How AC/DC predicted the future of the music industry
A lot of people forget how much rock and roll relies on the business aspect of everything. People love the idea of seeing their favourite bands play live, but unless they show up with their wallets, the whole enterprise will come crashing down in no time. And while AC/DC were more interested in giving fans their money’s worth whenever they performed, they were actually ahead of the game in some respects when they got one of the greatest T-shirt designs known to man.
Which is strange, considering how much of their name was based on a joke. Even though millions of religious fanatics have pointed out that the acronym stood for them being the antichrist due to Angus Young being featured with horns and a tail on the cover of Highway to Hell, their name was far more wholesome, being named after their sister’s sewing machine that she used to create the guitarist’s schoolboy uniform.
However, one crucial difference exists between what everyone writes and their signature design. Even if it was changing a few strokes, bringing out that lightning bolt on the final version of the logo made it one of the most attention-grabbing things that anyone had ever seen in the late 1970s.
Just picture it for a second. The whole point behind rock and roll was to be something a little bit more edgy and dangerous than pop music. If any kid saw the cover of Powerage with Angus looking like a devil getting electrocuted combined with the lightning bolt in the centre of their name, they were going to pick up even if they had no idea what any of the songs were. But that wasn’t limited to strictly album covers, either.
The person who made the design had already made it a habit of designing big-name logos, and when the band’s name got printed on everything from T-shirts to hats to coffee mugs, the Australian rockers realised that they had an entire enterprise of people buying their stuff because it looked cool. It may not have given any customer credibility, but it helped solidify the group as a brand or a lifestyle rather than a simple rock and roll outfit.
But even though they had a trademark insignia in the same vein as Mick Jagger’s tongue was for The Rolling Stones, AC/DC became the first band to outdo themselves outside the venues. When the T-shirt design was unveiled in 1977, AC/DC ended up filling more closets than stadium seats, being one of the first bands to make more money from people buying their merchandise rather than buying their records.
And so started a massive debate amongst rock and roll fans about the importance of band merch. While it does put some extra money in the group’s pockets, there’s always a fair bit of elitism that comes with people liking the design, with every snooty fan at one of their shows seeing someone who doesn’t look the part and asking them if they like the band for the clothes or for the music.
But that kind of mentality has always been a bit unfair. It might be a little disheartening for bands to know that more people are walking around with their clothes than are actually singing along to their songs, but once you peel back the layers, seeing this kind of design is the perfect way to expose people to that music. Some might still insist that supposed “fake fans” should be able to name three songs by whatever band they are sporting on their clothes, but there’s no reason to shame anyone if they’re all coming together to hear some rock and roll.
