They come in jeans and tatts and t-shirts to pay homage and leave half empty bottles of scotch to lift his spirit. The caretakers at Fremantle cemetery are used to their comings and goings. They pour the liquor out when the strangers leave and have hired security guards to patrol the graveyard at night. Some visitors ask for directions at the gate and others follow the graffiti scrawled across the footpath which leads them to Bon Scott's memorial. It is 29 years ago that Bon, real name Ronald Belford Scott gained rock n roll immortality by bowing out in a cliche on a freezing London night. 
Bon Scott, outrageous lead singer of top Australian rock band AC/DCc died in London last night after a bout of heavy drinking... the Sun newspaper reported at the time. Friends said he could have drunk as much as 2 bottles of scotch. The body of AC/DC's self describeed poet was found where he had fallen into a drunken sleep on the front seat of his friend Alistair Kinnears car in East Dulwich on February 19 1980. Kinnear unable to wake Scott covered him with a blanket and went upstairs to bed. " I met up with Bon to go to the Music Machine but he was pretty drunk when i picked him up". Kinnear told reporters at the time. " when we got there he was drinking four whiskies straight in a glass at the time. I just could not move him so i covered him with a blanket and left him a note to tell him how to get to my flat when he woke up. I went to sleep then and it was later in the evening when i went out to the car. I knew immediatley that something was wrong." Scott died as AC/DC was finally breaking through with the album Highway To Hell, after four years hard work in England. They were on the cusp of international acclaim and Scott was living the dream, sex drugs { dope mostly and alcohol} and rock n roll. "I was getting drunk in Bali when i got the call" .His younger brother Graeme recalled Graeme Belford then a merchant seaman was holidaying on the Indonesian resort island after spending five amonths at sea. Now living with his family in Northern Thailand not far from the infamous bridge over the R
iver Kwai, Mr Belford stuggles to remember the details of that phone call." It wasnt Alistairs fault, he just took Ron out for a few drinks in a bar" said Mr Belford. " It was just an accident. he fell asleep and put his head on the wrong angle. it happens to people all the time. He always drank from the time he was 15. It was nothing unusual." Scott had curled his thin 1.2m frame around the gear stick, twisting his neck so that vomit filled his windpipe as he slept. His body was cremated and his ashes spread in Fremantle cemeterys Garden Of Rememberance. A memorial was erected and every weekend until his father's death last month Scott's parents Chick and Isa would come to clean and polish the memorial plaque and lay fresh flowers. Like rock heroes who preceded him in early death and those who have followed, Bon Scott's untimely passing at 33 secured his fame. When he died the band had not conquered America. It was Scott's replacement Brian Johnson who lead the band as they finally went all the way to the top with the release of Back In Black but their success was launched from the solidity of Scott's contribution which included such heavy metal classics as High Voltage, It's A Long Way To The Top, TNT , Jailbreak and Highway To Hell.
Bon Scott, outrageous lead singer of top Australian rock band AC/DCc died in London last night after a bout of heavy drinking... the Sun newspaper reported at the time. Friends said he could have drunk as much as 2 bottles of scotch. The body of AC/DC's self describeed poet was found where he had fallen into a drunken sleep on the front seat of his friend Alistair Kinnears car in East Dulwich on February 19 1980. Kinnear unable to wake Scott covered him with a blanket and went upstairs to bed. " I met up with Bon to go to the Music Machine but he was pretty drunk when i picked him up". Kinnear told reporters at the time. " when we got there he was drinking four whiskies straight in a glass at the time. I just could not move him so i covered him with a blanket and left him a note to tell him how to get to my flat when he woke up. I went to sleep then and it was later in the evening when i went out to the car. I knew immediatley that something was wrong." Scott died as AC/DC was finally breaking through with the album Highway To Hell, after four years hard work in England. They were on the cusp of international acclaim and Scott was living the dream, sex drugs { dope mostly and alcohol} and rock n roll. "I was getting drunk in Bali when i got the call" .His younger brother Graeme recalled Graeme Belford then a merchant seaman was holidaying on the Indonesian resort island after spending five amonths at sea. Now living with his family in Northern Thailand not far from the infamous bridge over the R
iver Kwai, Mr Belford stuggles to remember the details of that phone call." It wasnt Alistairs fault, he just took Ron out for a few drinks in a bar" said Mr Belford. " It was just an accident. he fell asleep and put his head on the wrong angle. it happens to people all the time. He always drank from the time he was 15. It was nothing unusual." Scott had curled his thin 1.2m frame around the gear stick, twisting his neck so that vomit filled his windpipe as he slept. His body was cremated and his ashes spread in Fremantle cemeterys Garden Of Rememberance. A memorial was erected and every weekend until his father's death last month Scott's parents Chick and Isa would come to clean and polish the memorial plaque and lay fresh flowers. Like rock heroes who preceded him in early death and those who have followed, Bon Scott's untimely passing at 33 secured his fame. When he died the band had not conquered America. It was Scott's replacement Brian Johnson who lead the band as they finally went all the way to the top with the release of Back In Black but their success was launched from the solidity of Scott's contribution which included such heavy metal classics as High Voltage, It's A Long Way To The Top, TNT , Jailbreak and Highway To Hell.
No comments:
Post a Comment