The band AC/DC predicted would “fade away” in 1988
If you were to ask any member of AC/DC about the secret to their success, they’d likely credit a significant portion of it to knowing how to deliver good, straight-up rock ‘n’ roll.
In fact, Angus Young once said precisely that, explaining how they gained success because they “don’t go onstage with fancy haircuts and flashy clothes”; they “just go onstage and rock and roll.”
Elsewhere, he also explained how playing simple “hard rock music” whenever they set foot on stage or in the studio meant that, even when they explored other sounds or styles, people knew they would be getting something good and worthwhile, and that most material would hit the spot because it always came from a place of pure intuition.
In his view, this inevitable return to form is also something that happens everywhere, even in bands as big as The Beatles or The Rolling Stones – they might “detour” from time to time, but they almost always keep their main remit intact, playing rock ‘n’ roll just because they know that’s what’s guaranteed to keep people coming back.
However, when it comes to true success and longevity, Young maintains that it’s not always about mastering the basics on a technical level. In his mind, intuition is also about “the intensity and feeling” that goes into it, and if that doesn’t come across as organic and honest, then it’ll almost always turn the audience off.
And the most important way to maintain that foundational level of “feeling” is, according to Young, having fun and keeping a sense of humour. Contrary to what many musicians believe, Young also argues that you can’t be a perfectionist, and that the real magic only happens when you’re loose enough, and open-minded about things going wrong. Often, it’s those moments that stand out as the most iconic anyway.
And Young has made sure to carry this mindset during their most pivotal moments, like when the band were working with Robert John ‘Mutt’ Lange, who not only knew “how to work a groove” in precisely the way they wanted, but also nurtured this familiar “keep doing what feels right” mindset that always worked well for them.
This also ensured they remained true to what they wanted to write about, like the simple art of enjoying a rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, a mantra that has been in place across most of the band’s records, including 1988’s Blow Up Your Video (which pays homage to living it up in many ways, including a straight-up ode to rock itself with ‘That’s the Way I Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll’).
The record was intended as a statement about the younger generation’s reliance on TV channels like MTV, with the ultimate goal of encouraging kids to get off their couches and head down to a live show. However, it was also, in its own way, a hot take on the current generation’s offering of rock stars, which Malcolm Young felt were a little too glam at the time to ever withstand the test of time in the same way that AC/DC did and continues to do.
Discussing this in an interview with Louder, Malcolm specifically dismissed the talents of people like David Coverdale of Whitesnake, claiming that he had to become a pop singer to gain success. He also alluded to the fact that Whitesnake would eventually lose all its appeal, saying, “There’s always your glamour bands and your denim-clad groups. And you usually find out that your denim-clad groups are still surviving and the glam ones fade away.”
