10 July 2009

BON HISTORY 2

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 River 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.

CAN'T HOLD ME BACK

Can't Hold Me Back from Stiff Upper Lip




I got a big fat Cadillac built for you
I got a honk that'll blow the avenue
Got a hot dog kickin' all bend my thing
Got a a sugar looking woman with a bald headed man
Give me five o here boy, that's what I'll do
Got a big fat momma who can hold a tune
Gotta slip that bone in hard and mean
A honky tonk woman get the best of me
Can't hold me back
Can't hold me back
Can't hold me back
Get a heart attack
Can't hold me back
Got a honky tonk big ball hit to thrill
I got a sugar boot money baby that'll kill
A honky tonk 15 golden mile
Gotta bald headed woman loaded in the town
You can get me to the ball man, drivin' in
And don't balk the kill, call in the 'ville
You gotta map the wrong town, hit the road
You got the whole boppa movin' on down the road
Can't hold me back
You can't hold me back
You can't hold me back
You get a heart attack
Can't hold me back
You can't hold me back
You can't hold me back
You can't hold me back
You get a heart attack
Can't hold me back
You can't hold me back, you can't hold me back
You can't hold me back, you can't hold me back
Can't hold me back, you can't hold me back
You can't hold me back, you get a heart attack
Can't hold me back (hold me back)
You can't hold me back (hold me back)
You can't hold me back (hold me back)
Can't hold me back (hold me back)
You can't hold me back (hold me back)
Can't hold me back (hold me back)
You can't hold me back (hold me back)
You can't hold me back

06 July 2009

BON HISTORY

In Melbourne, a tribute band plays the pubs as ac/dc did after forming in 1974, but they only use Bon's material, spurning all later works. His appeal was a mixture of bad boy wild man and down to earth larrikinism and talent. Scott who was born in Glasgow and migrated to Australia as a five year old grew up in Spearwood. Taught by his father he played drums with a Fremantle pipe band and was the only one of the three sons to show any musical aptitude. " dad tried to teach us all but it was only Ron { Bon's real name } who got it" recalled his brother Graeme. " When he was a kid he used to play two recorders at one time as a party trick, one with the left hand and one with the right". he said. Jim Keays former lead singer and song writer for the Masters Apprentices met Scott in Melbourne when the future ac/dc frontman was touring with the Perth based band The Valentines. " I was walking down the street when this van came alongside and all these guys got out and ran towards me," said Keays. " for a moment i didnt know what was going on. Then they said they recognised me and wanted to meet me. After that we toured a lot with The Valentines. Bon was a cheeky sort of guy a practical joker who was always trying to make people laugh but he was also underestimated as a musician. He could pick up any instrument and instantly play it, he was probably the most naturally gifted musician i have met." but it was Scotts gift for excess and his delight in telling tales on himself that would mark him out. While others might seek to hide a criminal past Bon Scott told a journalist of the 11 months he spent in juvenile detention for assaulting a policeman. He was 17 at the time and working as a labourer but fronting a band at night. " I was singing a couple of songs with a band at a dance in Fremantle and a couple of guys started giving me a hard time." he said. " I got off the stage and tried to break it up and i finished up on a charge of assaulting police." he told another journalist of being bashed and threatened by the father of a 17 year old girl he was sleeping with. Graeme Belford said she was only 16. " yeah i knew her. She came to the door of the hotel room naked one day." he said." they were good times. disgusting. He was a wild and funny man and a loyal big brother.

05 July 2009

BON ANTEDOTE



Story that was written in MOJO magazine Feb 2000



With Let There Be Rock hovering in the lower end of the UK charts in 1977, AC/DC were looking forward to their homecoming gig in Melbourne. With the magnanimity of conquering heroes, they racked their brains for exciting things to incorporate into their stage set to show the Aussie crowd they cared. But this was the early days and there wasn't enough money for pyrotechnic cannons, hell, even for a school uniform. Then vocalist Bon Scott came up with an idea. He'd rig up a rope on-stage and swing Tarzan-style across the audience. Management were a little wary- This was back before rock bands made a habit of this sort of thing-and had devised safety harnesses, but it was no problem for the former docker who'd kept in shape by bench pressing large women and beer mugs. So they set up a rope and did a practice run during the sound check, Bon grabbed the rope and skimmed niftily over the top of the chairs and swung around successfully before dropping back on stage, much like Tarzan.
That night at the Melbourne Festival Hall the crowd was going wild, the floor was sticky with beer and pizza, but who cared: every one was standing on the chairs. Then the roadies lowered the rope. Bon grabbed hold and soared over the crowd. Or rather into the crowd-splat- like a cartoon cat. When they had worked out the length of the rope, they hadn't reckoned on the audience standing on the chairs. { which they should have because we always stood on the chairs, sometimes security would go around telling us to get off them but we didn't...it don't go to a rock concert to sit ! } The fans took this unexpected familiarity as a cue to strip the singer of his kit. Since the rest of the band and crew were too busy falling about laughing to help, he finally fought his way back on-stage on his own, dressed only in his jockstrap. And we understand Australians always were their jockstraps back to front... { no they don't !}

HOUSE OF JAZZ


From Stiff Upper Lip


Humdinger
Bell ringer
Got a nasty stinger
To slow you down
Mud slinger
Gold digger
Who point the finger
And do you down
Kickin' and a fightin' on a TV show
Lightin' blindin' in the middle of the road
Are you comin' in
Are you comin' in

I said come into the house of
Come into the house of
Come into the house of jazz
Come into the house of
Come into the house of
Come into the house of jazz, yes

Ball stripper
Big tipper
Got a slap 'n' tickler
To make you growl
A spitin' and bitin' on a TV show
Tightenin' frightenin' givin' out a load
Are you comin' in
Are you comin' in

I said come into the house of
Come into the house of
Come into the house of jazz
Come into the house of
Come into the house of
Come into the house of jazz
Are you comin' in
Come on in
Are you comin' in
Are you comin' in
I said come into the house of
Come into the house of
Come into the house of jazz
Come into the house of
Come into the house of
Come into the house of jazz
Are you comin' in
Are you comin' in
I said into the house of jazz
Come into the house of
Come into the house of
Come into the house of jazz
The house of jazz