“In-between bands”: AC/DC’s comical recruitment of Bon Scott
Over just six years before his untimely death, Bon Scott’s vocals and persona defined the adrenalised hard rock of AC/DC, an icon who lived and breathed rock ‘n’ roll.
Like the Young brothers, Malcolm and Angus, Scott was born in Scotland and moved to Australia with his family at six years old, in 1952, living in Melbourne for four years before settling in Perth and later, Adelaide, South Australia. As he describes, he was never destined to be a traditional “worker”, sitting at a desk while making ends meet, for instance. Being in a band, rather, came most naturally when he first began playing as a drummer and later took his place at the helm.
“I used to play drums in the first band I was in… and the next band heard me sing something and offered me a job as a singer, so I was a bad drummer,” Scott recalled with a laugh, in conversation with journalist Ray Lancaster in 1976.
Like any frontman, Scott’s singing was initially influenced by those he perceived as the greats, particularly his professed idol, Little Richard. But, when it came to his personal approach to singing, only he could define how the true “Bon Scott” would come to life.
“Before that, this other band I used to be in used to say, ‘I think you should listen more to Stevie Wonder. I think you should listen more to Paul Rodgers, or something,’” Scott explained. “I don’t want to sound like Stevie Wonder — I couldn’t, anyway! I just gotta sound like Bon Scott.”
Before he joined any rock bands, Scott worked a series of odd jobs: a postman, bartender, truck packer and, notably, a chauffeur, the latter being a gig that would unexpectedly change his life.
“The last job I had, I was the chauffeur for this band before I joined,” he explained. “I was in between bands, and a friend of mine back in Adelaide, in South Australia, had an agency bringing bands from interstate over there.”
His friend offered him $10 a night to drive bands back and forth, between gigs, and he accepted. The first band he worked with happened to be none other than AC/DC, then with vocalist Dave Evans as their frontman. “So, this was the first band I worked with,” Scott revealed. “And they knew I was sort of a screamer, and they knew I was out of work. And they hated the guy they had singing for them then, so they offered me a job.”
After a fateful audition, Scott was promoted to being AC/DC’s lead singer, re-recording their debut single’s tracks with them and leaning into his talents as a songwriter. To him, serendipitously joining AC/DC was akin to a dream job: less like “work,” more “play” and “fun,” as he described.
“When it stops being fun, that’s when I’ll go and get a day job in finance,” Scott stated. “‘Cause I could just do songwriting for a record company back in Australia, so if the band ever stops being excited about what it’s doing on stage, then it’s time to look for something else.”
“But I always knew that I was something other than what I used to be,” he concluded. “I just never felt like I fitted [sic] in with what I was doing before, and now I fit.”
