AC/DC played 16 Australian dates in January and February of 1977, which unbelievably would be the last official performances by Bon in his homeland. The single “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” with B-sides “Big Balls” and “The Jack” was released in the United Kingdom. At the same time in Australia, Alberts released “Love At First Feel” and “Problem Child.” Side A was recorded at Vineyard Studios in England the previous summer. On the thirtieth of January, the band played at the old Haymarket warehouse for the Festival Of Sydney. As usual, they blew away the headliners, fellow compatriots The Little River Band.
Completing a tour across Adelaide, Perth, and Melbourne, AC/DC went back into Albert Studios in Sydney and recorded eight new songs. They still play some of these tracks live in concert today, over a quarter of a century later. To say these particular tunes would have longevity is putting it mildly. The album included the title track, “Let There Be Rock.” The other seven cuts were “Go Down,” “Dog Eat Dog,” “Bad Boy Boogie,” “Problem Child,” “Overdose,” “Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be,” and the ever-so-lascivious “Whole Lotta Rosie.”
The title of “Rosie” is Bon’s nod to Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love.” This song is the epitome of how Bon’s female conquests inspired his songwriting. If perhaps she wasn’t the most memorable encounter while on the road, she was at least the largest. Later, a trimmer Rosie visited with the band while on tour, much to Bon’s disappointment since her measurements no longer fit the song.
Of course, “Bad Boy Boogie” would become the soundtrack for Angus’s hysterical nightly striptease. The biggest joke of all is watching a sweaty pint-size schoolboy strutting around the stage trying to be sexy. Often after Angus pulls off his shirt, he will blow his nose into it, signifying that he laughs hardest at this image of himself.
Malcolm was quoted in Metal CD about the recording of Let There Be Rock. “Now that was a steamer. I suppose we were a bit more serious and we wanted to get a rawer sound and cut out the commercial choruses like ‘T.N.T.’ We knew exactly what we wanted, which was to have three really strong live tracks to flesh out the set. ‘Whole Lotta Rosie,’ we knew, would be a surefire winner, and ‘Bad Boy Boogie’ and ‘Let There Be Rock’ were the other two that we felt would really go the distance on stage. Those three have really overshadowed most of the other songs on the album and ended up in the live set for years after.”
The cover of Let There Be Rock was a picture of the band live on stage, doing what they do best: enthralling audiences. Capturing rock ‘n’ roll lightning in a bottle only took a couple of weeks and the band again left for the U.K. In Edinburgh on February 18, they launched a 26-date tour in support of Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.
National RockStar wrote on February 26, 1977 about the Edinburgh University show: “The trouble started after the first number ‘Live Wire’ and in the middle of ‘Eat Dog’ [sic]. Some of the audience spilled over onto the stage to sit on the monitor speakers, inches away from their new heroes. Some of the crowd were being held back by the stewards and they didn’t like it. Fights broke out all over the front of the hall…It was the presence of 17-year-old Angus Young in black velvet school blazer and shorts and a little leather satchel which sparked off the bizarre audience reaction… AC/DC have it. It’s more than just rock—it’s provocation. They will be the band of ’77.”
Let There Be Rock was released in Australia on March 21, 1977. The cover artwork featured their lightning-bolt logo for the first time. Whenever Bon was asked if he was AC or DC, he would laughingly reply, “Neither, I’m the lightnin’ flash in the middle!” How right he was.
Their Glasgow University performance was reviewed by Eric Wishart for the Record Mirror on February 26: “Angus Young on lead guitar was amazing. Dressed in his standard short pants schoolboy gear he twitched, jerked, and bounded across the stage nonstop, his head whipping back and forth until it looked as if it just had to come flying off…Centerplace was an extended ‘The Jack,’ their ode to that dreaded disease which Bob [sic] Scott introduced with a reworking of ‘Maria’ that would have made the heroes of West Side Story think at least twice before approaching Natalie Wood.”
Describing their appeal to the fans, Bon told the New Musical Express, “The music press is totally out of touch with what their kids actually want to listen to. These kids might be working in a shitty factory all week, or they might be on the dole—come the weekend, they just want to go out and have a good time, get drunk, and go wild. We give them the opportunity to do that.” One of AC/DC’s best qualities has always been keeping their priorities straight.
Once back in London, Angus and Malcolm moved into an apartment—or a ‘flat’ as the Brits call it—in Ladbroke Grove. Phil and Mark got one close by and Bon stayed with his girlfriend, Silver. In Clinton Walker’s book, Highway To Hell, Silver remembered Bon, “As far as my life goes, I don’t think anyone loved me as unconditionally as Bon. He had no complaints—they were all on my side. It gave me the guilts for quite a long time. Because Bon was really good to me. He accepted me exactly as I was. He was really attentive too, you know, two or three letters a day bombarding you when he was on the road, and he was always bringing flowers and little presents. I mean, it was full on, right up until we split up.” She went on to describe Bon as a very “pipe and slippers” kind of guy, who enjoyed a clean, peaceful home, with dinners on Sundays. Just the way he grew up.
On March 5, Ian Flavin wrote in National RockStar, “They sure get down to it. Australia’s exiled bad boys came on in strictly 4 time and hammered out a mean dose of street corner rock ‘n’ roll from start to finish…Malcolm Young, the rhythm guitarist, seemed to be the driving pivot, churning out slashing bashing power chords with the musical finesse of a caged tiger…[Angus] delivered a constant stream of red-hot licks in the best guitar-hero fashion. He’s 17. If he’s still playing when he reaches 25, that might be something truly amazing to dig.” How about still playing at 50 years old?
That spring their single “Dog Eat Dog” with B-side “Carry Me Home” was released in Australia. The B-side doesn’t appear on any of their albums, again frustrating collectors worldwide. The single “Love At First Feel” is their last song to chart in Australia until the release of Highway To Hell. On April 3 in London, the band appeared on Countdown’s fifth anniversary special, playing “Dog Eat Dog.”
Their European tour of 12 dates included opening for the legendary Black Sabbath in Sweden. Unfortunately, Sabbath was also becoming legendary for their alcoholism and drug abuse. The band was in disarray and matters only became worse when AC/DC blew Black Sabbath off the stage every night. In retaliation, Sabbath kept shortening AC/DC’s opening set. One night, the tension finally exploded and Sabbath’s bass player Geezer Butler pulled a flick knife on Malcolm. Of course Mal started swinging and AC/DC was fired off the tour. This night would also be bassist Mark Evan’s last performance with the band.
I guess you really haven’t lived the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle until you can say you threw a punch at one of the gods of rock. To be fair to Malcolm, years later Butler admitted that he had finally given up drinking after head butting someone in an argument in front of his hotel the night before. The next morning he went outside and discovered the object of his intense irritation was a statue. My guess is that the statue refused to move. That story alone should always be included at all AA meetings.
In Q magazine in the “Cash For Questions” fan feature it stated: “AC/DC has come clean about a knife-pulling incident during the group’s 1977 tour opening for Black Sabbath in Europe.” Malcolm’s version of the story: “We were staying in the same hotel, and Geezer was in the bar, crying in his beer, ‘10 years I’ve been in this band—10 years—wait ’til you guys have been around for 10 years, you’ll feel like us.’ I said, ‘I don’t think so.’ I was giving him no sympathy. He’s had many, too many [drinks], and he pulled out this silly flick knife. As luck would have it, Ozzy walked in. He goes, ‘You fuckin’ idiot Butler—go to bed!’ Ozzy saved the day, and we sat up all night with him.”
At the end of the United Kingdom tour, Mark Evans was fired from the band…supposedly over personality clashes with Angus. Some smart-ass was quoted as saying, “His downfall was his being too nice to last.” Evans at first accepted a flat payment of $2,000 against future royalties, but 10 years later won a generous settlement from Albert Music.
Angus had his eye on the bass player from Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, Colin Pattenden. But Browning had a lead on an English bass player who was working with Bandit. His name was Cliff Williams.
Clifford Williams was born in Romford, Essex, England on December 14, 1949. When he was nine years old, his family moved to Liverpool. Cliff’s musical influences were The Beatles, The Kinks, and some blues artists. When he was 13, all his friends had started forming bands. By the time he was 16, Cliff was playing bass…with his only formal training coming from learning some riffs from a professional bass player who lived nearby. There is no evidence that his name was Paul McCartney.
Before music became his vocation, he spent two years working as an engineer in an office behind the Lime Street railway station in Liverpool. Cliff’s first band featured singer Mick Stubbs, keyboard player Clive John, guitarist Laurie Wisefield, and drummer Mick Cook. They were called Home. In 1970, Home signed a recording contract with Epic Records and released Pause For A Hoarse Horse. Don’t look at me, I just report the facts.
While in Home, Cliff supported Led Zeppelin at the Wembley Empire Pool on the second concert date of their Electric Magic tour in November of 1971. The show featured circus acts and rock bands. One and the same, when you think about it.
By 1972, Jim Anderson replaced Clive John on keyboards and the band released a self-titled album. That release included their one hit, the song “Dreamer,” which made it to Number 41 on the British charts. Their third and final release was The Alchemist in 1973.
Home was asked to back Al Stewart on his first American tour in 1974. Mick Stubbs left the band, and the rest of the group became The Al Stewart Band. Cliff didn’t last very long playing Stewart’s music. He left before the year was out and formed his own band, Bandit, with vocalist Jim Diamond and drummer Graham Broad. They were immediately signed to Arista Records and released a self-titled debut album in 1977.
After placing an ad in Sounds magazine, AC/DC auditioned over 50 bass players. Cliff explained to Guitar School: “I auditioned. The band was looking to strengthen up their rhythm section, so they came to London where there was a larger pool of players. They had a few records out at that point, were successful in Australia and toured Europe once or twice, but hadn’t been to the States yet. They were looking to tour the U.S. behind the Let There Be Rock album. Anyway, I got a call from a friend of a friend who thought I might be right for the job, and I ended up auditioning a number of times.”
They held the auditions in a tiny room in Victoria and the first tracks they played with Cliff were “Live Wire,” “Problem Child,” and an old blues number. Just before his audition, a friend had tipped him off that the band preferred their bassists to play with a pick, rather than with their fingers. Cliff was asked to join the band on May 27, 1977, and Angus was quoted as saying that Cliff was hired due to his good looks being able to attract more girls. On behalf of all us girls, Angus, thank you very much!
The addition of Cliff delighted Bon, since he was closest to Bon’s age. (Cliff was three years younger.) Cliff also had a lot in common with Bon. They liked movies, books, and girls. Although I doubt in that order. As soon as he joined the band, they flew back to Australia to work him in.
In June, Angus and Bon appeared on stage with Rose Tattoo at the Bondi Lifesaver. It was time to prepare for their first long-awaited tour of the United States. Let There Be Rock was released in the States on July 23, 1977, just four days before they would play the Amarillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas. The album would eventually peak on the Billboard charts at Number 154. Before they left for America, AC/DC played two undercover shows at the Bondi. The first night they used the name The Seedies. The second night they called themselves Dirty Deeds.
In anticipation of their arrival in the States, Atlantic hired a new promotions team to handle the band. The late Perry Cooper’s first assignment with Atlantic was to promote AC/DC. “I was working with Michael Klenfner at Arista Records, who was vice president of promotions. I was director of special projects, but I had a bunch of titles. We spent two years at Arista during the early days, we worked with Barry Manilow, Melissa Manchester, Outlaws, Bay City Rollers, it was wonderful. We had a great time. Then when he got offered this opportunity at Atlantic, he took me with him. We were sent over to Atlantic as a package deal.
“Right after we went to Atlantic, Jerry Greenberg came to Michael one day and said, ‘We’ve got this band from Australia, they’re doing fairly well and we signed them to a long-term contract. But their lyrics are a little risqué and we’re not getting any radio play. So could you guys look them over and see what you can do?’
“So he gave us a kinescope, it was really weird, like a film. It had a cartridge that you put into this machine, and we looked at it. No, actually I looked at it. Michael, who will deny this, told me to look at it because he didn’t give a shit. So I looked at it and saw this guitarist doing a duck walk. And I thought, ‘Well, he’s a little bit copying Chuck Berry,’ but we should bring them over here and tour them, because they are terrific live. And that’s what we did.”
Once Cooper saw the kinescope of AC/DC live, he went back to Greenberg and convinced Atlantic that the band had potential. His idea was to bring AC/DC over to the States. “So they toured their asses off for two years straight. We just said, ‘When people see them, they will love them!’”
AC/DC landed in the United States on July 27, 1977. Unlike The Beatles, they were able to sneak into the country without being noticed. Just like The Rolling Stones before them, the band got into a used station wagon and embarked on their first tour of the United States. The first three American dates AC/DC played were opening for the band Moxy, in Austin, San Antonio, and Corpus Christi, Texas. The band went over very well in the Lone Star State, with Angus exclaiming that Texan people “really know how to party!” On July 30, they played a free concert at the Electric Ballroom in Dallas hosted by radio station K2EW.
From Texas, they drove to Florida…starting the long road that would stretch across two years and later become known as their personal “highway to hell.” Their first date in Gainesville on August 4 was canceled. On August 5 and 6, they co-headlined with REO Speedwagon in West Palm Beach and Jacksonville.
A radio station in Jacksonville programmed four or five of the band’s songs into their play list. AC/DC had been getting paid five hundred dollars a night to play a club, but when they got to Jacksonville with Pat Travers opening, they played in front of 8,000 people at the Coliseum. This coastal city would become one of AC/DC’s strongest American markets.
After playing ‘A Day For The Kids’—a charity date at the Sportatorium in Hollywood, Florida for radio station WSHE in front of 13,000 people—they made their way into the heartland. Opening for Foreigner and UFO, AC/DC played at Mississippi Nights in St. Louis, Missouri on August 9, and at the Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas on August 10. They appeared at B’Ginnings, a club in Schaumberg, Illinois and opened for Michael Stanley in Cleveland, Ohio. The next two nights AC/DC opened for The Dictators at the Agora in Columbus, before continuing their drive north toward Wisconsin. Bon wrote home to a friend that he “Enjoyed America very much, especially the chicks.”
AC/DC was booked to play a campus bar in downtown Madison on Tuesday, August 16, 1977. Technically the fifteenth date of their first American tour, but actually the fourteenth time they were ever to play here, considering Gainesville had been canceled.
This historic occasion would fall on the same day Elvis Presley was found dead at the age of 42 in his bathroom at Graceland in Memphis. The end of an era for many. And the beginning of a new one for me, considering that on that day, Angus, Malcolm, Bon, Cliff, and Phil arrived to play at the Stone Hearth in Madison, Wisconsin—my hometown. Lucky me!