part of your act? I've never said 'fuck' on stage yet. You just said it now! (laughing) Five, four, three, two, one, fader. Countdown. Countdown. When Countdown started on ABC, it was almost tailor-made for AC/DC. Color television, this explosive band. And over the next few years, AC/DC would appear on Countdown nearly 40 times.

Baby, please don't go, Baby, please don't go to New Orleans. You know I love you, so Baby, please don't go. They would love the atmosphere of having the audience there, palpable. And she gave him the opportunity to work on stage. Baby, please don't go. He just ate television, he was made for it. These were young Australian artists presenting completely new musical approaches. And then Bon had that little doodle in the back of his book. You know, 'it's a long way to the top if you want to rock', which says it all, especially for a band like us.

We'll be, you know, a long way to the top. When Molly told me, "Long Road to the Top, I think this is going to be a number one hit," Bon wanted to be able to include the bagpipes in any kind of clip we could make. So I thought, well, how about we put AC/DC on the back of a truck and have them sing the song as they go down Swanston Street? Bon was enthralled, he loved the idea. I was recently surprised to hear that that clip has had over 35 million views. And the whole clip was made for about $300.

It's a long way to the top if you want rock and roll. This could only happen on Countdown. Here we are at Mascot Airport to say goodbye to ACDC… his vision was that they were going to go out and conquer the world. Nothing was going to stop them. Probably from the beginning, you know, we had that arrogance that we could do it, you know, we weren't afraid. I always thought that as a band, you know, we could go out and defend any band in the world. By 1976, AC/DC had gone as far as they could in Australia.

They were very popular, so in April '76 they went to London. And Bon was probably thinking, 'Well, this is my second chance.' It didn’t work for Brotherhood, this has to work this time.” We've been looking around and what better band to start with in London than our own Australian band, AC/DC. I'm glad to find you here, friend. Yes, isn't it wonderful? Bon absolutely knew that he was in a band that was going to take over the world, he really knew it. Bon, you seem more at home here than anywhere else I've ever seen you in my

life

.

Yes, Piccadilly Square is a place where people come to sit and watch other people sitting and watching other people. He wasn't well known either by himself or by the band. He simply saw the whole, the future. So when did this kind of buildup start to happen? We've been playing here regularly and we've built up quite a following in London, you know? Even the first gig we played in a little pub called The Red Cow, the next night half of that pub was in The National Room, another place we played. And they just tell all their friends and they all come.

It's good. They were probably the hardest working band on the planet at the time, I mean, they toured relentlessly. They started in the United Kingdom and then spread to Europe. Hello, this is Bon Scott from AC/DC, telling you to stay because we will have our new single Jailbreak very soon. I won't spend my

life

here, I won't live alone. As AC/DC became more successful, it gave Bon more platform to live life to the

full

est. Jaiiiilbreak. He was becoming famous. And his position allowed him to celebrate, almost an excuse to celebrate. Yeah, I think he was living his dream as a rocker.

Girls drink drugs. He was on stage, he was performing, you know, he was in the element of it. Spotlights, sirens, rifles firing. But he did it. With a bullet in the back. But when they returned in the late '70s, he was drinking heavily. It was a little worrying to see him go in that direction. Of course, he could drink like a fish. But when you look at where I come from, that says something. Bon, you know, he really is way above us. He never acknowledged that he had a problem with alcohol. Never at any time.

I never heard him say, 'Oh, I have to cut back or, you know, take it easy,' or whatever. The last time I saw him was at the end of '79. He seemed to have changed, he was no longer happy or laughing. And in fact, he didn't laugh much that day. He bought a 40-ounce bottle of whiskey. And he started asking me questions about fucking 'love' and having a child and, 'Why did I put that in

front

of trying, you know, like he did?' His holy grail had always been to get to the top in the rock and roll business.

Maybe he got to the point where he achieved his dream, he found his holy grail. But the holy grail might have seemed like an empty cup. Like, 'What was this all about?' And he said, "I'm really getting tired of this." You know, I'm sick of being on tour, all I want to do is go to the countryside somewhere, I'd like to settle down and live a normal life like anyone else and just play guitar." I think somewhere there was a deep core of unhappiness. He was alone. He felt alone looking for company. And I think he was now looking for someone to spend the rest of his life with.

He was talking about wanting to return to Perth because that's where he felt most comfortable. And buy a property here. He was looking in Spearwood, which was close to his mom and his dad. I think he was alone. Many or most of the AC/DC guys were married then. And he wasn't. I think he was starting to feel it at the end. When the Highway to Hell album came out, everything was falling into place, all his hard work, building an audience, tour after tour, in America. Within the next 12 months they were expected to become one of the biggest acts on the planet.

The next album was going to be the one that was going to really kick them up the poles. And it was the first time in his life that, you know, he really felt like he was accomplishing something. He became who he wanted to be. And the more we work, the more we spin, the more ideas we get. It's going to get better and better. I don't see the end of this, you know? It's like endless rock and roll, you know? Over the years, there have been all kinds of theories and beliefs about what really happened to Bon.

Malcolm and Angus were in the studio in London, putting down some rough ideas for the next album. But right now they didn't need him, so he had some time to himself. I understand he went out, met friends and drank too much. And he returned with a friend. Alister took Bon back to his house, but Bon had passed out on the way. He couldn't lift it, so he thought, I'll take it back to my house, which he did. Bon was fast asleep. And he went upstairs and made Bon feel as comfortable as he could in the car.

Apparently they went down and threw a blanket over him so he wouldn't get cold. And then the rest is hi

story

: he died the next morning. The coroner found that Bon had died from acute alcohol poisoning and an accident. Bon passing away the way he did, alone in a car in the freezing cold, after all his hard work and all his anguish to get there, was just an incredibly sad, lonely, unglamorous way to go out. It was just something that shouldn't have happened, and it happened, it happened tragically. I hate to say this, but unfortunately when Ron died and I heard the circumstances, I wasn't surprised.

That pattern of getting bored and restless. He was only away from the studio in London for a few days. But the boredom he faced was unbearable for him. He drank too much. He asked me if I would ever take it too far. And, unfortunately, he obviously did. I think Bruce did pretty well. I really believe that, because boredom was a big thing. That was the biggest problem: when he got bored, he drank. It was a terrible moment for the band. They were just devastated and didn't know whether to continue or not. But it was Bon's parents who were way behind, they said Bon would never have wanted them to stop.

So we decided to move forward. And Bon always, I always remember Bon telling us and telling us what a good vocalist Brian was. As soon as they started playing and I was singing with them, my hair stood on end, you know, it was fantastic, it was wonderful. I never thought I would do it, I have never sung with such a good band. With Brian Johnson and the Back in Black album, AC/DC really took off. And to this day, decades later, they remain the biggest rock group in the world. Which was bittersweet, because that was where Bon was going to be.

Thousands and thousands of Acca Dacca fans have come to Fremantle to pay tribute to the band and their former

front

man, Bon Scott. The thing about Bon Scott is that, as time has passed, his legend has grown bigger. He is now considered by millions of people around the world as THE rock and roll singer, THE rock and roll leader. There is an amazing global legacy that he has left behind all these years later. Those songs just live on. The stories have grown, right? 42 years later, people want to know more about him than ever. And it's hard to believe.

I wish I was here to know that he had made it, that he really made it. Ron would have been 75 years old. If Ron could see what was happening in the world today about himself, I think he would laugh a lot. He would be surprised, but he would laugh a lot. And a drink. But he certainly inspired me. I think that's what he was more than anything to me, an inspiration. And even when I hear him talk in old interviews, he still makes me laugh. And even if I've seen it 20 times, I still laugh and laugh along with it.

And he was a special guy, he really was. I wish I had gotten to know him more. But I did not. This is life.