I'm a Rocker, I'm a Roller

The first time I went to see AC/DC live was 1982, on their “For Those About to Rock” tour. I had been in the military for all of about 6-8 months. One of my roommate’s buddies had to work, so he sold me his ticket and hooked me up with two other guys from our squadron for a ride to the show.

We pull off base, I’m in the back seat, these two guys are in the front. We’re no sooner out of the main gate when the guy in the passenger seat pulls out a fat joint, lights it up, and turns around to me. “Do you smoke? he asks.

Smoke? Holy shit! I’m a naive, military newbie. What are these guys doing? The first thing in my mind is they are part of the military investigation unit, trying to set me up. I don’t know what to do, but I decline. These two guys simply shrug and proceed to get blasted. My concern goes from my military career to my life.

Somehow we made it to the auditorium (I later learned these guys were pretty well practiced at driving while wasted) and I saw AC/DC. How was it? Honestly, it was almost 25 years ago, and despite not being wasted, I really don’t remember anything about the show. I vaguely recall enjoying it all right.

The next time I saw the band was something like 20 years later. By that point, I had outgrown the unimaginative riffing and I was there to see LA Guns, the opening band.

What I wanted to hear was the AC/DC I loved as a teenager: the Jack Daniels-soaked rhythm and blues and rock. But somewhere AC/DC lost their roots and got bogged down in repetitious power chords. My eyes glazed over every time Angus Young would slam down on his Gibson and raise his hand for an audience response. And it happened over and over and over....

Today’s post is from the TNT album, released in Australia in 1975, when Bon Scott was still alive and kicking. The way I understand, this album is out-of-print now. According to Wiki Wiki, ”TNT is the only Australian AC/DC studio album for which there is no international counterpart. However, seven of its nine songs comprise the international version of High Voltage, released in May 1976. The other two, ‘Rocker’ and ‘School Days,’ saw worldwide release as part of Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap's international version (1976/1981) and the Bonfire box set (1997), respectively.” There is also a note that the vinyl versions of "High Voltage" and "Rocker" are slightly longer than the CD versions. Of course, everything today comes from the vinyl.

School Days (Chuck Berry cover).mp3
Rocker.mp3
High Voltage.mp3

AC/DC sites are here, here, and here. They all look informative; I can’t tell which, if any, are the official sites.

posted by aikin @ 10:03 PM